The book Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, by Jordan Sonnenblick, follows a 13-year-old boy named Steven Alper whose brother, Jeffrey, developed cancer. Set in the early 2000s, Steven used to have a normal life, he had a crush on the popular girl, Renee, a little brother named Jeffrey, and two very busy parents. Life was going great until the terrible news struck them, Jeffrey had cancer. Steven’s family soon went into a great amount of debt and his mom was forced to quit her job in order to care for Jeffrey. With drumming being one of Steven’s only hobbies, he was forced to deal with the sickness of his brother, and his upcoming all-city band performance. 

This book was created with a person vs. god/fate conflict, and it could be compared to the book Wonder by R. J. Palacio in some ways. The story was really engaging and really made you feel like these were real living people and not just make-believe characters in a book. I love how Sonnenblick took just a normal stereotypical family of four and turned it into an adventure. I recommend this book to anyone who appreciates a real heartfelt story with a little comedy to break up the sadness. This was an amazing book and would without a doubt read a sequel.