Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

It is present day in Cincinnati, Ohio where Carrie Blake, a ninth grader who has experienced more of life’s pain and problems than most her age, is trying to lead a “normal” life. The story starts out by telling of a sample day in a week of Carrie’s life; she is asking her mother, whom she lives with, if she can take her for the weekly bloodwork which has been a vital part of Carrie’s life since her remission. This is a ritual that terrifies her because her vivid memory of the previous three years of living with leukemia and through her parent’s divorce.