Cursed

A teen fights to put her life back together after developing a painful chronic illness and secretly skipping school for six weeks. Ricky lives in Philadelphia in her father's one-room "Batch Pad," sleeping on a lumpy "Sofa-Bed-From-Hell." Her parents unilaterally decided she'd live there because Mom's house, in another neighborhood, has three stories—and Ricky, as of four months ago, has juvenile arthritis. She has chronic pain—"dull and sharp," often excruciating, her joints on fire. Her feet feel like she is walking on broken glass. So she bailed on school—the bullying didn't help…

High school begins with a double cataclysm for Ricky, short for Erica: her parents suddenly divorce, and she receives a diagnosis of juvenile arthritis, a very painful autoimmune disease that has her relearning how to move her body with the least amount of embarrassment. “Worse yet, no one gives a crap about this boring ass disease. It’s not something that would prompt my classmates to shave their heads in solidarity.” Brimming with rage, she skips school and lashes out at her parents and the world. Ricky’s fury moves the narrative along with an intense energy, showcasing her sardonic…

Recently diagnosed with arthritis, 14-year-old Ricky Bloom now lives in “the Batch Pad” with her dentist father and attends a new middle school in Philadelphia. Ricky begins “the Charade,” ditching school to avoid bullying and the pain of getting there. Instead she spends her time sleeping, taking hot baths, and daydreaming about Julio, a cute drummer. Embarrassed by her pain and limitations, she prefers to keep to herself; the only person she chooses to see is her older sister Dani, a college basketball player who lives with her girlfriend of three years. When Ricky’s truancy is discovered…

First-time author Silverstein offers an insider’s view of living with a chronic illness in this heartfelt novel set in Philadelphia. Every movement has become a struggle for ninth-grader Erica (“Ricky”), recently diagnosed with juvenile arthritis, who has had to move from her mother’s house to her father’s “bachelor pad” to avoid using stairs. In constant pain, irritated by “The-Disaster-Formerly-Known-as-My-Parents,” and tired of taunts from schoolmates, Ricky vents her frustration by cutting school—for six straight weeks—and cursing copiously, both of which sit poorly with her new school’s…