Going for the Record

I read Going for the Record, by Julie A. Swanson. These are some questions that might help you with the book:

1. The main character is seventeen-year-old Leah Weiczynkowsk. She is very athletic, she cares greatly about her family and

2. In the beginning, Leah is on her way home from soccer when her father tells her that he has pancreatic cancer, which means he only has 3 months to live. Leah is invited to train for soccer in Colorado Springs by the middle of the story, but has to leave the excellent opportunity early to go home to be with her father who is getting sicker and weaker every day. By the end Leah’s older sister, Mary who was pregnant, has her baby, which is what they think Leah’s dad has been wait for, so he passes away 2 days later.

3. The author is trying to say that horrible things may come along in life but don’t let that one horrible thing effect you for the rest of your life and keep you from doing things you love.

4. One of the issues is cancer patients and treatments. This affects Leah because her father decides that he does not want any more treatments to help his cancer and Leah can’t understand why he doesn’t want to live even for a couple extra days. Another thing that affects her is that her father is a cancer patient, and he used to always take Leah to her soccer games so then she felt like she couldn’t play soccer because it reminded her so much of her father. And finally the thing that affects Leah the most is just the fact that her father has cancer and they are basically watching him die, so that puts her whole family in semi-depression and makes them not function.

5. One real and important event in this story is when her father is diagnosed with cancer and the other event is Leah’s decision to continue playing soccer or not. The author makes these issues immediate and personal because the cancer patient is her father who she is very close to and cares about him very much. For the choice to play soccer or not was changed because of her father’s illness and she felt like she should be home with her dying father instead of playing soccer.