153. Terry Fox: A Story of Hope by Maxine Trotter

Terry Fox: A Story of Hope by Maxine Trottier
Marathon of Hope 30th Anniversary edition (Canada) only

Pages: 35
Ages: 8+
Finished: July 30, 2010
First Published: July 1, 2010
Publisher: Scholastic Canada
Genre: non-fiction, biography, Canadian history
Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

Hope is a quiet thing.

Acquired: Received a review copy from the publisher.

Reason for Reading: It's been a long time since I read anything about Terry Fox and with the 30th anniversary of his run coming up, I previewed this and will read it to my son for our history curriculum this year.

Terry Fox is a Canadian hero. There is no Canadian school child who does not know who Terry was and the legend he has left behind. Every September all over the country Marathon's are held in his name, The Marathon of Hope, to raise money for cancer research. Terry was a young man who lost his leg to bone cancer and decided to jog across the country to raise money and awareness for cancer in the early '80's. Unfortunately, after starting in the east he made it just as far as Thunderbay, Ontario before the cancer returned, to his lungs this time. Terry's whole life with cancer was one of hope, determination, and a fighting will to live that he never gave up on but the time came when even he realized he was dying and he rallied forth that the awareness he had created must continue on without him. Before Terry died he knew that a yearly Marathon would continue on in his name.

This is a very well written non-fiction book. The text is narrative and interesting in style as well as emotional. It's tough to read the beginning learning about the happy, athletically driven child and teenager he was when one knows the tragic end of his life. But it is also inspiring to today's generation of children to have this kind of young Canadian hero to look up to. The book can't help but be emotional as it is an emotional story but also uplifting. This 30th anniversary edition has 7 additional pages with extra photographs added to update the information on Fox's legacy up to and including the 2010 Olympics where his parents were torchbearers.