Grace Manning, 15, gets her first job at a local nursing home as a candy striper. She starts to enjoy her job when she meets Frank Sands, a resident with Lou Gehrig's disease. He teaches her to play poker, and is a surrogate for her father, who recently walked out on her family. Their relationship builds, and they have fun together in spite of their surroundings. And Frank asks a favor of her—"to help him die." Her inner struggle about this request is played out against her everyday concerns of school and relationships with her sister, mother, and male best friend who is slowly becoming something more. This is a great story that asks difficult questions and doesn't shy away from direct answers, or the reality that answers may not exist.
