The book is dedicated to Kelly Weil who, before her death of leukemia, wrote a story about a zebra named Zink which inspired first a play and then this novel. Though it starts with the zebra fantasy, which might be a little disorienting for readers expecting to plunge into a middle-school setting, the ensuing chapters, alternating between an account of Becky's illness and her zebra fantasies, provide a clear, moving portrait of a girl who finds ways to come to terms with fear, pain, changed relationships, and the reality of her own dying. Her teacher and a nurse are also well-drawn figures, though the adults are somewhat marginal to the world of peers and imaginary companions where she works out her strategies first for surviving her pain, then for relinquishing her short life.

The epilogue is followed by several pages of portraits and short bios of children living with leukemia or who have siblings with ALL, as well as a brief medical explanation of the disease. Though a hard story, it might be particularly useful for siblings of ALL patients or those who have recently lost a sibling or friend to the disease.