“I trace the outline of my sister’s drawing, lungs molded from a sea of flowers.”

From Rachael Lippincott’s Five Feet Apart.

Stella has Cystic Fibrosis; she’s spent her life bouncing in and out of Saint Grace Hospital, getting her treatments, visiting (from 6 feet away) with her CFer best friend Poe, and socializing with the nurses (Julie and Barb).  On her current hospital admittance, Stella meets a new patient on the floor: Will.  Will has CF and has spent years in hospitals all around the world, but on top of all that, he has a violent, unbeatable bacteria that has removed him from all transplant lists.  While Stella is super compulsive about her treatments and medicines (so much so that she created an app for medicine reminders), Will has gone the compete opposite way, skipping as many treatments as he can and counting down the days until he turns 18 and can pull himself out of the newest bacteria-fighting trial.  While control freak Stella is initially infuriated by Will’s lackluster approach to his treatment, her disgust at his cocky attitude slowly morphs into a friendship centered around their treatments.  The more Will and Stella get to know each other, the wider the required 6 feet between them seems to feel.  The two will quickly have to decide how far are they willing to go to protect the one they love.

While many readers will be drawn to the book because of its obvious similarities to John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars with terminally-ill young lovers, Lippincott does a solid job of keeping her story unique.  As the narration bounces back between the two main characters, readers are seamlessly drawn into an understanding of each character’s motivation.  With the help of screenplay writers/contributors Daughtry and Iaconis, the story is filled with CF treatment information, but it never dives too far into the uncomfortable reading material.  A moving read filled with both funny and heart-touching moments, Five Feet Apart is not to be missed.