The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork

"Pancho has one goal in life: to find and murder his sister's killer. Then he's assigned to help D.Q., whose brain cancer has slowed neither his spirit nor his mouth. D.Q. is writing a book called The Death Warrior Manifesto, a guide to living out his last days fully--ideally, he says, with the love of the beautiful Marisol. But as Pancho tracks down his sister's murderer, he finds himself falling for Marisol as well, and he soon must make a decision: to avenge his sister and her death, or embrace the way of the Death Warrior and choose life."

Soo... I didn't really know what to expect going in. I was kinda neutral starting out, and didn't expect it to be awesome or anything. Well, it mostly proved me wrong. It wasn't mind-blowingly wonderful, but it was a good solid four stars. I got more invested in the characters than I expected to, and it was an honestly good book. It had a good approach of kids with life-encompassing diseases and the way they live their life and every little thing that makes life important to them. And in general it was impactful without being hard to read; I give this one a good recommendation. Pancho was prickly and complex but still had qualities that were heartbreakingly human and relatable. The same can be said for D.Q. No stereotypes anywhere, just people for better or worse. Not much else to say other than that; get a copy at Sitka High, Mt. Edgecumbe, and Kettleson.