Chronically Dolores - by Maya Van Wagenen

About the Book

"Dolores Mendoza is not thriving. She was recently diagnosed with a chronic bladder condition called interstitial cystitis. The painful disease isn't life threatening, but it is threatening to ruin her life. Just when things seem hopeless, Dolores meets someone poised to change her fate. Terpsichore Berkenbosch-Jones is glamorous, autistic, and homeschooled against her will by her overprotective mother. After a rocky start, the girls form a tentative partnership. Beautiful, talented Terpsichore will help Dolores win back her ex-best friend, Shae. And Dolores will convince Terpsichore's mom that her daughter has the social skills to survive public school. It seems like a foolproof plan, but Dolores isn t always a reliable narrator, and her choices may put her in danger of committing an unforgivable betrayal."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Winner of The Schneider Family Book Award, for excellence in portraying the disability experience!

Maya Van Wagenen, bestselling author of Popular, tells Dolores's story with humor, heartache, and an occasional bit of telenovela flair.

"A striking fiction debut." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"An insightful, funny, and realistic coming-of-age story." --Kirkus

Dolores Mendoza is not thriving. She was recently diagnosed with a chronic bladder condition called interstitial cystitis. The painful disease isn't life-threatening, but it is threatening to ruin her life.

Just when things seem hopeless, Dolores meets someone poised to change her fate. Terpsichore Berkenbosch-Jones is glamorous, autistic, and homeschooled against her will by her overprotective mother. After a rocky start, the girls form a tentative partnership. Beautiful, talented Terpsichore will help Dolores win back her ex-best friend, Shae. And Dolores will convince Terpsichore's mom that her daughter has the social skills to survive public school. It seems like a foolproof plan, but Dolores isn't always a reliable narrator, and her choices may put her in danger of committing an unforgivable betrayal.

Review Quotes

Praise for Chronically Dolores

Winner of The Schneider Family Book Award, for excellence in portraying the disability experience!

A Kirkus Best Book of the Year
A NYPL Best Book of the Year

"Van Wagenen's fiction debut is a standout with both wide appeal and important, specific representation bolstered by the author's own life." --Booklist, starred review

"Compassionate prose conveys the protagonists' experiences with care and thoughtful, complex characterizations approachably highlight life's ambiguity." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"An insightful, funny, and realistic coming-of-age story." --Kirkus

Praise for Maya Van Wagenen's Popular

YALSA Award Winner for Excellence in Nonfiction
New York Times Bestseller

"I was inspired by her journey.... Maybe if I had read Popular when I was [Van Wagenen's] age, it could have saved me from a world of hurt, or at least put that world in perspective." --Maude Apatow for the New York Times Book Review

"Everyone's happiness project looks different, and I was utterly charmed by Maya Van Wagenen's honest, funny, and thought-provoking account of her efforts to become 'popular.'" --Gretchen Rubin, #1 bestselling author of The Happiness Project

About the Author

Maya Van Wagenen lives in Georgia with her partner and their many pets. Winner of The Schneider Family Book Award for Best Artistic Expression of the Disability Experience, Maya′s second book and first novel, Chronically Dolores, is inspired by her experiences as a teenager with an incurable bladder condition. She is passionate about bringing visibility to youth with chronic illness and validating the questions, fears, and absurdities that accompany a lifelong diagnosis in childhood.