Why Me: The Courage to Live (Why Me? Series, Volume 1) - Softcover

A Stolen Life One minute Chloe Peterson was a happy, busy teen, going to school, working at a vet's office, and trying out for The Sound of Music. Then her world fell apart. It began with headaches, fever, and aching stiffness that left her weak and dizzy. Then Dad was laid off from his job. And Mom began working overtime, so they rarely saw her anymore. The doctor said Chloe's problem was stress. But the vitamins he recommended didn't work. There was never a right time to approach Mom or Dad...until she collapsed. Todd Bowers, the cute guy she met at the vet's, had seen it coming. He tried to help. She almost let herself believe they could be a couple. But when Chloe landed in the hospital, everything changed. Suddenly she was fighting for her life -- against the greatest enemy of all: herself. Who could help her now? Was Todd's feeling for her real -- or pity? Could she dare take the ultimate risk and believe that he really cares?

Deborah Kent grew up in Little Falls, New Jersey, where she was the first totally blind student to attend the local public school. She received her B.A. in English from Oberlin College, and earned a master's degree from Smith College School for Social Work. She worked for four years in community mental health at the University Settlement House on New York's Lower East Side.

In 1975 Ms. Kent decided to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. She moved to the town of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, which had an active colony of writers and artists. In San Miguel she wrote her first young-adult novel, Belonging. She also met her future husband, children's author R. Conrad (Dick) Stein.

Deborah Kent has published more than a dozen novels for young adults, as well as numerous nonfiction titles for middle-grade readers. She lives in Chicago with her husband and their daughter, Janna.