Book Reviews

Five Feet Apart is a heart-wrenching and hopeful novel that explores the challenges and joys of living with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that affects the lungs and other organs.  THEME The book follows the lives of Stella Grant and Will Newman, two teenagers who meet at a hospital where they are both receiving treatment for their medical condition. Stella is a rule-follower who wholeheartedly follows her medication schedules and hopes to get a lung transplant soon. Will is a rebel who has given up on his treatment and wants to travel the world before he dies. Despite their differences, they feel a strong connection and fall in love. However, their love is forbidden by the hospital’s strict rule that cystic fibrosis patients must stay at least six feet apart from each other to prevent cross-infection. Stella and Will decide to take back some control over their lives and defy the rule by reducing the distance between them to five feet. But as their feelings grow deeper, they must