We just finished reading Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick. It is about a middle schooler named Steven Alper. Everything is normal in Steven's life, he has a little annoying brother, named Jeffery,who adores him. Like any other teenager, Steven is always focused around himself. If Jeffery tries to get some of that attention, Steven is furious. But when, *plot twist* Jeffery gets cancer, Steven has to start paying a little more attention to the little brother he had hated just a month earlier.
Steven changes drastically throughout the course of the book. He goes from self-centered moron, to a kind and openhearted young man.

When Jeffery gets made fun at school for being bald, he gets really upset. Normally Steven would be really sarcastic and say something like " Get over it,". Instead, he shaves his entire head to make Jeffery feel better. Another time Steven changes is when he is doing his big end of the year concert. Halfway through, Jeffery gets really sick and has to go to the hospital. Steven leaves his concert to accompany Jeffery to the hospital. These two examples show that Steven gave up things that were important to him in order to help Jeffery.

I think this book is trying to teach multiple lessons. Steven learns these lessons when Jeffery gets sick. I think two of these lessons are maturity and selflessness. Most teenagers are not very mature, but with only a little bit of it, conflicts can be solved easily. Selflessness is helpful in life because selflessness and kindness are linked together. You can easily make friendships if you are selfless and kind.