Mac promises at the start of the novel that it won’t be “one of those dying mother stories” when his Mum is diagnosed with cancer and the family has to cope with the upheaval of chemotherapy and their own fears. Mac is a joker, who doesn’t take life too seriously until he befriends Killer Kusinski (the toughest girl in the school who has a reputation for having hit a teacher) and discovers that there is more to the world than his own petty wants and needs. A great book where the main character isn’t perfect and has to work through his faults and fears. At times funny and at other times very touching.When Mac promises his Mum that together they will swim with the dolphins – he is scared – can’t swim and wants to get out of his promise. P.28 –33. up to “mention of it.”