Jack S Story

The life and death of Jack Fleming through his battle with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain cancer as told by his father, Ken. This is the story of a very brave young man. I was with him when he took his first breath and I was with him when he took his last. One was a moment of exquisite pleasure and the other was a moment of unimaginable pain. He gave life, and particularly the last two years struggling with terminal brain cancer, his best shot. He never stopped smiling; never gave up; never said no more. He was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain cancer on a cold, wet and wintry 8 July 2016. He was given 12 months to live. We got 22 months. In December 2017 we found out that none of the treatments were working and he was unlikely to live much longer. On 28 March 2018, we were told it was all over. He died at 1.45 pm on 15 April 2018. I promised him I would write a book. I kept my promise. -- Ken Fleming - JACK EVAN FLEMING 25 November 1996 - 15 April 2018 RIP Praise for Jack's Story "Jack's Story is gripping and confronting. Well done for having the courage to write it and get it out there in the public space. I'm sure many other families and health professionals will benefit from reading this book. It was a real tribute to Jack...and also demonstrated you're didn't leave a stone unturned in trying to find a solution to this aggressive cancer." Dr Nick Cooling "Thank you for sharing Jack's Story. I'm deeply sorry to hear about your son's journey with cancer. As you know glioblastoma cancer has touched my life and those that I love dearly. I can only imagine how difficult this process is for you and your family. It sounds like Jack was surrounded with support and indeed possessed courage at its best. I know that the grieving process never quite ends, but in due time, the thought of your son will bring a smile to your lips sooner than a tear to your eye. Our sons gave us so much more than they knew, so much for us to cherish. Our memories of them will always be with us. Please know that Jill and I will keep you in our thoughts and prayers. We're in this with you. God Bless you." Joseph R. Biden. Jr. "I would like to give my condolences to your family as no family should have to go through what your family endured. Taking the pain from your son's story and turning it into a moving and beautifully honest book takes a lot of courage. I appreciate the bravery it took to write this book about what it is really like inside a life with glioblastoma multiforme." Senator John McCain "I read Jack's story in one night ...couldn't put it down ... and despite knowing how it all ended, I was willing there to be a twist and turn on each page that would see a miracle happen. What a truly incredible story of hope, love, courage and ultimate tragedy." Katie Murray "I'm so sorry that despite all the expert advice and treatment he received that no more could be done to save him. It is stories like these, and patients like Jack, that drive us to continue our work and research and clinical trials to try to find new and better treatments to counter this awful disease. Let's hope we can make some more break throughs in memory of all the children and young adults like Jack." Dr David Ziegler

Meet Jack - the first character in the KETCH series. Jack is like all other boys his age; he gets up every morning, brushes his teeth, has breakfast and goes to school. Jack's daily routine, however, is slightly different because he has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. His morning routine may be slightly different to yours. The shoes he wears may differ to yours and the emotions he feels during the day may not be the emotions you feel at school. We are all different and have unique qualities. Let's embrace what makes us who we are. Follow a day in the life of Jack and explore how you can show KETCH to your friends and family. KETCH Kindness Empathy Tolerance Care Happiness

Winner, 2021 Danuta Gleed Award A masterful collection of stories that dramatizes the Chinese diaspora across the globe over the past hundred years, We Two Alone is Jack Wang’s astonishing debut work of fiction. Set on five continents and spanning nearly a century, We Two Alone traces the long arc and evolution of the Chinese immigrant experience. A young laundry boy risks his life to play organized hockey in Canada in the 1920s. A Canadian couple gets caught in the outbreak of violence in Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The consul general of China attempts to save lives following Kristallnacht in Vienna. A family aspires to buy a home in South Africa, during the rise of apartheid. An actor in New York struggles to keep his career alive while yearning to reconcile with his estranged wife. From the vulnerable and disenfranchised to the educated and elite, the characters in this extraordinary collection embody the diversity of the diaspora at key moments in history and in contemporary times. Jack Wang has crafted deeply affecting stories that not only subvert expectations but contend with mortality and delicately draw out the intimacies and failings of love.

OF COURSE you think I was the bad guy, terrifying poor little Jack. You don't know the other side of the story. Well, let me tell you...

Newbery Medal-winner Kelly Barnhill's debut novel is an eerie tale of magic, friendship, and sacrifice. Enter a world where magic bubbles just below the surface. . . . When Jack is sent to Hazelwood, Iowa, to live with his strange aunt and uncle, he expects a summer of boredom. Little does he know that the people of Hazelwood have been waiting for him for quite a long time. When he arrives, he begins to make actual friends for the first time in his life-but the town bully beats him up and the richest man in town begins to plot Jack's imminent, and hopefully painful, demise. It's up to Jack to figure out why suddenly everyone cares so much about him. Back home he was practically... invisible. The Mostly True Story of Jack is a stunning debut novel about things broken, things put back together, and finding a place to belong. "There's a dry wit and playfulness to Barnhill's writing that recalls Lemony Snicket and Blue Balliett...a delightfully unusual gem." --Los Angeles Times

Teenage stowaway Jack Sparrow and his band of hoodlums are on a mission to find the legendary Sword of Cortâes which will grant them unimaginable power, but first they have to survive the power of the sea, vicious pirates, and ancient curses.

In his playful and expressive style, Zuppardi explores issues of confidence, anxiety and fear and offers readers just what is needed to shrink a Worry right down to size. Jack loves playing the trumpet and for weeks he's been looking forward to taking part in his first concert. But on the morning of the big day, Jack finds that he has a Worry. And his Worry starts to grow. Even when Jack's mum calls him for a special breakfast, even when he hides under the bed or runs around the garden, his Worry follows him... and keeps growing, bigger and bigger. Suddenly, when it's almost time to leave for the concert, Jack finds it's all too much... An inspiring and reassuring book for anyone who's ever lacked confidence or been afraid of failing at something new. A new book from the creator of The Nowhere Box and illustrator of Nobody's Perfect. ; A great resource for parents and educators to discuss anxious or worried feelings with children, offering genuine coping techniques to shrink those fears and face them head on. ; Zuppardi depicts a child's Worry in an original and distinctive way - showing just how real that fear can feel when you are small.

'[Her work] defines universal truths about what it means to be human' Barack Obama 'Marilynne Robinson is one of the greatest writers of our time' Sunday Times 'Jack is the fourth in Robinson's luminous, profound Gilead series and perhaps the best yet' Observer Marilynne Robinson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the American National Humanities Medal, returns to the world of Gilead with Jack, the final in one of the great works of contemporary American fiction. Jack tells the story of John Ames Boughton, the loved and grieved-over prodigal son of a Presbyterian minister in Gilead, Iowa, a drunkard and a ne'er-do-well. In segregated St. Louis sometime after World War II, Jack falls in love with Della Miles, an African-American high school teacher, also a preacher's child, with a discriminating mind, a generous spirit and an independent will. Their fraught, beautiful story is one of Robinson's greatest achievements.