Go to your personalised cancer information and support area
Learn more about the dashboardExisting My Macmillan user? Access your events and volunteer services.
The web Directory of Information Materials for People Affected by Cancer is regularly updated and currently has details of over 1,900 booklets, leaflets, books and audiovisual materials for people affected by cancer. Most have been published in the last five years but we have included some older ones that are still useful.
Canongate Books Ltd
Helen has little idea what lies ahead when she offers her spare room to an old friend of fifteen years. Nicola has arrived in the city for treatment for cancer. Sceptical of the medical establishment, placing all her faith in an alternative health centre, Nicola is determined to find her own way to deal with her illness, regardless of the advice that Helen can offer. In the weeks that follow, Nicola's battle against her cancer will turn not only her own life upside down but also those of everyone around her. (Publisher)
Aspect Design
A message to be told? A story of passion? A campaign against the establishment? Surely not a 'journey through cancer'? 'Who's Been Peeping In My Bed?' is my story about my fight against cancer and living with the disease; a disease that was looked upon like leprosy in the early days. Now people are living with cancer and opening a new window in their world. I have tried to express how cancer opened my eyes to things that matter; hence my campaign for the accessibility of new cancer drugs for everyone, which forms a substantial part of my story. It deals with the difficulties faced in obtaining the drugs that have helped me, but are not freely available on the NHS. This does not take away from the reality that must be faced; instead it simply tries to make it part of a new way of life. (Publisher)
Winston's Wish
When a family member has cancer it is hard for everyone to understand. It can be particularly difficult when a parent or carer faces the challenge of trying to explain to their child what cancer means and how it may affect their family. This booklet is aimed at supporting parents or carers with this task, and encourages open communication and questions about cancer within the family. Through pictures, captions and straightforward language, it explains how tumours are formed, what the various treatments are and how these may affect the person with cancer. It stresses the need to keep to family routines and, importantly, to still try and have fun. It is aimed at children aged 7-10 and will work best when an adult is present to expand on the simple messages in the text. (Publisher)
Self-published using AuthorHouse
'What are you going to do now?' my teacher colleagues asked, as I packed away my things after my retirement party. I replied, 'I might like to write a book'- never guessing that the subject of the book was going to be - bowel cancer. It was only three days later that I received my diagnosis. 'How does it feel?' (reflections on a year in the life of one woman following a diagnosis of bowel cancer), is a moving story of Ann's battle with bowel cancer, through surgery and chemotherapy. It includes a journal which describes the day to day ups and downs of illness; and also an anthology of pictures and poems through which Ann expresses her inner journey. This book will provide encouragement to all who suffer from cancer. Ann's story is told with honesty and directness and this book expresses well the complexities of the cancer experience. Ann's reflections lift the spirit and offer a glimpse of the spiritual meaning found in the simple things of life, which become all the more precious at times of crisis. (Publisher)
Self-published using AuthorHouse
When I was told I needed chemotherapy I froze with fear. The word itself has almost mystical powers, conjuring up vivid mental images of frail, shadow-like people curled up on beds, quietly writhing in agony and slowly losing the will to live. In truth I'd never really thought about what it actually was, I just knew it was bad. I asked my family and friends what they thought chemotherapy was and, bearing in mind how prevalent cancer is these days, the responses were as varied as they were downright peculiar: 'I've never actually been sure what's involved, but I know it's unpleasant.' 'It's a large machine you slide into, a bit like the old iron lung machine,' (does anyone remember the old iron lung machine?)' 'Every bit of your body's bombarded by deadly rays.' 'It's an injection that lasts for hours and hours.' Well, here are just four good reasons why I needed to dispel some ridiculous myths about cancer treatment. Even the eyebrows? is an honest account of what to expect before, during and after treatment, and a guide to making the journey as comfortable and calm as humanly possible. (Publisher)
Piatkus (Little, Brown Book Group)
Six million people in the UK provide unpaid care for disabled or elderly relatives or neighbours, often unnoticed. Their job is long, lonely and hard, yet there is limited support and no formal training. As a result, carers suffer frequent damage to physical and mental health and are liable to feelings of guilt brought on by fatigue and isolation. Hugh Marriott, a carer himself, has written this book for them - and also for the rest of us who hadn't realised what went on behind those closed doors. The Selfish Pig's Guide to Caring airs topics such as sex, thoughts of murder, coping with incontinence and dealing with friends and officials who fail to understand. It's a must-read for anyone involved with caring. (Publisher)
Special Stories Publishing
Illustrated story about Harry who is five years old and having treatment for leukaemia. The book has been designed to help children with leukaemia (or other forms of cancer) to prepare for treatment, namely chemotherapy and a stay in hospital.
Marion Lloyd Books (Scholastic Ltd)
My name is Sam. I am eleven years old. I collect stories and fantastic facts. By the time you read this, I will probably be dead. Sam loves facts. He wants to know about UFOs and horror movies and airships and ghosts and scientists, and how it feels to kiss a girl. And because he has leukaemia he wants to know the facts about dying. Sam needs answers to the questions nobody will answer. WAYS TO LIVE FOREVER is the award-winning novel from an extraordinarily talented young writer. Funny and honest, it is one of the most powerful and uplifting books you will ever read. (Publisher)
Definitions (Random House)
Tessa has just a few months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It's her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is sex. Released from the constraints of 'normal' life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa's feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa's time finally runs out. BEFORE I DIE is a brilliantly-crafted novel, heartbreaking yet astonishingly life-affirming. It will take you to the very edge. (Publisher)
Piatkus (Little, Brown Book Group)
Over the past quarter century Irvin Yalom has established himself as the world's leading group psychotherapist. In STARING AT THE SUN, he explores how the knowledge of our own mortality affects the unconscious mind of every human being. Tackling the effect of mankind's fear of death - both conscious and unconscious - on life and how we might live it, Yalom explains how we find ourselves in need of the comfort of therapy. At age 70 and facing his own fear of death, which he discusses in a special afterword, Dr Yalom tackles his toughest subject yet and finds it to be the root cause of patients' fears, stresses and depression. If therapists are to deliver 'the gift of therapy', they must confront the realities of life for themselves and their practice, as must we all. (Publisher)
Virago Press (Little, Brown Book Group)
'As far as I'm concerned, Lance Armstrong and I are close to exact opposites, both physically and mentally ...If surviving this particularly deadly form of breast cancer required any of the Lance-like traits, such as a willingness to physically exert myself, I was as good as dead.' When well-meaning family and friends found out about her diagnosis, they often came armed with copies of Lance Armstrong's cancer survival book. Meredith reacted by penning a sharp, irreverent and laugh-out-loud funny memoir. More than just an account of her harrowing and, at times, hilarious treatments during her illness, Lopsided offers up entertaining memories of an offbeat life. A feisty and irreverent memoir about life and death, family and friends, and everything in between. (Publisher)
Macmillan Children's Books
Mom, I went to the store. See inside the fridge. I watered the plants. I cleaned out Peter's cage. I tidied the sitting room. And the kitchen. And I did the washing up. I'm going to bed. Your live-in servant, Claire. 'Life on the Refrigerator Door' is told exclusively through notes exchanged by Claire and her mother, Elizabeth, during the course of a life-altering year. Their story builds to an emotional crescendo when Elizabeth is diagnosed with breast cancer. Stunningly sad but ultimately uplifting, this is a clever, moving, and original portrait of the relationship between a daughter and mother. It is about how we live our lives constantly rushing, and never making time for those we love. It is also an elegy to how much can be said in so few words, if only we made the time to say them. (Publisher)
Mark Davies
If you or a family member or friend is diagnosed with Bowel/colon cancer then this book will hopefully be of some use and comfort. But I really wrote this book for all of those people, who thought like me that cancer and its treatments begins and ends with losing your hair and sitting around in hospitals like a displaced Hare Krishna convention, whilst having an uncontrollable urge to run the marathon. I want to allay, if at all possible, some the fears that we all have of cancer without boring anyone to tears or being over emotional. More people than ever are surviving, and go on to live a normal life. I am not a doctor, nor have I ever had any medical training, so I found that I didn't really understand a lot of what was being talked about by the doctors. Questions like: What is Chemotherapy and what does it do? What happens during Radiotherapy? (Publisher)
Vermilion (Random House)
As a result of a genetically-transmitted gene, all three Bryan sisters, Felicity, Elizabeth and Bunny have had cancer. And, unusually, each of them suffered a different cancer; ovarian, breast and pancreatic. As the gene also has a dominant inheritance, half of their family members can be expected to carry it. Now, in a personal and deeply affecting memoir, Elizabeth writes of her family's extraordinary experience of this dreadful disease. Writing not only as a daughter, sister and aunt of those afflicted and bereaved by cancer, but as a sufferer herself, she will tell of the shocks, sadnesses, dilemmas and uncertainties that come with diagnosis and then treatment. Giving a personal view from both the perspective of a patient and that of a relative, as well as comparing the impacts of remission and terminal prognoses on herself and those around her, Singing the Life gives a uniquely wide-ranging account of dealing with life-threatening illness and the threat it still poses in her family. Eloquently setting Elizabeth's personal story against the universal fears, problems and worries that face those affected by cancer, this is an inspirational and encouraging read unlike any other on the subject. (Publisher)
Spring Hill
On the basis of comments left on the author's blog, this book should appeal to cancer patients, survivors and those who care for people with cancer - healthcare professionals as well as friends and family - and anyone else wanting an insight into this wretched disease. Cancer sufferers not only have to deal with big issues - like confronting their own mortality - they have to cope with the everyday as well - the effect on relationships, changes in diet, whether or not to replace the dishwasher - and in the case of bowel cancer, perhaps a colostomy or ileostomy - while all the time trying to remain positive. Based on the author's online diaries, this book will enable the reader to get inside the mind of a cancer patient and discover what it feels like to have to cope with this disease. (Publisher)
QED Publishing
Andrew’s grandad has died, and Andrew is feeling very sad and confused. Explore with your child the difficult issue of bereavement as Andrew talks about his feelings with his mum and dad. (Publisher)
Arima Publishing
One Lump or Two is a collection of contemporary verse reflecting on the breast cancer experience of an ordinary young woman. It explores the emotional aspects of a breast cancer diagnosis and engages the reader in the reflective journey taken when coping with this 'unwelcome visitor'. Nicole Touyé grew up in the West Midlands. She is legally trained and has a background in teaching in Further Education. In recent years she has retrained and has run her own business while managing a series of life changing events. She now lives in Worcestershire with her photographer husband and young son. (Publisher)
Pocket Books (Simon and Schuster imprint)
When Dina Rabinovitch was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 she didn't know a thing about the disease. Today she's an expert. Her experience of the condition and its treatment, from diagnosis through mastectomy to trialling drugs so new their side-effects aren’t even documented, is a rollercoaster ride through the medical and emotional ups and downs of the disease that is the most common cancer affecting women in the U.K. today. Warm, lively, at times irreverent, Rabinovitch's story of juggling a hectic career and a large, extended family while adjusting to the changes that cancer brings, makes essential reading. (Publisher)
Arrow Books Limited
Like the swallows, our son Ollie came in the spring and left in the autumn. Dancing, singing, swooping - there was something birdlike about his energy, joy and laughter - but also the fleeting, enigmatic quality of his life. When he was two he lost all his speech, as autism turned his life - and ours - into a baffling challenge. Then at four he had to face a new challenge when he almost died from leukaemia. But chemotherapy worked its magic and he made a full recovery. He was a tough survivor and nothing seemed to dim his spirit: he could light up a room and energize everyone around him. So it was a huge shock, after several cancer-free years, when a fatal brain tumour was discovered. This time his body had had enough and he died very suddenly. He was twelve. Ollie had extraordinary courage and endurance. Time after time he bounced back, determined to enjoy life. He was obstinate, mischievous, playful, flirtatious, quixotic, funny. He generated - and continues to generate - huge amounts of laughter. And he was very beautiful. We always felt that if autism had not unravelled the wiring of his neural pathways, he would have achieved extraordinary things. This is the story of the journey we made with Ollie. Unlike a mountaineer, pursuing extreme experiences out of choice, he had difficulty thrust upon him: he was forced to be brave. For me, too, the journey was far more compelling than any expedition. (Publisher)
HarperCollins
Miriam Engelberg is a successful cartoonist who was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 43. Like many who face trauma, tragedy and illness, she was unable tell her story in traditional written and visual forms. Instead, she has written a distinctly unique cartoon memoir. Following in the Art Spiegelman tradition of graphic novels, Engelberg walks us through every emotional and physical stage of the disease, from diagnosis to a return to 'normal' life and everything in between: waiting for the biopsy results by pretending to be doing everything but that, awkwardly breaking the diagnostic news to horrified acquaintances, shopping for wigs while fighting nausea and disorientation from her cancer drugs, feeling like an outsider in support groups, and speculating about what caused the cancer in the first place - overzealous cheese consumption or apathy about multi-vitamins? 'Cancer Made Me A Shallower Person' is an offbeat and darkly humorous account of one very funny woman's battle with an uncertain and often fatal illness. (Publisher)
Winston's Wish
This book has been written and designed specifically for teenagers with aim of supporting them through their bereavement using a range of activities. Narrated throughout by teenagers' words and stories, the book talks openly about the real feelings they may struggle with when someone important in their life dies. The activities in the book allow those feelings to be worked through and safely explored. Each character in the book reinforces the message that "I'm not alone". "Out of the blue" can be completed by a teenager on their own or with the help of a family member or appropriate professional. (Publisher)
Darton, Longman and Todd
A moving and tender meditation on loving, living and dying by one of the greatest Anglican spiritual writers. Michael Mayne, author of three of the best-selling spirituality titles of recent years, Learning to Dance, Pray, Love, Remember, and A Year Lost And Found, set out to complete a final book that would tackle the linked questions of what is the solid ground of a belief which for him has proved authentic and survived into old age, and how ageing may affect us physically, mentally and spiritually. On completing it, he discovered that he was suffering from cancer of the jaw, and in a nine-month journal he reflects (among much else) on whether his faith stands firm, and where God may be found in the challenging country of cancer. The Enduring Melody is a moving and tender meditation on loving, living and dying by one of the greatest living Anglican spiritual writers. Michael Mayne is the former head of religious programmes at the BBC and Dean Emeritus of Westminster. (Publisher)
Pocket Books (Simon and Schuster imprint)
'We are just beginning to appreciate hope's reach and have not defined its limits. I see hope as the very heart of healing.' So writes Jerome Groopman, who has been a doctor for almost thirty years. In this unique book he describes the astonishing effects that hope, or the lack of it, can have on an illness. As a patient, he has also learned to overcome cynicism and defeatism and embrace hope. Here, with great wisdom and compassion, he reveals what he has learned about hope and its ability to triumph over disease, both emotionally and physically. The search for hope is most urgent at a patient's bedside. "The Anatomy of Hope" takes us there, bringing us into the lives of people at pivotal moments when they reach for and find hope - or when it eludes their grasp. Through these intimate portraits, we learn how to distinguish true hope from false, why everyone deserves to have hope, and whether we should ever give up. Fascinating, wise and inspiring, this is an essential book for anyone facing serious illness or who is dealing with a loved one in extremis. (Publisher)
Veritas
'Why Mum?' is a children's picture book exploring the serious illness of parent through the eyes of seven-year-old Matthew. It works chronologically through the illness and deals with the different feelings and questions the child experiences as they arise. It also shows how life changes for him and the family and how he adapts to this. Beautifully illustrated by the author's son, this book is about one mother's illness and her family’s experience. It would be useful in any situation where a serious illness affects family life and especially where young children have to deal with difficult situations. (Publisher)
Bloodaxe Books
This book of poems is for all of us who go through illness, deal with doctors, hospitals, and experiences such as bereavement and ageing, and who struggle to find language to describe the suffering we have to go through. Medical language baffles and alienates us. It's a harsh, unforgiving vocabulary that often seems to bear no relationship to our own emotional predicament. In this uplifting anthology we see how poetry can give us metaphors and images to help us understand our feelings and communicate them to people around us. This is a book that should be in every waiting-room, and should be by the bed of every GP and consultant. It may inspire you to write poetry, and also help you to find order in the chaos of ill health. By giving us words, poetry can help cure us. (Publisher)
Short Books
'I count myself the luckiest and unluckiest woman in London.' Deborah Hutton's discovery that the niggling cough which had been troubling her for a couple of months was actually an aggressive lung cancer that had already invaded her bones and lymphatic system marked the beginning of a brand-new learning curve - a personal odyssey that taught her to let go of her super-competent I-can-handle-it-myself persona and gratefully accept the huge amount of help beamed at her by her close-knit family and 'world class' network of friends and neighbours. From her own experience and out of her conversations with fellow members of the Cancer Club - 'the only club I can think of which is both rigorously exclusive and which has no waiting list, ever' - comes this anthology of supremely practical examples of ways in which friends and family, often themselves reeling from the shock of the diagnosis and feeling just as helpless and at a loss as to know what to do, can make a real, substantial difference. 'What can I do to help?' she writes. Well, stand by, because the answer is 'Plenty'. (Publisher)
Arc Publications
Julia Darling's first book, Sudden Collapses in Public Places, grew from her experiences of being treated for breast cancer; "[it] helped me to step out of the difficult present and to use my imagination to be somewhere else." Her second collection looks at the world beyond the hospital, though still from the viewpoint of a cancer patient in the advanced stages of the illness. The themes are familiar, but here she writes with a wider perspective, a deeper understanding which reach out to the heart of the human condition and the greater mysteries of life, albeit in an understated way. This is a powerful and deeply affecting book, completely unsentimental yet charged with emotion - indeed, one of those rare books that have a profound and lasting effect. (Publisher)
Polperro Heritage Press
Actress Audrey Jenkinson was starring in a BBC television series when she put her career on hold and returned home to Edinburgh to care for her mother suffering from a stroke and her father with cancer. In Past Caring, she describes how she tried to cope with her parents' deaths and recalls the void she felt at the time. `I wondered how others coped in similar situations. When I discovered there were no books on the subject I decided to write one.' Audrey travelled throughout the UK, interviewing former carers and asking them how they rebuilt their lives. 'The stories I heard were both fascinating and uplifting, and I knew other people would find them interesting and helpful. Past Caring also includes a twelve-step recovery guide for 'past carers'. (Publisher)
Walker Books
Very occasionally the term non-fiction has to stretch itself to accommodate a book that fits into no category at all. Michael Rosen's Sad Book is such a book. It chronicles Michael's grief at the death of his son Eddie from meningitis at the age of 19. A moving combination of sincerity and simplicity, it acknowledges that sadness is not always avoidable or reasonable and perfects the art of making complicated feelings plain. It wasn't made like any other book either; Michael Rosen said of the text, "I wrote it at a moment of extreme feeling and it went straight down onto the page ... Quentin didn't illustrate it, he 'realised' it. He turned the text into a book and as a result showed me back to myself. No writer could ask and get more than that." And Quentin Blake says that the picture of Michael "being sad but trying to look happy" is the most difficult drawing he's ever done... "a moving experience." (Publisher)
American Cancer Society
Designed for children between the ages of 6 and 12 who have a loved one with cancer, this activity book allows children to work through and express unfamiliar feelings in well-paced activities that progressively teach coping skills. Includes five crayons.
Arc Publications
Julia Darling's first poetry collection is about breast cancer - but it is not in the least bit morbid, nor is it aimed only at women. In her words: 'Poetry gave me a voice to express the comedy and tragedy of my illness.' (Publisher)
Magination Press
Written for children who may not survive their illness or for the children who know them, the second edition of this tender and touching tale helps address feelings of disbelief, anger, and sadness, along with love and compassion. (Publishers)
Red Fox (Random House)
Granpa nurses his granddaughter's dolls, mistakes her strawberry-flavoured pretend ice-cream for chocolate, takes her tobogganing in the snow, and falls in with her imaginary plans to captain a ship to Africa, like all good Granpas should. It is a friendship that children who read this book will long remember. (Publishers)
Scholastic Press
Katie and Zillah are looking forward to the Cornish summer that stretches ahead of them, all swimming and surfing and long, lazy hot days. Then travellers arrive at Zillah's dad's campsite and soon tensions develop. Katie makes friends with Rose, one of the travellers, and suddenly there's a chill between her and Zillah. It leads Katie to wonder about their friendship, until something happens that puts everything in perspective, something that could threaten their friendship for ever. (Publisher)
Speechmark Publishing Ltd
"The day the sea went out and never came back" is a story for children who have lost someone they love. Eric is a sand dragon who loves the sea very much. Each day, he watches it going out and coming back. His sea is beautiful indeed to him. But one day, the sea goes out and does not come back. Eric waits and waits, but it does not come back. So he falls on the sand in terrible pain. It feels to him as if he has lost everything. After many bleak days, Eric sees a little wild flower. It is dying. Eric knows he must save it. He finds water. More and more flowers appear and so Eric starts to make a beautiful rock pool garden. And as he does, he finds the courage to feel the full pain of his loss, instead of closing his heart. He realises that his memories of his precious sea are like a special kind of treasure in his mind, a treasure he will never lose. (Publisher)
Winston's Wish
Milly's Bug Nut is the story of a family finding their way through bereavement and of Milly who finds an unexpected answer to her heart's desire. Jill Janney, the author of Milly's Bug Nut, wrote this story for her own children after the death of their father.
Winston's Wish
This activity book offers invaluable practical and sensitive support for bereaved younger children. Beautifully illustrated, it suggests a helpful series of activities and exercises accompanied by the friendly characters of Bee and Bear. The book offers a structure and an outlet for the many difficult feelings which inevitably follow when someone dies. It aims to help children make sense of their experience by reflecting on the different aspects of their grief. At the same time, the book manages to find a balance between remembering the person who has died and having fun. (Publisher)
Puffin
Colin Mudford is on a quest. His brother Luke has cancer and the doctors in Australia don't seem able to cure him. Sent to London to stay with his Aunty Iris, Colin reckons it's up to him to find the best doctor in the world - and he starts by asking none other than the Queen to help... (This edition aimed at children 8-12 years old, there is another edition for younger children.) (Publisher) Also available as an audiotape.
Vermilion (Random House)
Shortly before his 44th birthday, John Diamond received a call from the doctor who had removed a lump from his neck. Having been assured for the previous two years that this was a benign cyst, Diamond was told that it was, in fact, cancerous. Suddenly, this man who'd until this point been one of the world's greatest hypochondriacs, was genuinely faced with mortality. And what he saw scared the wits out of him. Out of necessity, he wrote about his feelings in his TIMES column and the response was staggering. Mailbag followed Diamond's story of life with, and without, a lump - the humiliations, the ridiculous bits, the funny bits, the tearful bits. It's compelling, profound, and witty. (Publisher)
Little Brown and Company
No one can really understand death but to children, the passing away of a loved one can be especially perplexing and troublesome. This is true whether the loss is a classmate, friend, family member or pet. Here to offer advice and reassurance are some very wise dinosaurs. This succinct and thorough guide helps dispel the mystery and negative connotations associated with death, providing answers to some of the most-often asked questions and also explores the feelings we may have regarding the death of a loved one and the ways to remember someone after he or she has died. (Publisher)
The Pilgrim Press
Talking to children about death can be hard, but it doesn't need to be. Water Bugs and Dragonflies: Explaining Death to Young Children can help you to answer their questions. Doris Stickney tells the story of a small colony of water bugs living happily below the surface of a very quiet pond. Every so often one of them climbs up a lily stalk and disappears from sight, never to return. Those left behind are faced with the mystery of what has become of them. The answer to death lies in the questioning. Stickney invites you and your children into the question. (Publisher)
Andersen Press
Badger is so old that he knows he will soon die. He tries to prepare his friends for this event, but he does die, they are still grief-stricken. Gradually they come to terms with their grief by remembering all the practical things Badger taught them, and so Badger lives on in his friends' memories of him. (Publisher)
Safe payments by:
We're here to provide physical, financial and emotional support. So whatever cancer throws your way, we're right there with you. Contact us
© Macmillan Cancer Support 2019 © Macmillan Cancer Support, registered charity in England and Wales (261017), Scotland (SC039907) and the Isle of Man (604). Also operating in Northern Ireland. A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales company number 2400969. Isle of Man company number 4694F. Registered office: 89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7UQ. VAT no: 668265007