In this book, Cindy Dell Clark tells the stories of children who suffer from two common illnesses that are often underestimated by those not directly touched by them—asthma and diabetes. She describes how play, humor, and other expressive methods, invented by the children themselves, allow families to cope with the pain. Her interviews with forty-six families give readers an understanding of how children comprehend their illnesses and how parents struggle to care for their sons and daughters while trying to give them a "normal" childhood.