Michael Connors, of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), calls Wolf's book "very moving." He adds, "Unfortunately ... (on) a daily basis we hear heartbreaking tales of neglect and abuse ..."

An especially ironic twist to Wolf's story is that her had mother combined holistic and conventional medicine to cure herself of terminal cancer only to fall prey, a quarter of a century later -- all tumors long since dissolved -- to the terminal conditions of the health care system.

About the Author
Alexa Wolf won first place in a poetry contest for her age group (12) and a fellowship to the MacDowell Colony; has written for the L.A. WEEKLY, PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES and THE NEW YORK NATIVE; and has appeared on THE TODAY SHOW, OPRAH! and elsewhere. This is her first book.