In the book Lucy the main character returns to 6th grade right after chemotherapy. She explains how she is being treated by her classmates as she adjusts. A couple boys tease her about her face saying “Hey, girl, take off that monster mask- oops, she’s not wearing a mask!” (Grealey 118) this quote relates to the song Stronger by Kanye West, because in the song he says “Work it, make it, do it, makes us Harder, better, faster, stronger (Work it harder, make it better)N-n-now that that don't kill me(Do it faster, makes us stronger)Can only make me stronger.” This relates to Lucy in this scene of the book because when she is being made fun of by the boys, but she doesn’t let them get the best of her. She takes their comments and uses it to make her better as a person as Kanye says in the song, that what doesn’t kills her makes her stronger.
The second example in the book is where she’s in the hospital getting chemo and she notices that her dad doesn’t want to be there when she does get treatment. “Perhaps in part he was embarrassed to see his daughter half naked, but I knew that he did not want to see me suffer.” (Grealey 84). This quote relates to the song Ever the Same by Rob Thomas and the lyrics “You may need me there to carry all your weight But you're no burden I assure.” because her dad doesn’t give up hope but he also isn’t there during her chemo because he doesn’t want to see his daughter suffer through the therapy. He feels as if he cannot handle the sight of seeing his daughter there and the position she is in, in the book its explained that he would only come in if her mother couldn’t but coming in is no burden to him but it is also not what he enjoys to be around.
The next example in the book is when Lucy is insecure about herself when she goes to the wig store to buy a wig and the man asks her to take off her hat. “I didn’t want to look at myself. I knew that the moment was coming when he’d ask me to take off my hat. I knew there was nothing I could do about it except pretend that I didn’t care.” (Grealey 108). This quote ties into the song “Who says” By Selena Gomez because in the song the lyrics say “You made me insecure, Told me I wasn't good enough.” This connects to the quote because in this song the you is cancer and cancer has made her insecure about herself and in the quote in the book she was insecure about herself because of her hair loss, and that affected her greatly.
The last example in the book is when she is dressing like a sl*t because she’s very self conscious about herself and is using being that way. “There I was with my short skirts and sharp mind and list of lovers, trying so hard to convince myself that maybe all I really needed to do was learn how to treat myself better.” (Grealey 211). This quote relates to the song Let That Be Enough by switch foot because in the song they say “ I wish I had what I needed to be on my own, cause I feel so defeated and im feeling alone. This relates because shes feeling alone and shes being someone who she isn’t in order to tell herself that she just needs to treat herself better.