DG and DP

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        In the inspiring book, Drums Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick, a thirteen-year-old boy named Steven Alper sacrifices many things for his little brother with Leukemia. Steven was an average eighth grader with a normal little brother named Jeffery. But one day, Jeffrey fell off of a chair and started gushing blood, and they knew something was wrong. At the end of that day, Steven found out that his baby brother had cancer and his life took a big turn. To live with a family member with cancer, Steven had to change in a lot of ways, mature a lot, and give up a lot of things. He refused drum lessons when they got too expensive for his family. He didn't let the girl he really liked into his house because she had a cold at the time and would make Jeffrey sick because of his weak immune system. Most of all, he missed his big concert to go on an unexpected trip to the hospital with Jeffrey.

        In Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, Steven refused drum lessons when the expenses were too much for his family. Steven's family was having a money shortage due to Jeffery's cancer treatments. Cancer treatments are not cheap, and can cost thousands of dollars, that the family didn't have. Steven thought that he could take his councilor’s advice, to change what he can change and not worry about the things that he can't, and apply that to his problem, and he could save his family a little extra money by not taking drum lessons, and therefore, help them pay for his little brother's treatment that he needed so desperately. Drum lessons cost $20 a lesson, and Steven went up to his drum teacher and quit. Luckily, his drum teacher already knew his situation and was willing to give Steven drum lessons for free. Even so, I don't think Steven would have even thought about giving up before Jeffrey got cancer. The drums were one of the many things Steven was willing to give up for his brother.

        Steven Alper had a very big crush on a girl named Renee Albert until the end of Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie. When Steven asked her to help tutor him at his house he was beyond excited. Unfortunately when Renee walked in, he realized that she had a cold, and that she couldn't come in because of Jeffrey’s weak immune system. So he couldn't let her in at all. If you need to get a better picture of this situation, the boy had a crush on this girl since the third grade! So you can safely say that it took a much more mature Steven to give up the chance to turn down the prettiest girl in the eighth grade, and to give up the chance to be tutored by her.

         Finally, Steven had a big concert that he had been looking forward to and practicing for all year, but something unfortunate happened; Steven noticed Jeffrey throwing up in the trashcan, and felt his head. He had a temperature. They had to rush him to the hospital, because a fever could endanger a child's life if he has cancer. Not always, but a lot of the time. Right after Steven's best friend comes up to him that the concert he just found out he had to leave, already raised a lot of money. See, the concert was a benefit for Steven's little brother to help the family pay for all of the medical expenses. Steven was faced with the decision to stay and look like a jerk, or go with his brother, misses his big concert, but look like a hero. He picked the latter, but I am not so sure he would have gone with Jeffrey so fast at the beginning of the book.  Giving up his concert for his brother was the biggest sign of Steven’s maturity in Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie.

        Lastly, that is why Steven changed and matured so much between the beginning and the end of Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick. He refused people, and important events in his life for Jeffrey's well being, and gave up things that were very important to him, like his big concert and the drums. But all in all, Steven went from being pretty selfish, toa not only mature, but to being a much better brother.