2It helps to know what to expect when a parent has cancer. Knowing the facts makes things seem less scary and out of control. The Year My Mother Was Bald is Clare's journal and scrapbook the year her mother is diagnosed with cancer and goes through treatment. Clare tells her story, shares her feelings, and describes her family's experiences from her mother's diagnosis to chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation. Young readers will learn to understand the science of cancer and its treatments and will take comfort in knowing that they're not alone and that their feelings are normal.