About the Book

Lancali, a talented author, has written a story titled "I Fell in Love with Hope" which discusses the lives of several teenagers struggling with various illnesses. This work, which has been nominated for the Goodreads Award, tells the tale of individuals whose proximity to death has grown closer due to their diseases.

Now that they see the end of life approaching, they make an emotional decision to escape from the hospital and engage in various thefts. The narrator of the story is an omniscient being, and among the main characters—Sam, Sunny, Neo, and Kur (sometimes referred to as Hikaru)—the central character is Sam, around whom most events are presented to the audience. The four teenagers, who have become close friends over time in the hospital due to their shared fates, repeatedly express a common sentiment: now that life is trying to take their time away, they must spend their remaining moments through various thefts.

Sunny is a girl with one lung, making it difficult for her to breathe; Neo has been in a wheelchair for some time due to a spinal condition and is the mastermind of the group because he is a skilled writer and has taken on planning responsibilities. Kur has a heart condition, and Sam, suffering from a serious illness, has lost the love of his life—the one who promised to stay by his side—and is not in a good physical or mental state. The group of four teenagers engages in interactions that lead them to a store to obtain some drinks and cigarettes. Their first illegal act is escaping from the hospital, and after receiving a free pack of cigarettes, they sit together and enjoy their drinks while discussing their next planned thefts.

About the Author

Lou Andréa Callewaert, a French author, writes and publishes under the pseudonym Lancali. She immigrated to the United States at the age of ten and studied classical literature at the University of Florida. She began writing stories in her teenage years and demonstrated her talent in this field.

Who should read this book?

Readers looking for works with romantic and adventurous genres are encouraged to read "I Fell in Love with Hope" at an opportune time.

Book Quotes

Si should be on complete bed rest, but she constantly ignores this issue. Since their home is very close to the hospital, she rarely takes the time to rest. Even when she does rest, it’s next to Neo, who sleeps with his mouth open and murmurs things under his breath in his sleep.

Otherwise, she behaves as if everything in the world is perfectly in place. It’s as if she doesn’t realize she’s moving up the list for an organ transplant. She walks with Hikaru. When Hikaru steals a snack from a local bakery, she apologizes on his behalf and pays for it.

While reading Neo's story and her own, she paces quickly around the room, paying attention to the smallest details. She dances with the cat and plays board games with Sunny, half of her mind here and half somewhere else.

Tonight we argued; we’ve never had a fight like this before, and he just came to sit by the bridge to get away from me, or at least I think so. I’m not sure now that I’ve revealed my secret, now that he knows who I am and what I am, the anger that enveloped us both is dissipating. It’s as if this anger has consumed one of our flaws and made it painful, and now it’s gradually healing.

Confessions are ruthless and surrender themselves to their own nature, but my confessions are measured. The truth is that who I am doesn’t make any sense at all, but then again, it doesn’t have to make sense. He knows this; from the day he was born, he has been sick. Being sick teaches a person that reasoning and justification are merely futile attempts to rationalize suffering.

The laughter I love echoes in the air. The laughter I pulled from his chest when there was a needle in his veins and he was lying down, the moment he squeezed my hand and desperately tried to grasp something real.