Chapter Summaries

Chapters 1 - 5

Cam and her best friend, Lily write their “Flamingo List” - a list of things they want to do before they die. Cam goes to Family Dollar and steals a plastic flamingo for her flamingo list, but finds about her disease in the process. Cam goes to the doctor and discovers that she will die soon. When Cam’s mom finds out, she gets determined to find a miracle for Cam, in spite of Cam’s lack of hope. Cam goes to Disneyland after a lot of attempts to cure her disease, but she got dizzy and nauseated, so her friend Jackson drove her home. Cam finds out she and her family are going to Promise, Maine in a attempt to cure her sickness.

Chapters 6 - 10

As they make their way to Promise, Maine, the family stops at a gift shop and then go to South Carolina so that Cam can visit her best friend, Lily, where Cam sends a letter to Make-A-Wish. The day after Cam arrives at South Carolina, her and Lily go to the park to meet Lily’s boyfriend, Ryan. After getting to know Ryan, instead of feeling happy for Lily, Cam insists that he is using her, and Lily thinks Cam is just being negative and wants Cam to leave her alone.  Cam, Alicia, and Perry visited Nana. The night after arriving, Cam and Nana snook off to a church to get a leaf from the church’s tree in an attempt to cure Cam’s sickness. Cam gets the leaf, but a priest catches her on the tree and her bird, Tweety, flies away. Cam and her family leave her grandma’s house and head to Maine.

Chapters 11 - 15

When they arrive at Maine, they go to the lobster pound and meet a guy named Asher who lets them stay in his house. When Cam arrived at Asher’s house, she found Tweety at the door, though she thinks it is just by instincts and not a miracle. Cam and her family settle in Asher’s house. Cam gets invited to a summer solstice party in the island of the lighthouse. The next night, Cam goes to the party and loses her virginity, even though she doesn’t fully enjoy it. The next day, Cam goes to the vet and Elaine, the lady who owns the place, hires Cam.

Chapters 16 - 20

Cam goes out with the friends she met at the party and sees a flock of flamingos that migrated to Maine, and doesn’t believe that’s a miracle. Her sister, Perry sees the flamingos and thinks it is a miracle, but Cam refuses to believe in miracles and kills her little sister’s dreams. Cam wanted to make her family better, so she planted flowers in her mother’s garden to make it look like they had grown overnight. She also steals a donkey from the vet, paints it, and ties a horn to it to make it look like a unicorn.

Chapters 21 - 25

Alicia confronts Cam, angrily reminding her that she is not the only person affected by her illness. Cam’s mother, Perry, and all of Cam’s friends are also suffering, more because of Cam’s negative attitude than the effects of her cancer. One day, Cam tries to call Lily, only to receive the news that she has died. Cam tries to commit suicide, but she is found in time by Asher, who calls for help. As Cam recovers, Asher asks Cam to start dating him.

Chapters 26 - 30

Cam receives a letter back from Make-A-Wish that lets her and up to ten friends go to Disney World. Cam, Sunny, Royal, Autumn, Grey, Asher, and Perry sneak out to go to Disney World.

Chapters 31 - 34

When Cam, her friends, and Perry get back from Disney World, Alicia gets engaged and married. A package comes from Lily in the mail which includes Lily’s own bucket list. The only item not crossed off is “find true love” which makes Cam sad until she realizes that she has found love with Asher and should enjoy it, if only to honor Lily’s memory.

Chapters 35 - 37

Cam knows that her symptoms are getting worse and she will not live much longer. She encourages Asher to leave Promise and fulfill his dreams. He is angry at Cam for trying to push him away and storms out. A ghost appears to Cam and urges her to call Asher back so that he can be with her as she dies. As Cam’s symptoms worsen, she must leave Promise to be admitted to a nearby hospital. She says goodbye to her family. Asher shows up just in time so Cam is able to say goodbye to him as well. Cam realized she had learned a little about hope, and was going to hold it out until her last wish came true. She is taken to the hospital, where she dies peacefully.