In Melanoma Mama: On Life, Death, and Tent Camping, Constance Emerson Crooker shows the power of the human spirit to soar above the grim realities that come with a diagnosis of Stage IV cancer. She refuses to lie about death, so she relates both her fears and her sassy challenge to the Grim Reaper. In this true narrative, she deftly weaves two stories in contrapuntal harmony. The journeys into the darkness of her treatments are lightened as they intermingle with the sparkling tales of her solo, cross-country tent camping trip—a trip she had not expected to live long enough to enjoy. There is nothing typical about this book. It is a cornucopia of keen and funny observations about America's wild places told by an insatiably curious woman who is gregarious company on this road trip through life. You will meet a person who can find joy while entangled in a tango with death—a person who has learned that when life and death no longer matter, true joy is possible. The author's honesty will impact you forever, opening the door for you to bravely face life's deepest mysteries.