The Cookie Cure

November 15, 2017
A mother-and-daughter team build a cookie business after battling cancer.As a senior in college, 22-year-old Susan Stachler was looking forward to graduating and starting a career. Meanwhile, her mother, Laura, wanted to start a dessert bakery. Then Susan, whose father had battled cancer, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, the same cancer that took the life of her namesake aunt. Suddenly, Susan was thrust into the world of chemotherapy and a debilitating sickness beyond anything she could have imagined. Fortunately, her parents, particularly her mother, were with her every step of the way. As she healed from treatment, Laura hired her to work for her baking cookies, especially the gingersnaps that had helped ease her nausea during chemo. As more people began to discover the delicious cookies, Laura decided to narrow her focus and launched Susansnaps, at Atlanta-based company offering "the ultimate gourmet gingersnap cookie." In a garage that they transformed into a bakery, Susan and Laura produced thousands of the cookies to be sold at food shows, farmers markets, online, and through retail shops. Eventually, local and then national news sites discovered them, helping to propel the company into the spotlight. Stachler's first-person perspective tells the story of how she fought cancer and won and of how she and her mother persevered through a variety of struggles, both physical and emotional, to create a successful business. Letters written by Laura to her dead sister give another viewpoint to this endearing, occasionally sappy tale of love, hope, and courage. Throughout, the devotion between mother and daughter is palpable. The Stachlers' unwavering dedication to their product is also apparent, which will convince readers that they deserve their success.A sweet story of a strong-willed mother-daughter combo team who stood up to cancer and created a thriving business in the process.

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Starred review from December 1, 2017
By the time Susan Stachler was diagnosed at 22 with Hodgkin's disease and facing a seemingly insurmountable challenge, her mother, Laura, had already seen her sister die from the same disease in her twenties and her husband diagnosed with incurable non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. During the months of Susan's excruciating chemotherapy, mother and daughter faced the pain as a team. Meanwhile, Laura was working to build her home-bakery business out of the family garage. When she discovered that her gingersnaps helped soothe Susan's stomach during chemo, the duo began bringing gifts of the cookies to fellow patients. After Susan began to regain her strength, she joined her mother in the bakery to build what would become Susansnaps. Through hard work and determination, the home business grew into a national phenomenon as news outlets became enamored of its story. This deeply heartfelt and moving memoir recounts how the Stachlers' darkest days ended in the triumph of building a successful business, each woman with her truest friend and ally by her side. Their memoir is a testament to the bond between mothers and daughters and a reminder that there is always hope.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)