When cc’s brother Jad was diagnosed with cancer, she became his unwavering support, even enlisting in the Marine Corps to give him no excuses for staying in bed. Together, they fought through the toughest challenges, with cc’s Marine journey strengthening their bond. While Jad was in treatment at Sloan Kettering, cc wrote The World of Atlas, a deeply personal series that honors the courage of cancer patients—especially the children she met at the hospital.
The series offers readers a unique, interactive experience: they can find mistakes in the books and submit edits to earn writing credits, while parents can submit their children to be included in the story, with their own superpowers, so their bravery can be immortalized for generations.
Through her military journey, her brother’s fight, and now her publishing house, cc’s mission is clear: to celebrate resilience, hope, and the power of unity through storytelling.
What was the inspiration behind The World of Atlas?
The World of Atlas series started in the corner room on the 9th floor of Sloan Kettering Hospital. I had thought for the longest time how light and full of love this floor was in spite of all the hardships happening in every room. It wasn’t a place I ran away from, honestly it was home. I can’t tell you how much the kids I met there changed my life. How inspiring it was to watch them smile while being connected to their chemo treatment. How to this day, when I talk about them, goosebumps flood every inch of my skin, and my soul. Yes I get goosebumps on my soul. I become alert to my own vulnerabilities and my heart explodes.
It was them. It was my family. It was all families. It was the nurses. It was the doctors. It was the hospital staff. It was the volunteers. It was the security guy downstairs I saw every single day. It was the cafeteria staff. It was the church across the street. It was the view of 68th and York. It was neutropenia. It was the screams and the smiles. It was the successful remissions and the hard returns of tumors that affected so many. It was the good, the bad, the hard, the extremely hard, the unbearable, and the sad. A type of sadness that you think you can never come back from.
Yet, somehow, everyday, that tiny little breath becomes winds in your chest giving you energy for one more. One more story to share, one more day to appreciate, one more joke to make him laugh, one more shot of water to raise his counts, one more night to stay here in the hospital, one more minute to reach home after a long day of treatment, one more piece of sushi, one more of everything.
Those one mores became one more page. One more power. One more book.
In between the tears and the smiles, I found an entire universe of hope and love - I found superheroes.
What led you to the idea of having readers be co-creators?
Do you know who makes the parents, siblings and families smile? Yes it’s the good news doctors bring. It’s the health of our little heroes improving - yes this is all great.
But do you know who can lift spirits without so much as lifting a finger?
Our little heroes.
The power they hold in their tiny mighty hands can make or break so many people. When they say smile mom, dad, brother, sister - you smile. You smile because they are right.
I will give it my entire heart and soul to write these books so they can reach as many lonely souls as possible. But my word will not be the same as my co-creators who come with their story and show me how little I know and how much more I would love to learn.
They come as Olympians. They come from having been to the world I created. They come knowing what it feels like to be the one fighting cancer.
Who am I, who is anyone to deny their immortality to exist through these books?
I'm not creating a story. I am creating an entire movement of a Universe that I hope one day will be filled with millions.
How can families recognize their kids' superpowers when they're on health journeys such as battling cancer?
When do you start to recognize a superhero?
When they are on a journey to fight against something that causes harm to themselves and others. Something that seems like an impossible task. Something that allows miracles to appear.
From all the families I have had the honor and pleasure to meet I understood that we are all given keys. These keys open doors to a world of a different type of reality. One where most problems have become trivial. It’s no longer only about wanting my brother to heal so that I can see him become a husband, father, and happy young adult who goes to college.
It becomes more so along the lines of - I don’t care about what I want for him, just give him today and tomorrow and everyday you can. Please just let him smile more than the pain and let him know he is not alone. These desperate desires that families have - become fulfilled miracles when their loved ones actually smile. When their loved ones are happy and are handling the pain every single day and still living life to the fullest they possibly can.
I assure you - All the families I had the honor and pleasure to meet, already know that their loved ones have superpowers. They already know they are superheroes. I'm just screaming it off rooftops through my books to make sure the world learns what we know.
I can’t wait to read this book . I had the pleasure of meeting CC who was actually the HERO in supporting Jad and their parents during his battle against cancer. They were a solid team . Watching them laughing together during the most difficult challenges was so inspiring and gave us our strength to face our daily challenges . This book will keep the handsome and heroic Jad alive in our memories ❤️❤️❤️❤️
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