Children's Book Chronicles Milford Teen's Triumph Over Cancer

BOSTON (CBS) -- A new children's book by a local author was inspired by a Milford teenager's fight against cancer. The story of triumph chronicles singer Carlie Gonzales' battle as cancer robbed her of her voice.

Gonzales, 19, of Milford, is a freshman at Worcester State. She says music has always consumed her life. "It's just been something that comes so natural. It's like breathing," she said.

She was 14 when she got devastating news -- that she was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. She completed 27 cycles of chemotherapy.

"I had sores in my throat and I slept 23 out of 24 hours a day, and music was kind of taken away from me," Gonzales said.

The chemo damaged her vocal cords, and she couldn't sing.

"I just remember looking out the window and asking myself how far could I run, and if I could run far enough to get away from it," she remembered.

But after months of treatment -- countless surgeries and a bone removal -- her voice is back.

And there's a newly published book about her: "Life Is Like a Song to Me," written by local author Todd Civin and illustrated by Leah Dennehy.  It chronicles her triumph over cancer in musical rhyme.

Four years after finishing treatment, Gonzales is still working to strengthen her voice.