When she asked her teenage daughters whether or not she should accept the American Cancer Society's Mother of the Year award, the response was a resounding, "Mom, of course." So Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, accepted the anti-cancer honor this week and told ABC's George Stephanopolous on Sunday why she is a good mom and a healthy role model.

"They see that I go running, I get on my bicycle, I do yoga, pilates, whatever else I do," Ferguson said. "Do you know what they do? Get up off the sofa, turn the television off, walk to work, walk around the block, more vegetables, more fruits at school, less soda pops, less fast food."

Ferguson, 47, says cancer prevention starts with good role modeling -- which is exactly what she has done as mom to princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

"I can safely say one of the best things I've done is be a good mother," Ferguson said.

Ferguson, author of memoir My Story and spokeswoman for Weight Watchers, first became known as the wife of Britain's Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. The pair divorced in 1996, but Ferguson's positive public persona has remained untarnished.

Two-time breast cancer survivor Tania Katan was first diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 21, and then again ten years later. With gutsy humor in an outlandishly candid expose, she faced cancer twice, dealt with a "supportive but neurotic family," swore off toxic girlfriends, wrote about her experiences in a book and performed a one-woman play, both called My One-Night Stand With Cancer.

Katan, who underwent a mastectomy each time she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and who appears naked above the waist in her back-of-the-book photo, ran a race to raise breast cancer awareness in the best form she thought possible -- topless. "People were racing for something very specific, to cure breast cancer, but they didn't want to see what breast cancer looks like."

On the Amazon webpage for her book, the description of My One-Night Stand With Cancer reads, "A Jewish lesbian's memoir loaded with humor. She survived to prove, perhaps, that laughter is in fact the best medicine. With lymph nodes negative and outlook positive despite lightning striking twice, this 10K runner shows great spirit and strength."

Her diagnosis came at the same time as mine -- in November 2004, just after her husband, John Edwards, and John Kerry lost the presidential election. She received the same treatment as I did -- lumpectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation -- and so I was especially interested in her breast cancer journey as it paralleled my own in many ways. But just after her diagnosis surfaced in the media, Elizabeth Edwards disappeared from the radar -- perhaps like we all do in some way while immersed in the maze of cancer. So I lost track of her. But now -- almost two years later -- Edwards is back from cancer, back in the headlines, and back with a new book, Saving Grace.

Edwards, 57, reveals on the pages of her book the intricacies of her cancer ordeal. She shares that she experienced every side effect possible throughout her treatment. She bruised, bled, developed sores in her mouth, experienced numbness in her hands and feet, lost her hair, felt nauseated, ached in her bones and joints, and suffered yellowed and damaged nails -- and then chemotherapy stopped and she went on to the burning, blistering effects of radiation. Still, she managed to survive. And she thanks those who helped her survive -- for their tenderness, encouragement, humor, tears, and love -- and she writes all about it in her memoir that reveals how she juggled life and marriage and kids and cancer and how she arrived in a new place. A happy place.

Marisa Acocella Marchetto is a self-proclaimed "shoe-crazy, lipstick-obsessed, wine-swilling, pasta-slurping, fashion-fanatic, single-forever, about-to-get-married big-city girl cartoonist with a fabulous life." Until she receives a breast cancer diagnosis and her world is turned upside down. But with grace and style and a bit of wild spunk, Marchetto takes on 11 months of treatment -- often attending chemotherapy appointments in rainbow pumps -- and she emerges victorious. This fun-loving Manhattan girl is no cancer victim -- she is a cancer vixen.

Cancer Vixen: A True Story is Marchetto's story -- a powerful comic-book memoir of one woman, a cartoonist for The New Yorker and Glamour, who at the age of 43 encounters the dreaded depths of breast cancer. A woman who cartoons her way through personal crisis. A woman who marries her prince charming. A woman who is now living happily ever after.

Evelyn H. Lauder, Founder and Chairman of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, says "Marisa's willingness to share her experiences in such an honest, personal way is an incredible inspiration -- whether you have experienced breast cancer or love someone who has endured its many challenges."

Cancer Vixen is a must read. And for a must-see teaser that will keep you wanting more, click here.

Cancer Happens: Coming of Age with Cancer is a book written by Rebecca Gifford. Rebecca was a young woman when she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. During the next two years, Rebecca endured chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant, the loss of her independence and the near-collapse of both her career and her social life.

It tells on her webpage that in her memoir, Rebecca also explores the wide range of emotions many cancer patients deny like anger, defiance, and vanity and openly shares the ordeal of living through cancer. Coming of age means to Rebecca that she is trying to just live long enough to become of age, she's faced with many of the issues other twentysomethings endure whether they have cancer or not. Like her peers, she desperately tries to figure out what kind of adult she wants to be. But she has to try to figure out who she is both with and without cancer--and then recognize the difference.

I bought Rebecca's book and read it a while back. I think I had at that time read every breast cancer survivor story printed. So at that point I looked for other young survivor stories of different cancers. I was glad I read her book because not long after a friend of mine was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in his early thirties. I emailed Rebecca from her website and she not only answered me but she sent a note to my newly diagnosed friend. I thought that was such a great gesture. One of the things I remember her saying that I liked was "hang in there". That phrase can mean a lot from one cancer survivor to another.

Geralyn Lucas, author of the memoir Why I Wore Lipstick to my Mastectomy can see the pages of her book come to life on the television screen this October -- during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month -- when Lifetime TV airs her story and spreads her word for all to see. Headlining in this Lifetime Original Movie are Sarah Chalke (Scrubs) and Jay Harrington (Desperate Housewives) whose performances will capture Lucas' struggle after a breast cancer diagnosis at age 27 and with a mastectomy, six months of chemotherapy, and a job she maintained throughout it all. Her job -- as an assistant story editor for the TV news program 20/20 -- kept her sane. While her physical world was falling apart, her mind was still working. And that -- along with a promotion during the same time -- kept her focused.

After her 1995 diagnosis, Lucas found herself working as Lifetime's own programming director. She also found herself as mom of post-cancer daughter Skye, and then found herself in the midst of writing a book. It wasn't her goal to write a book really -- but she took a writing class which prompted her to jot down her personal breast cancer story. And the rest is history -- and coming soon to a television screen near you. So stay tuned for October's programming schedule -- and find out why exactly Lucas wore lipstick to her mastectomy.