Staff Book Review

Deadline by Chris Crutcher

In Deadline, Chris Crutcher's tells the story of Ben Wolf, a high school senior and talented athlete who gets diagnosed with a terminal illness. Ben has a year to live out his life the way he might have if he had lived beyond his high school years. Ben makes drastic changes in his life, like leaving position as a star on the cross-country team to play football with his brother. Since he is 18, Ben goes against his doctor's and therapist's wishes and decides to keep his illness a secret so that he can live out the last year of his life without dealing with pity or sadness from those close to him. His decision is one of the most interesting parts of the book because Ben has to deal both the positive and negative repercussions of concealing his imminent death. Ben has one year to get the intelligent and pretty Dallas Suzuki to go out with him, to be a 123 pound football hero, and to figure out how to tell people he's dying. Chris Crutcher deadline proves that a sports themed book can be more than just brawn; it discusses death in a way that gets to all the reasons why we are afraid to die or to lose someone close to us. It by far one of the better young adult books I have read about dying young. I would recommend this book for high school age readers.

Book Review by Corydon Shea at Cranesbill Books

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