Crutcher, Chris.
DEADLINE
New York : Greenwillow Books, 2007.
IL YA
ISBN 0060850892

(3 booktalks)

What would you do if you were told that you had less than a year to live?  You probably haven't thought too much about it.  Ben Wolf certainly hadn't.  He's going into his senior year full of plans for the future.  But when he takes his physical for cross country, he learns that he has a terminal illness.  Since he is 18, he can decide what to do -- or not to do.  He decides not to tell anyone.  And not to get any treatment.  How can he get through the year with such  weight on his shoulders?  And is it fair to those around him not to share in this news?

Booktalk #2

During a routine sports physical just before his senior year, Ben Wolf finds out he has one year to live. He swears the doctor to secrecy, refuses treatment, doesn’t tell anyone about his diagnosis, and decides to do everything he always wanted to do including playing football, pursuing his long-time crush, and petitioning to have the main street in his small town named after Malcolm X, all the while conversing through dreams with a spiritual guide known as “Hey-Soos.” (Florida Teen Read, 2009)

Booktalk #3

What would you do if you knew you only had one year to live? Different people would have very different answers to that question. Ben is a high school senior when he finds out he has an incurable form of leukemia. He decides that rather than waiting to die, he wants to live life to the hilt! He makes the decision to keep his illness a secret from family and friends, and skips traditional medical treatments that could have debilitating side effects. Ben can do that because he’s over the legal age of 18. The plan is to live out his senior year as “normally” as possible. He wants to go all out and cram a whole lifetime into one year, and he does! Ben tries out for football, despite the fact that he weighs less than a hundred and thirty pounds; he befriends the town drunk; and he finally gets up the courage to ask out the girl of his dreams. This is a quick read with a blend of football action, love scenes and true-life drama.  (Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Awards Program, 2009-2010)