![[_Rebell_] Avatar](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v511/Realitivelysane/Icons/z44070963.jpg){kind=icon}
Post by [_Rebell_] on Apr 6, 2008 9:41:37 GMT -5
Has anyone read this book? If not, you really really should, it's amazing. Here's some info about it:
"If it sometimes seems as though the world is killing itself—the papers are full of spectacular evidence—here, between covers, is something to live for. Yes, a book, a first novel no less, about a 16-year-old girl dying of leukemia. This may sound too depressing for words, but it is only one indication of the inspired originality of Before I Die, by Jenny Downham, that the reader can finish its last pages feeling thrillingly alive…All the way through, Downham gives Tessa the power to tell her own truth, to represent her imperfect, all-too-human self, as well as the imperfect, all-too-human selves of those around her, without regard to the opinions and values of others. The result is as honest and indelible a portrait of a young adult at risk—no, beyond risk—as one is likely to find in recent literature. One of the more surprising revelations to be found in Before I Die is that it's a "young adult novel" only in the sense that readers Tessa's age are perhaps the ideal audience for a true story about death. I don't care how old you are. This book will not leave you."- New York Times
It's amazing, everyone should read it...it's about a girl named Tessa, who has lukemia and decides to end treatment because it's going nowhere. So she makes a list of ten things she wants to do before she dies (ten things that turn into 11 or 12) and she does all she can to accomplish them before she dies. The story, seems real, because there is no fariy tale ending, it ends just like any real persons story would, depressingly, and too soon. But the guy from the NYT is right, it makes you feel alive after reading it, it's inspiring, it made me want to make my own list of ten things to do (I haven't managed to yet, I'm just a slacker) it made me want to feel alive.
It's totally amazing. You should all read it.
"If it sometimes seems as though the world is killing itself—the papers are full of spectacular evidence—here, between covers, is something to live for. Yes, a book, a first novel no less, about a 16-year-old girl dying of leukemia. This may sound too depressing for words, but it is only one indication of the inspired originality of Before I Die, by Jenny Downham, that the reader can finish its last pages feeling thrillingly alive…All the way through, Downham gives Tessa the power to tell her own truth, to represent her imperfect, all-too-human self, as well as the imperfect, all-too-human selves of those around her, without regard to the opinions and values of others. The result is as honest and indelible a portrait of a young adult at risk—no, beyond risk—as one is likely to find in recent literature. One of the more surprising revelations to be found in Before I Die is that it's a "young adult novel" only in the sense that readers Tessa's age are perhaps the ideal audience for a true story about death. I don't care how old you are. This book will not leave you."- New York Times
It's amazing, everyone should read it...it's about a girl named Tessa, who has lukemia and decides to end treatment because it's going nowhere. So she makes a list of ten things she wants to do before she dies (ten things that turn into 11 or 12) and she does all she can to accomplish them before she dies. The story, seems real, because there is no fariy tale ending, it ends just like any real persons story would, depressingly, and too soon. But the guy from the NYT is right, it makes you feel alive after reading it, it's inspiring, it made me want to make my own list of ten things to do (I haven't managed to yet, I'm just a slacker) it made me want to feel alive.
It's totally amazing. You should all read it.
