Before I Die
posted in realistic fiction, young adult, book review |
Before I Die by Jenny Downham (2007)
“How long can I stave it off? I don’t know. All I know is that I have two choices–stayed wrapped in blankets and get on with dying, or get the list back together and get on with living.”
Tessa Scott, 16-year-old British teenager with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, ponders choices such as this throughout her story–she shares her desires, fears, doubts, regrets, lust, love, relationships, courage, and life right up to the end of her life. The plot develops around Tessa’s list of 10 things to do before she dies (some legal, some not, but all attempts to feel fully alive).
Tessa has a family surrounding her, but she feels utterly alone as only she will be traveling all of the way to (and through) death’s door. Her reliable father is stuck in denial, her unreliable mother is sometimes present and sometimes not and usually selfish, and her younger brother Cal is dealing with her impending demise in his own way (such as bestowing gifts upon her like the book entitled “A Hundred Weird Ways to Meet Your Maker”).
And then there’s the boy-next-door, Adam. Adam is dealing with his own grief—”I’m only just coping” he tells Tessa—from losing his father and being sole caretaker of his mother. Eventually, Adam overcomes his initial reluctance about getting involved with a dying girl, and he sticks with Tessa to the end. Along the way, they both learn a great deal about coping and love–about how love helps one cope and brings life to its most vivid form.
Warning: Tessa’s recurring interest in having sex does play a rather large role in the novel and there is some explicit narration of thoughts and actions in this regard. Further Warning: You will likely wish that the book does not end as it does (shedding tears is a real possibility). But if you read those warnings and still want to give Before I Die a chance, then you may just turn the last page and close the book with a greater appreciation of each and every breath and each and every moment you have on this earth.
