Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Pages: 327
Intended Audience: Mature teens
Genre: True life / Dying & Death
Notes for Parents: Lots of bad behavior – drinking, smoking, graphic sex, drugs, stealing – and most of it happens with no consequences.

The Back Cover

How long can I stave it off? I don’t know. All I know is that I have two choices—stay wrapped in blankets and get on with dying, or get the list back together and get on with living.
Everyone has to die. We all know it.
With only a few months of life left, sixteen-year-old Tessa knows it better that most.
She’s made a list, though—ten things she wants to do before she dies. Number one is sex. Starting tonight.
But getting what you want isn’t easy. And getting what you want doesn’t always give you what you need. And sometimes the most unexpected things become important.
Uplifting, life-affirming, joyous—this extraordinary novel celebrates what it is to be alive by confronting what it’s really like to die.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

The novel was adapted into a film called Now is Good starring Dakota Fanning. It was released in 2012.

What’s good?

Teenaged Tessa is dying of leukemia and chooses to live her final days fulfilling her bucket list which includes having sex, trying drugs, and breaking the law. Her father and younger brother watch as Tessa struggles to find meaning in what little time she has left.
Best Part: The end was extremely well done.

What isn’t good?

I just couldn’t muster up any sympathy for Tessa. She was mean to her family (although her mother probably deserved it), she was petty and whiny, and her list was utterly ridiculous. Zoe was a terrible friend. She had many opportunities to be the voice of reason, but instead disregarded her dying friend’s needs. Tessa’s mother was pointless, unless she was there to illustrate why her daughter was so self-absorbed – like mother, like daughter.
Worst part: Everything but the end.

Recommendation þoooo

I was so disappointed by this portrayal of a dying girl. Being cheated out of life can make a person angry enough to do reckless things, but her motives were never made clear. The last 40 pages were absolutely beautiful, but I would have appreciated it more if I had cared at all about Tessa. Sadly, I can’t recommend this book.

Downham, Jenny. Before I Die. London: Ember, 2007.