Deadline

 

Crutcher, C. (2009). Deadline. New York: Greenwillow Books.

Deadline by Chris Crutcher opens with Ben Wolf, an eighteen-year-old senior,  finding out that he is dying from a rare blood disease. "... you'll be lucky to have a year," the doctor says. Ben decides not to tell anyone and denies treatment. Knowing that his time is limited, Ben decides to take full advantage of every moment he has left. He begins to do things that he would not normally do. He joins the football team and he tries to get the attention of Dallas Suzuki, who he thinks is the smartest and most beautiful girl in the world. He stands up to Mr. Lambeer, one of his teachers, because Ben feels that he is educating students with biased material and even decides that for a class project he will try to get a street in a mostly white neighborhood named after Malcolm X. Since he knows he is dying, he starts living life without fear of consequences. Ben finds that keeping his illness a secret is becoming more difficult because he feels like he is betraying those close to him. As he begins to build his relationships, he realizes it is wrong to keep his impending death a secret so he finally tells. His friends and family support him until the end. Before he died, Ben wrote a touching letter that was read at his funeral. He was able to bring the people in his small town closer to one another and his memory would remain in their hearts forever. 

Deadline is a novel that reminds readers that one should never take things for granted. Ben did not let his future dictate his present and lived his last days to the fullest. He (and this book) shows people to live each day like it was their last.