Deadline: A Book Review
October 21, 2009 • written by Ruby Oluoch
What would you do if you knew you had less than one year to live? Who would you tell, and when? Would you even tell anyone? These are all problems Ben Wolf faces in the book, Deadline by Chris Crutcher. Ben is an eighteen year old who one day visits his doctor only to find out that he has a terminal illness and has less than one year to live. To the surprise of his doctor, and to himself, Ben decides not to undergo treatment. To add to his drastic decisions, Ben also decides to keep his illness a secret.
With the knowledge that his days left alive are scarce, Ben constructs himself a bucket list of sorts. He decides to try out for his football team even though he’s only one-hundred and twenty three pounds and just over five feet. Without the worry of graduating, Ben challenges and frustrates his civics teacher in an attempt to make him more accepting. And most importantly on his list of priorities, Ben decides he must finally ask out the sassy and smart Dallas Suzuki.
Ben is guided through his journey by a character who he only meets in his dreams, called Hey-Soos. With the help of Hey-Soos , he finds out a lot about his town and the people who live in it. As he develops relationships with Dallas, his coach, the class bully, and the town drunk, Rudy, he discovers he’s not the only one with secrets in his town and that maybe keeping his own demons hidden was not the best choice after all.
Overall, Deadline is an enjoyable read. There are a bundle of issues in this book ranging from child abuse, censorship, teenage motherhood, alcoholism, and death but Crutcher organizes the plot in a way that all those problems do not become overwhelming. Ben’s sarcastic tone was entertaining to read but it sometimes made it hard to believe that his feelings and reactions were genuine. However, the supporting characters did a great job at adding nice emotional balance to the story. The countless football terms became hard to follow, but the game descriptions read like poetry. Read this novel with the expectation of shedding a few tears and gaining a new perspective on life itself.
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Ruby! I really like your book reviews! I’m definately planning on reading this story! Nice job!
Hey Ruby,
Fatastic. Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much, Sam. Be sure to let me know you feel about it once you’re done.