Search - Deadline

Reviewed by coollibrarianchick for TeensReadToo.com

Let's say you find out in a routine physical exam that you have a rare disease and will only have approximately one year left to live. What would you do? Would you get treatment to prolong your life even if it's just for a little while, or would you refuse treatment and just live out the rest of your days as a normal person? Tough choice; I am not sure what I would do.

Ben Wolf is faced with this dilemma in Chris Crutcher's newest book, DEADLINE. He finds out in the beginning of his senior year that he has leukemia. Not only does he refuse treatment but he also decides not to tell anyone about his condition, either, which means that his family and friends are all in the dark until almost the very end of the story.

Why did he decide to do things that way, you might wonder? I get why he decided not to tell anyone at school. They would treat him as if he was fragile, like glass, or like the town leper. Normalcy is something you strive for when things in your world are turned upside down. I would've told my family, though, because they are my family through better or worse. I hate lying to them. Ben didn't see it as lying at first. He just saw it as hiding the truth, which in reality is the same thing.

Being sick made Ben do and see things that he never would have done before. Instead of coasting through his senior year, he used the year to find information, read everything he could and speak up and push his teachers so he could get the most from his education. He also decided to switch sports and play football instead of running cross country. And, finally, he got the girl, too.

Courageous or foolish? You decide. Eventually, though, reality does set in.....