Deadline

Dear Chris Crutcher, You're the MAN !

Chris Crutcher is the Big Kahuna when it comes to young adult reality and he once again has proven his Kahunaness with Deadline! In this Crutcher classic you have all of his signature themes sports, teenage life, a close nit community, a complex growing problem, vulgarity, and a buffet of real world problems that most individuals wouldn¿t dare think about much less write about. Ben Wolf, a 123 pound 18 year old, is entering his senior year of high school knowing he¿s going to die and more than likely before he graduates. Everything in Ben¿s life is suddenly flung into categories, of heroic and average, that are begging him to go out a legend and not just another casualty of repetition and the regular 9-5. His predicament puts a new spin on his life taking him from supposed lock for podium placement at cross country state to the most dangerous 123 pound football player ever, he decides there is no better time to go after the most mysterious and most beautiful girl in school then when you literally have nothing to lose, and he finds a hidden gem in self satisfying community service of help cleaning up the ¿town drunk. Crutcher writes as if he is a teenager and I swear every time I turn to the back inside page and read his credentials it always shocks me to find out that he¿s not. The voice and tone of this book really come straight from the mind a 18 year old whether it is Ben¿s struggle of understanding the mechanics of relationships or feeling as if he can handle everything life throws at him on his own. Crutcher hooks you in in every possible way and answers every question that needs to be answered and leaves every question that doesn¿t up to you and when the ending hits you¿ll feel as if you never knew it was coming. Deadline doesn¿t just leave you thinking what would I do if I had only one more year to live it leaves you with many more serious areas of concern that every young adult should examine. What those areas are though you¿ll just have to read and find out.

9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

It Was Okay...

I really liked the attitude Ben Wolf had throughout the book. Though for someone like me I wasn't interested in all the football action, but as far as the side story having the situation with his mom and dad.
Also his relationship with Dallas Suzuki was a little dry in the beginning, but later when she finally told him what her secret was I was absorbed in the book because it only added to the difficulty he had and the challenge it would later turn out to be.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

One of the Best I've read in a While

I read this book in one sitting, the first time I opened it. It is such an emotional book, and I ended the book crying. But, this book has made me think about how I view life and how I treat people. It changed how I see everything, and I recommend it to all of my friends. I'm sure if you give this book a chance, you'll love it to.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Meaningful Book

This book, unlike a lot of teen fiction, really meant something to me once I finished reading. I thought the book looked interesting when I first picked it up, but after reading it I was so attached to the characters that the story was extremely meaningful and got me thinking about a lot of stuff I hadn't thought about before. Thank you, Chris Crutcher, for dealing with important ideas that a lot of writers skirt around.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A reviewer

This was a really great book, if you are like me and you like staying up late reading because you cant put the book down then this is the book for you.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Kait thinks...

It's written in terms that i have to re-read over and over to understand it. And it's been really hard to get into and follow for that matter. I can't give a too harsh review all because i haven't read the whole thing but normally i can read a book of that size within a few days and i've had this book for a few weeks and only spent an hour reading it because it's like i have to force myself. I'm only on chapter 4!!!! It's just dissapointing, it looks really good.

1 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Amazing

It is a amazing book. We just got done reading in school it was a great book and made some of us cry in class which never happens when we read books in class. So i deffently think that everyone should read it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

AMAZING

This book is by far my favorite book. I wish that there was a sequel for this book. It had me hooke after day one and i re-read it twice. I can't seem to find any other book like it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

What if you only had one year to live-and you knew it?

Senior year is exciting. Most want to get as much done as they can, and have fun before they go off to college. Things are a little different for Ben Wolf. When Ben's doctor tells him he has a rare blood disease and only has one year to live, Ben says no to treatment and tries to do everything he ever wanted. This book was a great read, and didn't dissapoint me with the ending. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants a novel that will make you laugh, but also make you really think.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A reviewer

im obsessed with books so i bought this one. [dur] anyways i started reading it the beginning was kinda slow but it got much better :]. you should read it. i love how ben leaves his mark on the world. Good Book. you should read it :]

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Completely Amazing

This Book was hands-down one of the best books I have ever read, and I read a lot. It was super clever, and unlike any book I've ever read. The plot was unique, the writting was superb. I absolutly fell in love with the main character, and even though you know that he has to die at the end (if you've read the overview, you'll know that I'm not giving anything away here) I was completely torn up. Read this book, it will change your life. I finished reading it two weeks ago and I can stop thinking about it. It's just one of those books that sticks with you

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I can't even begin to tell you how emotional and inspirationonal

I can't even begin to tell you how emotional and inspirationonal this book was... Total must read! After I finished reading it (and bawling my eyes out), I sat back and really thought about how short life can be... You know? It just made me look at things in a completely different aspect. Besides the messge, which I've already conveyed I loved, the overall story was fantastic too. With his growing relationship with Dallas, his newfound friendship with Rudy, and his already broken family, you can't help but think how it's going to end all the way throught. It's just one of those books that makes you think, and personally, I love those books. Romance, comedy, family, and football- what's not to love?

Loved It!!

This book was sooo great. Being ateen myself, i was able to easily connect with Ben. This book was just awesome. I would reccomend it to anyone

Pretty good!

This was a choice for one of my lit circle books for school. It's really good! The ending is kind of surprising...
every once in a while, the author says things oddly and it confuses me... but overall, its a really good book! I read it in a couple days-couldn't put it down!

This book is all about how Ben Wolf is about to die. He refuses

This book is all about how Ben Wolf is about to die. He refuses to tell any of his family or friends so he can be treated normally. He does have goals to fulfill in his shortened life. One is to go out for the football team, he is very good at it and his team goes all the way to the state championship, but looses. Another goal is to go out with Dallas Suzuki, which he thinks is nearly impossible. Until he does.
I liked the football talk and action in this book. It was very accurate and it seemed like it came from the view of a football player or coach. I also liked the life philosophy aspect of the book. The only thing I did not like was the drama and lovey-dovey part of it.
I wouldn't ever recommend this book. It is an okay book, but not anything I strongly like or think anyone else would especially want to read.

The book starts out with Ben Wolf getting news that he has a blo

The book starts out with Ben Wolf getting news that he has a blood illness, that is leaving him about a year to live. When he finds this out, he tells pretty much no one. Not his mom, dad, brother, friends, only his therapist, and hey-soos. In his mind, Ben realizes he has nothing to loose, and joins the school's football team his little brother plays on. Later on in the story you learn about Dallas, Ben's crush, who he eventually gets to know very well in the story. As the illness start to kick in, Ben decides it's time to tell, first Dallas, that does not deal with it very well, making him and completely ignoring him. Then his mom, dad, and brother, that just like any family member would do, cry. The ending of the book I really did like, it ended happy,and funny. I would recommend this book to any person who likes football because a lot of the book involves it, or really anyone. Some parts in the book doget confusing and you have to re-read them, but bsides that, I liked the book.

touching, well written story

Ben Wolf is your average 18 year old. He is super short, he has a crush on the most beautiful girl in school, and he has a terminal illness. Shortly after his routine cross country physical, he gets a call from his doctor telling him to come back into the office. Dr. Wagner tells ben that he will be lucky to have another year. The doctor tells Ben to let his parents know, and that they need to begin treatment immediately. But Ben has other ideas. He decides to go out in glory, not "that bald guy who puked his guts out". Ben doesn't tell his parents about the cancer, and instead of cross country decides to go out for football with his younger brother. Despite constant nagging from the doctor, Ben is already 18, and legally doesn't have to tell his parents. Everything is going great for Ben until he finds out a shocking piece of information about his new girlfriend, Dallas Suzuki, he begins to rethink his take on what to do.

I really enjoyed reading this book because of Chris Crutcher's great writing skills. Many authors can't accurately grasp exactly how teens think and feel, but, for whatever reason, Crutcher has a way of talking exactly like a teenager. Even though the idea of what Ben does in story may be a little far fetched, Crutcher uses such great description in the character's feelings that the whole book seems very realistic. I also really enjoyed how funny Ben's character was. He made you laugh as he was talking about dying.

Overall, this was a great book because of the characters, setting description, and humor. I would recommend this book to any middle or high school student that is looking for a quick but good read that makes you think about what is really important in life.

You Better Sit Down.

Ben Wolf, your average small-town high school senior is dying. He has been diagnosed with a terminal blood disease at his cross-country physical and has less then a year to live. So he immediately tells all of his family and friends and begins treatment, the chances of living are very slim but it's the best choice. Except he doesn't. He decides to live out his one year life and not tell anyone about his disease in hopes that he will be able to live this last year normal. This choice is much to the dismay of Ben's doctor and therapist, but it's his choice because he's eighteen and an adult by law.

Ben decides go out for football. He also decides to start questioning his social studies teacher, Mr. Lambeer. Ben thinks that Mr. Lambeer is full of crap in his teaching and doesn't actually teach the important things. Ben also decides to go after Dallas Suzuki, who has been a crush of Ben for quite sometime. Quite to his surprise, Ben prospers on the football field, gets Mr. Lambeer to question himself, and goes to homecoming with Dallas. This is soon forgotten when Ben is on his deathbed. Read this book to learn about Ben's trying experience and how he gets through telling his family, and Dallas, the girl Ben loves about his disease.

What's it like to know you're dying?

As 'senioritis' strikes most of the students in a small town in Idaho, Ben Wolf takes center stage. Ben starts up and takes a leadership position on his football team, goes on a date with the girl of his dream, and manages to call his teacher out on years of lies in the meantime, there's only one slight problem. Ben's dying, and only has one more year to live. It was amazing being able to see through Hey-Soos straight into Ben's thoughts, and get to connect to the ordinary aspects in Ben's life besides all of the turns and twists that Crutcher catches you off guard by. There were moments when I literally gasped aloud in shock, but you'll have to read for yourself to see how Ben handles not only his 'death sentence', but also the drama going on with those few around him.

Deadline is a book with a powerful message.

Chris Crutcher¿s Deadline is a book of fictional character Ben Wolf, who has only one year of life to live. He was diagnosed with some disease not mentioned in the book but it influences his decisions to ¿leave his mark on the world¿. He argues with teachers, meets new people, and plays football for the first time as he is slowly dieing. The message through this character is to show people to live with less secrets and to show everyone what you can do, making this an enjoyable read.

Chris Crutcher brings in the topic of bravery and secrets into the book. Ben, as soon as he learns about what he is going through, decides to keep everything a secret which leads to consequences later on. At some point he has to tell people what is happening but he keeps it to as few people as possible. No miracle's happen throughout this book, but because of the secret, Ben makes brave decisions. He tries out for football and it made him a town hero. He asked out the greatest girl in school to the homecoming dance. Plus he shared arguments with his teacher, and thoughts with the town drunk Rudy who shares a secret too. The author is showing that Ben is going to do more in the world while he approaches the end. He knows the character we want to read about.

Chris Crutcher makes Ben someone who takes the time he has, to do the brave and bold moves. Mid way through the first chapter, Ben¿s doctor says ¿you¿ll be lucky to have a year¿. Then Ben says at the end of the chapter ¿I¿m turning out for football¿. Ben was previously was dedicated to a cross country team but he goes on a U-turn career change when he refuses treatment and joins the football team for the first time. Ben is the type of character I want to read about in a book, who makes the bold decisions and is positive in what he chooses to do. He¿s the protagonist I love to read about. He is even bold enough even to do things that normal people are scared to do like asking out the greatest girl his school (Dallas Suzuki, in which he does take to homecoming), debate with a teacher that can prevent graduation if he doesn¿t agree, and learn from the town drunk who has a dark secret of his past. All because he had the bravery to do it. His secret will catch up with him and he admits at some point, saddening some people in the book. But he made the most of his time to the end, entertaining the reader. I think it is worth a read.