Deadline

David Donovan

Author: Chris Crutcher

Pages: 316

Rating: 9.8889 (out of 10)

The book I read was called Deadline. This book is about an 18 year old student in Trout Idaho, a town with a population of 943. After Ben is told he is dying from a rare condition, he is determined to make the best of his remaining year to live. Ben’s goal is to complete as much of his life as he can in a year. The first thing he does is go out for the football team. As a senior, Ben only weighs 123 pounds, but prevails as an incredible asset to the team. His brother is the starting quarterback, which makes bens life a little easier. Ben also follows his interest in a girl named Dallas Suzuki, and they become close over time. I noticed Ben enhances many of his relationships over the course of this book. He becomes very close with people such as his coach, his dream girl, other players on his team, and even his own family. Ben goes through a lot in this book. I am almost done with it so I cannot say everything, but I did pick up a lot more messages than I expected from a book revolving around sports. Because Ben realized that he truly had something so important to lose in such a small amount of time, he was more driven to try new things and take chances. Ben wanted to use all the life he could before it was too late. This book is very intriguing because it dabs on the question of what Ben is to face after death. This book really showed me that you never truly and fully appreciate something until you realize you cannot have it much longer, that is when you want it, because you cannot except that possibility of it not being there anymore. Ben realized this, so he tried everything he could manage, and was able to excel so far in football at only 123 pounds. Ben had a strong and courageous character throughout the book and I respect the character he carries with him, and the way he acts with reason and meaning. I gave this book a 9 out of ten because I just I didn’t want to stop reading it. The book inspires me to appreciate life as a gift and not a burden. A book has never taught me so much while also incorporating the best sport in the world (fact). I would recommend this book to any of my football buddies because it shows life at such an inspiring angle that really allows you to appreciate what you have. Goodnight.