Product Description

An intensely moving and uncompromisingly honest story told in the words of a 16-year-old girl who is dying of leukaemia.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #431 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Sunday Times
'Dealing frankly with teenage life, Before I Die will be the year's most talked-about novel'

Heat
'A novel that won't fail to touch those who read it...will make you happy to be alive'

Synopsis
Tessa has just a few months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It's her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is sex. Released from the constraints of 'normal' life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa's feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa's time finally runs out. "Before I Die" is a brilliantly-crafted novel, heartbreaking yet astonishingly life-affirming. It will take you to the very edge.

Customer Reviews

Uplifting, warm and humbling
I have just finnished this book and I write this review through tears. In the day it took me to read I have laughed, cried, felt uplifted and humbled.

This is the story of 16 year old Tessa who is dying of terminal cancer. In her last months she makes a list of 10 things she wants to do before she dies (this includes falling in love and saying yes to everything for one whole day). Tessa goes through a range of emotions including anger (why her?) but the overriding feeling I got from her was an amazing spirit. She notices things that you and I forget to notice - the colour of leaves, the sound of a thunder storm, sunshine reflecting in a tea cup. These are the things that make her feel alive and she embraces them in a way that most of us who think we have years left infront of us don't.

This is a beautifully written and important book. It reminds us to live.

not bad for a kiddies book
i picked this up on a whim - yet had to read it all in one go. one of the best books i've read in a while. the characters were well drawn and there as enough for older readers to relate to, what with the drugs etc. the ending makes you wonder what we're all really here for. is death just it?

Before I Die - Jenny Downham
I found this book pulls at all your emotions you feel happy one minute, angry and sad another. All the characters have important parts in this book, not just Tessa it is not just soley about her. It is book people should read to be aware of what goes on with families in these situations.

It would be great to know what happens next, does Zoey cope with her new baby? Does Mum and Dad get back together? Is Adam able to go to university and leave his Mum?

I recommend anyone to read this, it's short easy read, teens or older. I read it one afternoon sunbathing in my garden.