Books › Deadline
Deadline
First published 2007 · 336 pages
A fiercely funny, ticking-clock tearjerker about living a lifetime's worth of rebellion and love in a single year.
What it feels like
This is a fiercely energetic, bittersweet read that masks its heavy existential dread behind a wall of sharp teenage snark. The narrative moves at a brisk, urgent clip, driven by a protagonist who treats his own mortality as a deadline for ultimate rebellion. You are immediately pulled into a sunlit but shadowed small-town atmosphere, where every football game, classroom debate, and awkward romance feels charged with a poignant, ticking-clock intensity. The prose is highly conversational and irreverent, yet it frequently drops into moments of profound, gut-punching philosophical clarity. It is a book that delights readers who crave life-affirming tearjerkers, offering a deeply emotional journey that transitions from manic defiance to a quiet, heartbreaking vulnerability.
- Mood
- bittersweet
- urgent
- life-affirming
- poignant
- Tone
- irreverent
- sarcastic
- earnest
- philosophical
- defiant
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- mortality and legacy · the weight of secrets · seizing the moment · brotherhood · small-town dynamics
- The writing
- Sharp, witty, and highly conversational, blending teenage snark with sudden, striking moments of philosophical clarity.
- The arc
- Moves from a manic, defiant sprint against time into a deeply vulnerable, heartbreaking acceptance of mortality and connection.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love tearjerkers masked by sharp humor and rebellious protagonists determined to live fully on their own terms.
Content notes
- terminal illness
- death and dying
- grief
- child abuse
- alcoholism
About the book
Ben Wolf has big things planned for his senior year. Had big things planned. Now what he has is some very bad news and only one year left to make his mark on the world.How can a pint-sized, smart-ass seventeen-year-old do anything significant in the nowheresville of Trout, Idaho? First, Ben makes sure that no one else knows what is going on — not his superstar quarterback brother, Cody, not his parents, not his coach, no one. Next, he decides to become the best 127-pound football player Trout High has ever seen; to give his close-minded civics teacher a daily migraine; and to help the local drunk clean up his act. And then there's Dallas Suzuki. Amazingly perfect, fascinating Dallas Suzuki, who may or may not give Ben the time of day. Really, she's first on the list.Living with a secret isn't easy, though, and Ben's resolve begins to crumble... especially when he realizes that he isn't the only person in Trout with secrets.
Description from Open Library.
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