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  • Before I Die by Jenny Downham book cover
  • Before I Die by Jenny Downham book cover
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Before I Die

by Jenny Downham Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE

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A list made against time

$15.04 USD
$25.07 USD $15.04 USD
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Paperback New English

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Awards & Recognition

  • Editorial selection

    Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of the Year

    Listed as a Best Children's Book of the Year.

  • Author recognition

    Publishers Weekly Flying Start Author

    Described as a Flying Start Author; this recognition is attributed to the author, not presented as an award for ...

AlbakiReads Editorial

A list made against time

Tessa’s “To Do Before I Die” list gives the novel a clear organizing thread: she seeks new experiences while treatment and a failing body shape the time she has left. The story also brings mortality into the relationships around her, including those with her father, brother, estranged mother, best friend, and new boyfriend. Its central tension lies between Tessa’s effort to make choices for herself and the limits imposed by her illness, linking questions of desire and independence with family ties, grief, and bereavement.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Teens and young adults interested in stories about serious illness and mortality.
  • Readers interested in family relationships, friendship, and romance within a young adult story.
  • Those seeking fiction that addresses death, grief, and bereavement.

Themes

Mortality and bereavementIllness and agencyFamily relationshipsFriendship and romance

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

For the many readers who love The Fault in Our Stars, this is the story of a girl who is determined to live, love, and to write her own ending before her time is finally up.

Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, and 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, and her new boyfriend, are all painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa's time runs out.

A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of the Year
A Booklist Editors' Choice
A Book Sense Children's Pick
A Kirkus Reviews Editors' Choice
A Publishers Weekly Flying Start Author
An ALA-YALSA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults

The newly released feature film Now Is Good, starring Dakota Fanning, is based on Jenny Downham's intensely moving novel.
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Customer reviews

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Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

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Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

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Ella

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

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Olivia

Smooth.