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Ways To Live Forever

4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 · rating details · 2,072 ratings · 456 reviews

"My name is Sam. I am eleven years old. I collect stories and fantastic facts. By the time you read this, I will probably be dead."

Sam loves facts. He wants to know about UFOs and horror movies and airships and ghosts and scientists, and how it feels to kiss a girl. And because he has leukaemia he wants to know the facts about dying. Sam needs answers to the questions nob...more

Paperback, 215 pages

Published January 7th 2008 by Marion Lloyd Books

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Apr 07, 2010 Harun Harahap rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Lita, Echa dan Roos

Shelves: punya, fiksi, terjemahan

Saat aku membaca halaman pertama kisah ini dimulai, aku tahu bahwa aku akan jatuh cinta dengan buku ini.

Kisah ini menceritakan seorang bocah lelaki berusia 11 tahun yang menderita penyakit Leukimia. Bocah lelaki yang mempunyai rasa ingin tahu yang besar termasuk didalamnya adalah kematian. “Bagaimana kita tahu sudah mati? Sakitkah kalau mati? Apakah dunia masiha da setelah aku mati”, pertanyaan macam itu yang membuat saya ingin merengkuh dan memeluknya dan mengatakan semua akan baik-baik saja da...more Saat aku membaca halaman pertama kisah ini dimulai, aku tahu bahwa aku akan jatuh cinta dengan buku ini.

Kisah ini menceritakan seorang bocah lelaki berusia 11 tahun yang menderita penyakit Leukimia. Bocah lelaki yang mempunyai rasa ingin tahu yang besar termasuk didalamnya adalah kematian. “Bagaimana kita tahu sudah mati? Sakitkah kalau mati? Apakah dunia masiha da setelah aku mati”, pertanyaan macam itu yang membuat saya ingin merengkuh dan memeluknya dan mengatakan semua akan baik-baik saja dan terdiam tak menemukan jawaban yang pas untuk pertanyaannya.

Begitu juga yang dialami Ayah Sam, sangat sulit untuk menunjukkan kasih sayangnya secara terbuka. Lebih banyak terdiam dan bersikap acuh terhadap pertanyaan-pertanyaan Sam. Mungkin terasa sulit bagis eorang lelaki atau tepatnya Ayah tidak hanya untuk memberikan jawaban-jawaban itu tapi untuk melihat anak lelakinya yang sakit keras. Anak lelaki yang diharapkan untuk menjadi pemuas Ayah untuk meneruskan impian sang Ayah yang tak bisa tercapai. Anak lelaki yang diharapkan bisa membuatnya bangga dengan menghadiri pesta wisudanya atau pesta pernikahnnya.

Namun, akhirnya sang Ayah mulai mebuka diri dan membiarkan kasih sayang itu mengalir di dalam perhatiannya terhadap Sam. Hal ini pun ditunjukkan dengan mewujudkan salah satu permintaan terakhir yang paling mustahil dilakukan dalam daftar yang dibuat oleh Sam.Dan kisah itu dengan sukses membuat saya terharu dan mata berkaca-kaca.

Sam membuat daftar terakhir bersama sahabatnya, Felix yang juga menderita kanker. Berdua, mereka mewujudkan satu persatu permintaan Sam. Walaupun Felix merupakan bocah lelaki yang nakal, konyol, logis bahkan pesimis terhadap hidup tapi bisa membuat Sam yang bersifat kebalikannya itu tertawa dan sedikit melupakan kesakitannya. Lucu dan segar ketika mengikuti kisah mereka berdua dalam mewujudkan permintaan terakhir Sam. Namun, akhirnya membuat saya juga bertanya layaknya Sam, Mengapa Tuhan membuat anak-anak jatuh sakit?

Mungkinkah Tuhan tahu bahwa anak-anak lebih kuat dalam menghadapi kematian daripada orang dewasa. Dimana mereka belum mempunyai banyak permintaan dan pengharapan yang dituntut orang dewasa pada dunia. Tapi ya sudahlah, saya tidak ingin menginat yang sakit ataupun sedih. Benar seperti katamu, Sam:

“Bagaimana aku bisa mengingatmu, kalau aku merasa sedih waktu memikirkanmu.”
(less)

14 likes · like · see review

Jan 29, 2009 Josiah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"There's no point having wishes if you don't at least try to do them"

--Sam McQueen, "Ways to Live Forever", page 60

This book subtly captured me and led me into its story, until before I even knew what was happening I was totally invested, heart, mind, and soul, in Sam and his life. The tension of approaching climax weighed on me as if it were happening to my own friend, and the panic juxtaposed against Sam's own calm regarding the seeming inevitability of his impending death lay powerfully on...more

6 likes · like · see review

Sep 09, 2008 Milan/zzz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008

How lovely novel this is. Normally I don't read novel for young adults but I did liked this one very much indeed. The language is simply but absolutely beautiful; portraits as well; it's really impossible not to love Felix and entire Sam's family (and of course Sam). From the very beginning you are stunned by horrifying circumstance characters of the novel are facing with and feel gratefulness cause you're not from that story. Then you realize that there are numerous people in precisely the same...more

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Nov 10, 2008 Meinar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Happiness is not about what you will get, but what you have and do now.

Membaca buku ini awalnya saya sangka hanya akan menemukan cerita anak2 biasa yang typically kisah seorang anak sebelum meninggal, yang sudah banyak saya baca di edisi2 Chicken Soup. Tapi semakin lama, ternyata saya ikut masuk ke dalam tubuh dan pikiran Sam. Saya mulai ikut merasakan sendiri kesepiannya, saya ikut merasakan bahagia dengan mimpi2nya, saya ikut merasakan sakit atas penderiataannya, dan pada saat dia mengatakan...more

6 likes · like · see review

Mar 01, 2009 Joni rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: faves

This book is just... wow. I'm sorry I can't think of a more intelligent way to put it, but it was so incredibly ... beautiful. You can't often say that about what is supposed to be a kids' book, but this was so simply, heartbreakingly written, it was like ... it was so terrifically honest and convincing, half the time I was sure I was reading a true, Anne-Frank-style diary. Both Sam and Felix leapt off the page and in to my head, and I can tell you now, I will never forget them.
But what is so he...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Deanna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Realistic fiction--death, family, writing, friendship, inquiring. Absolutely wonderful book about a boy named Sam who is dying of leukemia. His teacher invites him to write a book and he includes lists, all of his questions about death that no one wants to talk about or answer, facts, his goals, things he collects (kind of like a scrapbook), etc. He meets a friend named Felix in the hospital who also is dying and they work on Sam's list of things he wants to do including smoking, kissing a girl...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 27, 2008 Miss Kodok rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: buku-minjem

Sam, seorang bocah laki-laki berusia 11 tahun penderita leukimia lymphoblastic akut...menuliskan hari-hari terakhir dalanm hidupnya. Mengetahui bahwa hidupnya tidak akan lama lagi, ia ingin memberikan kenangan yang indah bagi orang-orang yang ditinggalkannya dan hidup di hati mereka selamanya. Sebuah kisah yang sangat menyentuh..., bagaimana seorang anak menghadapi kematian ini tidak dengan kesedihan dan rasa putus asa, ia melakukan hal-hal yang ingin ia lakukan sebelum ia pergi. Walaupun banyak...more

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Oct 07, 2008 miaaa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Dahlia, Erry, Intan plus Dian

Recommended to miaaa by: first few pages of good translation

Shelves: fictions-others

Beautiful yet a very touching story. About a little boy, Sam, who suffers acute strain of Leukemia. His teacher Mrs. Willis encouraged him and Felix, although Felix did nothing but complaint about everything, to write a book on their own.

Sam fills his book with list of things, questions about death, and what happened around him during those short period. For example his dad's reaction of his illness is portrayed like what most men is expected to react in such circumstances .. being strong and tr...more

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Aug 11, 2008 Wezy rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: If you like the children and dramatical books, it's a must read!!!

Recommended to Wezy by: No one at all

When he was eight, the son of friends of mine went through a sort of John Webster phase, being much obsessed with death. His fondness for poking at road-kills and gazing at graveyards troubled his parents, of course, but not half as much as the interminable questions. What's it like to die? How do you know when you're dead? What happens afterwards? Why do we have to die anyway? These are "The Questions that Nobody Answers", according to Sam McQueen, the 11-year-old hero of Ways to Live Forever....more When he was eight, the son of friends of mine went through a sort of John Webster phase, being much obsessed with death. His fondness for poking at road-kills and gazing at graveyards troubled his parents, of course, but not half as much as the interminable questions. What's it like to die? How do you know when you're dead? What happens afterwards? Why do we have to die anyway? These are "The Questions that Nobody Answers", according to Sam McQueen, the 11-year-old hero of Ways to Live Forever. But Sam isn't just going through his morbid phase. For him these questions have a special urgency because he is going to die, soon, and he knows it.

Ways to Live Forever is the diary/scrapbook Sam compiles during the last two months of his life. Reading it is less like reading a novel than watching an exceptionally brilliant TV documentary. The text is punctuated by ephemera: drawings, tickets, and especially lists. Lists not only of those eternally unanswerable questions, but also of facts. Sam likes facts. He believes, touchingly, that they are the opposite of questions.

A different kind of list gives the book its structure. "List No. 3: Things that I want to do" ranges from the entirely reasonable ("Go up down-escalators and go down up-escalators"), via the barely achievable ("Ride in an airship"), to the impossible ("Go up in a spaceship and see Earth from space"). I don't want to give away the plot, but I have to say that all these wishes are granted, one way or another.

Killing children is something that writers indulge in from time to time. It's a high-risk business. If the crime is aggravated by mawkishness, the penalties can be severe. Passing sentence on Dickens, Oscar Wilde famously asserted that "One must have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing." In seeking to evade the charge of sentimentality, other writers have been sententious, offering pseudospiritual comforts, such as death being part of "a cycle" of some sort. (It is almost a rule, these days, that in children's literature death has to be presented as life-affirming, or even life-enhancing.) Beyond all this, of course, is the reasonable suspicion that killing children is the easiest way for writers to squeeze their readers' tear ducts. A surprising number of us think that a good cry is an essential part of a good read.

Knowing all this, as she obviously does, Sally Nicholls has been either courageous or reckless to write, as her first novel, the story of a boy who dies of leukaemia. And she would seem to have made matters even more difficult for herself by writing in the first person, which means, among other things, that her narrator cannot be around to write the last scene. Does she get away with it? Yes, she does. She knows what the traps are, steps into them, and steps out again unscathed.

In all first-person narratives the voice is, obviously, everything. Sam's is the voice of an unexceptional boy transformed by the enormity of what awaits him, and getting it to ring true is a hugely impressive achievement. I should mention (through gritted teeth) that Nicholls was only 23 when she wrote Ways to Live Forever. Her publishers have very high hopes for her, and on the strength of her debut they seem entirely justified. This is an elegant, intelligent, moving and sometimes even funny book. Young readers (and brave parents, and teachers) will love it.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

May 27, 2008 Anne Mariane rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: illustrated-book, my-fave, my-library, fiction

Anne's review

Buku ini sebetulnya manis sekali. Aku jatuh cinta ama buku ini pas membaca sinopsis di sampul belakangnya, tentang kematian di mata anak kecil penderita leukemia. Siapa bilang kematian itu mengerikan? Siapa tahu malah asyik, dan seru?

Seperti komentar Granny di buku ini," ..Kematian itu seperti ulat dalam kepompong. Kalau takut keluar dari kepompong, kapan bisa berubah jadi kupu-kupu yang cantik?"

Mungkin kalau lihat versi aslinya lebih jatuh cinta lagi (karena sampul terbitan GPU ngg...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Meaghan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-young-adult-fiction, read-in-2011

The 9-to-12 age group's answer to Jenny Downham's Before I Die. 11-year-old Sam keeps a notebook in the final months of his life, while he's getting palliative care for his leukemia. He's on homebound instruction with his friend Felix, who also has terminal cancer, and visits a clinic once a week to get his medicine. Sam has a real voice, just the right one for a child his age. His story brought tears to my eyes.

What struck me the most about the story was Sam's family. They were a functional fam...more

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 23, 2009 Andy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This fictional account of an 11 year old dying of leukemia felt very true to me. Yes, it's really, really sad - I don't cry easily, but I was definitely choking up reading this on the bus when I got to certain parts - but it's also pretty inspiring and quite funny without (IMHO) sinking into maudlin and trite mumblings about Life Being Beautiful Despite Being Very Painful.

1 like · like · see review

Feb 09, 2009 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kids-books-i-would-recommend, 2009

Sam is 11, and he is dying of leukemia. His mother is always sad, his dad is in denial, and his younger sister is unsure how to act from one day to the next. Sam has a lot of questions and decides to write a book of his questions and the answers he finds out. When his dad hears he is writing a book, he asks him if this is "one of those weepy books full of poems and rainbows." It definitely is not. It is a great story (and, of course, a sad one, too.)

1 like · like · see review

Dec 24, 2008 Monica Edinger rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very impressive. I kept resisting all the recommendations to read this book, but finally gave-in and am glad I did. Really lovely, lovely book.

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Mar 17, 2012 jo mo rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, dramarama, read-in-german, reviews, 3-stars, 2-stars

Been made into a movie

Basically it's about a boy who knows he's gonna die, but has a list of things-to-do he wants to fulfill before it's too late. This element has been used a lot of times in many, many books, but never ceases to get old (to me).
The voice Sally Nicholls created through 11 year-old Sam rang true in my ears.
It was depressing, a few times touching & still a good example to what death can do to the one dying and the loved ones being left behind.

1 like · like · see review

Dec 27, 2008 Beverly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Yes this is another book about a dying child. And it was hard to read because Sam is 11 just like Patrick, but somehow this one was different. You know from the beginning what's going to happen, but it's not as dreary or heavy as most books of this type. I don't know if a real 11 year old in this situation would act as Sam does. You know sam has Luekemia and it's most likely fately, but instead of reading about Sam dying, you are really reading about Sam living. And yes he does have a to do list...more

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Feb 14, 2009 Dian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: novel-drama

agak mirip Jostein Gaarder, Cecilia & Malaikat Ariel. cuma bedanya yg ini pelakonnya anak lakilaki, kalo cecilia kan perempuan. trus disini ga ada malaikatnya. tapi ceritanya ya begitu juga, anak kecil yg penyakitan trus mati.
jadi pengen bikin persamaan & perbedaan deh.
Persamaan :
1. pemain utamanya anak kecil
2. pemain utamanya punya adik
3. punya papa n mama yg sayang banget sama dia
4. punya sohib
5. yang pasti penyakitan, mematikan.
6. pemain utamanya MATI.
7. musim salju, trus maen kere...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ok so im not going to write a 'real' review here. Ive read this book several years ago, and just done rereading it this morning. I dont know why I wanted to reread it at the first place. Actually ive just read The Fault in Our Stars written by John Green few days ago, and besides all the cancer thingy, I found something more important than the fact that the protagonists--both from TFiOS and Ways to Live Forever--had to live with cancer.

I like when Sam said--or wrote, to be exact-- "You're allow...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Siddhesh Krishnan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ways to live Forever
by Sally Nicholls
Sam McQueen has lived 11 years, and so far it’s been a grueling journey. Diagnosed with leukemia at age six, he has been in and out of hospitals, dealing with endless nosebleeds, always feeling tired, and surviving the torturous bouts of chemotherapy. The doctors thought they had beaten the cancer, but it always comes back. This time, they suspect the worst and give Sam about a year to live.Not all of Sam’s life has been horrid. He has two awesome parents and...more Ways to live Forever
by Sally Nicholls
Sam McQueen has lived 11 years, and so far it’s been a grueling journey. Diagnosed with leukemia at age six, he has been in and out of hospitals, dealing with endless nosebleeds, always feeling tired, and surviving the torturous bouts of chemotherapy. The doctors thought they had beaten the cancer, but it always comes back. This time, they suspect the worst and give Sam about a year to live.Not all of Sam’s life has been horrid. He has two awesome parents and a younger sister named Ella who love him very much. And then there’s Felix, who he met at the hospital. Felix also has cancer, but it’s a different kind. Although Felix is two years older than Sam, they became best friends almost immediately. The two of them together spell “trouble” and present a big challenge to the nurses, like the time they snuck around the hospital corridors playing spy games.Sam and Felix have school together three days a week at Sam’s house. Their teacher, Mrs. Willis, usually makes it fun and doesn't push them to do boring stuff. In fact, she gave Sam the idea to start his very own book, in which he will talk about his life and coping with cancer. Included will be all of the lists that he and Felix make: his favorite things, what he looks like, what to do when someone dies, ways to live forever, and questions that nobody will answer. He also has a list of goals to accomplish, such as seeing a ghost, flying in a blimp, kissing a girl, and going up the down escalator. He never really expects to perform these activities, but with the encouragement of Felix, he starts crossing things off his list.Eventually, both Sam and Felix’s health begins to fade. Sam knows they don’t have long to live, and the idea of death is never far from his mind. But he doesn't let it stop him from taking advantage of the time he has left, or loving those most important to him. Felix and Sam eventually die of their cancer. They both lost the battle.

This book was a really depressing book.I like this book but I hate the end. The end was a very sad book. I is just scary to think that one day you can get cancer all of a sudden an eventually die from it. But I loved this book. It was a hear touching nice book. The plot was really nice. I love this book a lot.(less)

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Feb 18, 2013 Vernon Area Public Library rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: juvenile-fiction, realistic-fiction

I expected this book to be really sad, and in places it is, but overall I was pleasantly surprised at the upbeat, and often funny musings of Sam, an eleven year old boy with terminal leukemia. Sam knows he’s going to die, in fact, he has accepted his situation much better than the adults in his life. But before he dies, Sam has a wish list of things he wants to do, like breaking a world record, running up a down escalator and kissing a girl. With the help of fellow cancer patient Felix, he sets...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Kennedy Wiegel rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you got to write a book about your last days on this planet how old would you imagine to be? I would say old. Seventy to eighty years old. People imagine getting old, having grandkids and seeing their kids weddings. Not everyone gets that chance. Death is a scary thing to think about, now think about dying at the age of eleven. Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls is a book about hope. It gives the readers numerous types of emotion and tells us to live our life while we still can.

Sam, the m...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Alvina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Buku ini bercerita tentang kisah Sam, dimulai tanggal 7 Januari dan berakhir tanggal 12 April. Sam adalah seorang anak laki-laki yang menderita leukimia, penyakitnya cukup parah sehingga ia terpaksa menghabiskan waktunya di rumah. Orang tuanya mendatangkan seorang guru agar Sam dan Felix, temannya yang juga terkena kanker, dapat melakukan sesuatu dalam hari-hari mereka, setidkanya agar mereka tidak bosan. Suatu hari, Mrs. Willis, guru itu, memiliki ide agar Sam dan Felix menuliskan sebuah cerita...more
Buku ini bercerita tentang kisah Sam, dimulai tanggal 7 Januari dan berakhir tanggal 12 April. Sam adalah seorang anak laki-laki yang menderita leukimia, penyakitnya cukup parah sehingga ia terpaksa menghabiskan waktunya di rumah. Orang tuanya mendatangkan seorang guru agar Sam dan Felix, temannya yang juga terkena kanker, dapat melakukan sesuatu dalam hari-hari mereka, setidkanya agar mereka tidak bosan. Suatu hari, Mrs. Willis, guru itu, memiliki ide agar Sam dan Felix menuliskan sebuah cerita.
Tapi yang paling bersemangat menulis adalah Sam, ia berencana menulis sebuah buku tentang kisahnya atau tentang apa saja yang ingin ia tuliskan. Sam paling senang mencari tahu tentang sesuatu hal, maka ia membuat daftar-daftar pertanyaan yang kemudian ia cari jawabannya dengan bertanya pada banyak orang atau melalui internet. Sam juga menulis daftar-daftar, apa saja keinginannya, hal-hal favoritnya, atau semacam daftar daftar singkat mengenai kematian, pemakaman dan lain-lain.

Sam adalah seorang anak yang memiliki rasa ingin tahu yang besar. Meskipun ia tahu umurnya tak lama lagi, ia masih memiliki keinginan untuk hidup dan melakukan apa saja yang biasanya dilakukan anak seusianya. Dia bahkan berangan-angan agar suatu hari nanti ia bisa sembuh total, lewat jalan yang logis ataupun sekadar mimpi anak belasan tahun. Ia dikelilingi orang-orang yang mencintainya, Ella adik perempuannya, Mum yang sangat sayang dan perhatian, dan Dad yang meskipun sering cuek dan tak pernah mau membahas penyakit Sam tapi Sam tahu bahwa ayahnya itu menyayanginya.

Buku ini terdiri dari banyak bab, tapi ada satu bab di awal cerita yang membuat saya trenyuh membacanya, yang berjudul ”Kenapa Tuhan membuat Anak-anak Jatuh Sakit?”
Yah, kenapa, tanya Sam. Kalau orang-orang tua yang memang sudah banyak menikmati hari, teserah deh mau sakit apa. Tapi mengapa anak-anak juga jatuh sakit?
Di bagian ini ada daftar jawaban yang Sam dan Felix berikan, mungkin ada yang terkesan konyol, tapi ada pula jawaban yang bijak. Jawaban yang sering diberikan kepada banyak orang, bahwa

”Tuhan sangat menyayanginya, sehingga ingin membawanya ke Surga.”

Yah, jawaban itu yang selalu diberikan ke saya ketika saya dulu selalu bertanya, "Kenapa Mama meninggal?"

5 bintang untuk kisah Sam. Mungkin Sam adalah tokoh fiksi, tapi saya tahu ada banyak orang, banyak anak di luar sana yang mungkin memiliki kisah yang sama dengannya, berjuang bersama penyakitnya.

(less)

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Oct 03, 2012 Getanjoly rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book it's an emotional read. It's narrated by the 11 year old Sam McQueen, a leukemia victim.
The center of this story is the life of Sma McQueen, living.
No fights, no action scenes, just Sam living a life as normal as anyone can live.
This story centers on Sam, only at eleven so certain (with good reason) he will die soon, living out his bucket list, with things that to those of us who are healthy and have no expiration dates on our lives, isn't really much to us.
Things like walking up an es...more

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Sep 10, 2012 Novita Raini rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Saya baca buku ini kira-kira 3 tahun yang lalu, sebagai tugas akhir membaca di pelajaran bahasa inggris sewaktu SMA kelas 3. Buku ini merupakan salah satu buku yang menjadi buku favorit saya sampai saat ini. Mungkin karena isinya yang bisa dibilang "menyenangkan" dan "ramah mata".

Ways to Live Forever bercerita tentang bulan-bulan terakhir dalam kehidupan yang dijalani oleh Sam McQueen. bocah berusia 11 tahun ini didiagnosis dengan leukimia pada usianya yang ke-6. Sam kini berada di rumah dan m...more Saya baca buku ini kira-kira 3 tahun yang lalu, sebagai tugas akhir membaca di pelajaran bahasa inggris sewaktu SMA kelas 3. Buku ini merupakan salah satu buku yang menjadi buku favorit saya sampai saat ini. Mungkin karena isinya yang bisa dibilang "menyenangkan" dan "ramah mata".

Ways to Live Forever bercerita tentang bulan-bulan terakhir dalam kehidupan yang dijalani oleh Sam McQueen. bocah berusia 11 tahun ini didiagnosis dengan leukimia pada usianya yang ke-6. Sam kini berada di rumah dan mengkonsumsi obat-obatan, tidak untuk menyembuhkan penyakitnya, tetapi hanya untuk membeli waktu tambahan agar ia dapat bertahan hidup. Sam yang mengetahui bahwa masa hidupnya tidaklah lama pun memutuskan untuk menulis kisahnya atas dukungan dan saran dari "tutor"-nya. Di dalam diri Sam, anda akan menemukan sosok anak laki-laki yang kuat dan menyenangkan. Sam tidak pernah mengasihani dirinya hanya karena penyakitnya, ia sangat keras kepala dan menjalani hidupnya dengan penuh makna. Melalui suara Sam, Nicholls telah menarik potret keluarga Sam yang menghadapi penyakitnya, dan bagaimana penyakit tersebut mempengaruhi hubungan keluarganya baik dengan dirinya dan dengan satu sama lain. Salah satu poin plus dari saya untuk buku ini adalah bahwa keluarga Sam adalah keluarga yang "sehat" dan bukan tipe keluarga yang "disfungsional" seperti kebanyakan buku-buku tipe ini miliki.

Nicholls menulis seakan-akan buku ini merupakan scrapbook pribadi yang Sam tulis. Membaca buku ini rasanya bagaikan menonton sebuah film. Buku ini berisikan gambar-gambar, tiket, foto, dan yang paling utama daftar-daftar yang dibuat oleh Sam. Daftar-daftar tersebut berisikan fakta-fakta dan hal-hal yang ingin ia lakukan dan ia capai sebelum ia mati. Tidak hanya itu, daftar tersebut juga berisikan pertanyaan-pertanyaan Sam yang polos dan tidak akan pernah terjawab, seperti “Bagaimana kita tahu bahwa kita sudah mati?”, “Mengapa Tuhan membuat anak-anak kecil jatuh sakit?”, “Apa sebenarnya kematian?”, dan “Kemana orang-orang pergi sesudah mati?”. Pertanyaan-pertanyaan tersebut seaolah-olah ditinggalkan untuk pembaca, ditinggalkan agar kita berpikir dan menemukan jawabannya dalam diri kita sendiri.

Nicholls menulis buku ini dari sudut pandang anak berusia 11 tahun dengan sangat baik sehingga anda akan lupa bahwa bukan Sam yang telah menulis buku ini. Menariknya, meskipun kita tahu bahwa pada akhir buku ini Sam akan mati karena leukimia, namun ketika membacanya kita akan merasakan betapa hidupnya pribadi Sam. Buku ini merupakan buku yang cerdas, mengharukan dan bahkan lucu. Meskipun buku ini tidak tebal dan dapat dibaca sampai selesai dalam waktu kurang dari satu hari, saya menikmati setiap momen yang ada dalam buku ini dan hanyut di dalamnya. Saat membaca buku ini saya merasa bahwa saya adalah salah satu kerabat Sam, dan mengenalnya dengan baik.
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Aug 14, 2012 VaultOfBooks rated it 5 of 5 stars

By Sally Nicholls. Grade: A+
Ways to Live Forever is more of a scrapbook that Sam complies during his last days. It is a collection of stories, lists, pictures, facts; day-to-day happenings in Sam’s life and questions that nobody answers that create a profoundly moving portrait of how a boy lives when he knows his time is almost up.
It is an accomplished debut novel from an extraordinary talented young writer; a beautiful and finely drawn study of character. This book has a simple story of an 11 y...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Yis2017 rated it 3 of 5 stars

A Book Review of Ways to Live Forever

By: Sonaa, Grade 7 , Yangon International School

Imagine your death day without anyone staying beside you ? Ways to Live Forever tells a fictional story about what it might feel like to die alone . Sam the protagonist struggles with cancer from a young age. Which he also had hard times staying in the hospital. As you read the story you might figure out how cancer is dangerous for everyone and how much Sam could be alive? It was for all readers to read and und...more A Book Review of Ways to Live Forever

By: Sonaa, Grade 7 , Yangon International School

Imagine your death day without anyone staying beside you ? Ways to Live Forever tells a fictional story about what it might feel like to die alone . Sam the protagonist struggles with cancer from a young age. Which he also had hard times staying in the hospital. As you read the story you might figure out how cancer is dangerous for everyone and how much Sam could be alive? It was for all readers to read and understand it carefully. As you read the book you would understand more about the story.
The main character Sam pretended to go school. Actually, he was not interested in studies but his friends force him to try hard. He wrote many comics at school. At that time, he had cancer. The disease could not be cured. So, he had to stay in hospital for two months. His parents worried about him because they thought that Sam could not about his cancer anymore . He felt well for few days. Finally, he was dead in his house peacefully.
Nicholls writing style grabs the readers attention. Because she clearly explains the difficulty of facing death alone. She wrote beautiful descriptive writing. I couldn’t stop reading the book because I felt sympathy for Sam who was the talented person . And mostly he talk much about the disease in the story. Well, he was a believable boy who accepts his disease and live each day in a positive way. Everyone should live like him if they are having serious disease.
Sam ‘s parent were really surprised after his death they thought that he would be alive for one or two months. After this happens, everyone was terrified and seriously sad for him. In the book the author writing style was quotes she love to put many quotes which I hate it sometimes. Because the meaning are complicated and difficult to understand. Most teens might love to read the book. Because it grabs the readers attention how people must stay when no one is around them. On a scale of 1 low to high 5 , I give the book a three because it seems average story as I read. And mostly the readers would not like to read sad story too!
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Nov 24, 2011 Brina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Wie man unsterblich wird" handelt vom 11-jährigen Sam, der durch Leukämie dem Tod ins Auge schauen muss. Während seine Umwelt geschockt und hilflos reagiert, plant Sam mit Eifer sein restliches Leben und schreibt sogar sein Buch, bei dem er alle Gedanken und Gefühle freien Lauf lässt...

Sally Nicholls hat einen tollen Schreibstil. Sie erzählt die Geschichte aus der Sicht von Sam in der Ich-Perspektive, was der Geschichte sehr gut tut. Durch die Ich-Perspektive lernt man nicht nur Sams Gedanken u...more "Wie man unsterblich wird" handelt vom 11-jährigen Sam, der durch Leukämie dem Tod ins Auge schauen muss. Während seine Umwelt geschockt und hilflos reagiert, plant Sam mit Eifer sein restliches Leben und schreibt sogar sein Buch, bei dem er alle Gedanken und Gefühle freien Lauf lässt...

Sally Nicholls hat einen tollen Schreibstil. Sie erzählt die Geschichte aus der Sicht von Sam in der Ich-Perspektive, was der Geschichte sehr gut tut. Durch die Ich-Perspektive lernt man nicht nur Sams Gedanken und Gefühle kennen, sondern auch ein Stück von sich selbst. Die Geschichte liest sich leicht und flüssig, was vor allem an den kurzen, sehr einfachen Sätzen liegt. Besonders gut gefällt mir hierbei, dass die Autorin nicht ein einziges Mal zu sentimental über das Thema schreibt. Vielmehr wird hier der verlorene Kampf um eine Krankheit akzeptiert und vor allem gezeigt, wie man damit umgeht.

Die Art und Weise, wie Sam mit seiner Krankheit umgeht, hat mich tief berührt. Seine Familie ist sprachlos und fühlt sich zugleich hilflos, nur schwer können sie mit der Diagnose und Sams Einstellung umgehen. Während der Vater die Krankheit konsequent verdrängt, versucht die Mutter immer wieder auf Sam aufzupassen und hofft auf neue Medikamente, die Sam das Leben verlängern.
Sam dagegen wirkt erstaunlich gefasst und stellt sich immer nur eine Frage: "Tut sterben weh?" - Auch sonst hat Sam viele Fragen, die er versucht zu beantworten. Leider scheitert es jedoch oftmals an den Erwachsenen, die ihm die Fragen nicht beantworten möchten.
Doch trotz allem Optimismus muss er auch täglich der Realität ins Auge blicken. Seine Krankenschwester, genannt Dracula, besucht ihn regelmäßig, um seinen Gesundheitszustand zu überprüfen und sein bester Freund hat ebenfalls mit den fürchterlichen Folgen der Krankheit zu kämpfen.

So sehr mich das Thema auch berührt hat, neu ist es nicht. Bereits in anderen Büchern, wie z.B. "Bevor ich sterbe" von Jenny Downham, wird das Thema Leukämie und Tod besprochen. Identisch ist dabei auch die Liste, die sich Sam gemacht hat.
Zwar sind seine Wünsche und Hoffnungen recht harmlos und mehr als verständlich, aber eben leider nicht neu. Von daher konnte ich nie so ganz mit ihm mithoffen, dass sich alle Wünsche noch erfüllen.

Die Covergestaltung ist schlicht, aber dennoch wahnsinnig schön und vor allem sehr passend, da sie die letzten Seiten des Buches widerspiegeln. Sehr gut zu sehen ist hier, dass Sam seine Lebensfreude trotz allen Umständen nicht verloren hat. Eine kleine Kritik gibt es jedoch bzgl. der Kurzbeschreibung, die nach meinem Geschmack viel zu viel verrät.

Insgesamt hat mich "Wie man unsterblich wird" für kurze Zeit sprachlos zurückgelassen. Sams Lebensfreude ist ansteckend und sollte für jedermann ein Beispiel sein. Allerdings gibt es auch hier einen Punktabzug, da die Geschichte einfach nicht neu ist - so schön sie auch sein mag. Dennoch empfehlenswert! (less)

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Dec 16, 2010 Nura rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: not-mine

Pertanyaan no. 1: Bagaimana kita tahu kita sudah mati?
Pertanyaan no. 2: Kenapa Tuhan membuat anak-anak jatuh sakit?
Pertanyaan no. 3: Bagaimana kalau ada orang yang sebenarnya belum mati, tapi dikira sudah mati oleh orang-orang lain? Apakah dia akan dikubur hidup-hidup?
Pertanyaan no. 4: Sakitkah kalau mati?
Pertanyaan no. 5: Seperti apakah kelihatannya orang yang mati? Atau apa rasanya?
Pertanyaan no. 6: Kenapa sih orang mesti mati?
Pertanyaan no. 7: Ke mana orang setelah mati?
Pertanyaan no. 8: Apak...more

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Nov 07, 2010 Ndari rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction

"Namaku Sam. Umurku sebelas tahun. Aku suka mengumpulkan cerita dan fakta-fakta yang fantastis. Aku mengidap leukimia. Saat kalian membaca buku ini, kemungkinan aku sudah pergi."

Sam adalah bocah sebelas tahun pengidap leukimia akut. Karena penyakitnya ini, dia tak bisa melakukan hal-hal yang dilakukan anak-anak lain seusianya, seperti bersekolah, bermain sepak bola, atau jalan-jalan ke mal. Hari-hari dilewatinya dengan bersekolah di rumah dengan Felix sahabatnya.
Suatu hari dia memutuskan untuk m...more

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Apr 21, 2010 Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: realistic-fiction, tough-issues, 9-and-up, favorites, contemporary

Ages: 9-12

Plot: Eleven year old Sam is writing a book about himself. There's a lot that he wants to know before he passes away from leukemia, and this book is his scientific record. He hopes that one day his book will help other children who have similar questions to his own about life and death.

Assessment: This novel is written from Sam’s point of view and expresses frustration, confusion and sometimes anger about questions he feels nobody will answer. He also shares with the reader his favorit...more

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About Sally Nicholls

Sally Nicholls is a prize-winning British children's author. She was born and grew up in Stockton-on-Tees. On finishing school, Nicholls chose to travel around the world. Her first novel was Ways to Live Forever.

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Quotes from Ways To Live Forever

“There's no point having wishes if you don't at least try to do them” — 56 people liked it

“Things I Want to Happen After I die: You're allowed to be sad, but you're not allowed to be too sad. If you're always sad when you think about me, then how can you remember me?

—Sam McQueen” — 29 people liked it

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