Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
150th out of 1,142 books
—
5,742 voters
Deadline
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 br...more
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 br...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
September 18th 2007
by Greenwillow Books
(first published September 1st 2007)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
2.5 stars
An 18-year-old boy with big plans for his life finds out that he only has a year to live. He decides to refuse treatment and to keep his diagnosis a secret. Instead of telling his family the truth, he is determined to make the most of the time he has left. He joins the football team, even though he is extremely short, and he finally gathers the courage to approach the girl he’s been admiring from afar for as long as he can remember.
Deadline is actually a pretty decent story. Despite it...more
An 18-year-old boy with big plans for his life finds out that he only has a year to live. He decides to refuse treatment and to keep his diagnosis a secret. Instead of telling his family the truth, he is determined to make the most of the time he has left. He joins the football team, even though he is extremely short, and he finally gathers the courage to approach the girl he’s been admiring from afar for as long as he can remember.
Deadline is actually a pretty decent story. Despite it...more
The good news is this is a great novel about life, death, and the truth that lies in between. The voice of Ben is very strong: smart, sarcastic, and always searching for truth. The story itself is just fine as well with all the elements one expects in a Crutcher novel: the not quite perfect romance, the sports angle, the distant slightly tortured parents, the helpful if overmatched therapist, and the school based subplot with good guy hero standing up against bad guy teacher. Ben's journey is th...more
6 likes · like · see review
Okay, I don't know what's wrong with me, but I really, really didn't like this book. It's about a high school senior who finds out he's dying and decides not to tell anyone. It's so far out of my realm of possibilities that I just read it to see if Crutcher could convince me of it's plausibility. He didn't. The dude's voice really irked me too. I think the author went too far with the perfectly blended confident-clever-smart-athletic-but still humble character he always writes. Anyone care to ar...more
5 likes · like · see review
I don't even know what to write in a review of this -- anything I could say about how much it moved me, how utterly perfect it was, would give away the ending and the power of the book. Regardless: this one kept me up until almost 3 a.m. on Friday because I just couldn't stop turning the pages. Crutcher's a great writer, the style's fantastic, and the narrator is unlike any narrator I've ever met before (though he may strike some readers as a bit of a Gary Stu; I honestly didn't mind his perfect...more
If you want a great teen book about football and male camaraderie, read "The Knights of the Hill Country".
If you want a great teen book about dying, read "Before I Die".
If you want an OK teen book that tries to connect football and dying in trite statements like those you'd see on inspirational store fridge magnets, read this book.
If you want a great teen book about dying, read "Before I Die".
If you want an OK teen book that tries to connect football and dying in trite statements like those you'd see on inspirational store fridge magnets, read this book.
this would have been a pretty good book except for 2 things:
1) LANGUAGE PROBLEMS on every page---f bombs everywhere
2) Political smears from the left---throughout the book
DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME
1) LANGUAGE PROBLEMS on every page---f bombs everywhere
2) Political smears from the left---throughout the book
DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME
8 likes · like · see review
Mar 18, 2012
Michelle
added it
This book was a bit weird for me. I liked that the general fact of the novel, that the protagonist is going to die, is presented at the very beginning but the way it was written wasn’t as agreeable for me to begin with. I think that of all the books that I have read so far, this one was a bit harder for me to read because I kept getting distracted. I don’t think that the idea that an eighteen year old will keep the secret that he has been told that he is going to die is entirely implausible, I t...more
Some books try too hard. If they aren’t trying to have the most engaging and dramatic plot, they’re trying to have characters that are as close to perfect as possible; if they aren’t trying to have the most poetic writing style on the market, they’re trying to combine all sorts of compatible genres so that you have the best of all worlds. Alternatively, some books don’t try hard enough. Their plots are boring; their characters are frustrating; their writing is immature. They focus their book on...more
I’m sitting here, trying to start my review for Deadline, but I can’t put my reaction into words. It was just okay. There was so much potential, but I felt let down at times. Fingers crossed he never sees this, I had a feeling Crutcher was trying too hard to fit Malcom X and Lies My Teacher Told me into the plot. In my humble opinon, it took away from Ben’s story and I began to drift from him as a character. Not something I’m proud of, as I usually become close to characters, especially those wi...more
About once a year I find a book that makes me cry at the beginning and again at the end and changes my life somewhere in between. Last year that book was Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the year before it was Louis Sachar's Small Steps, and the year before that it was Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. But now, at the tale end of this year, I can tell you that Deadline has changed the way I look at life, given me hope for the future and made me a better person, all within 316 pa...more
5 likes · like · see review
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Feb 17, 2010
Meaghan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Crutcher fans
Shelves:
childrens-young-adult-fiction,
read-in-2007
What I can't figure out is this: Did Ben seriously expect he could get away without telling anyone he was sick? In the fall he made it sound like he would carry on for a year and then suddenly drop dead. But in the spring he got really fatigued, missed school, and was eventually unable to get out of bed at all -- did he really believe his dad and brother would not notice or worry about those things? This is a pretty major plot hole that was never really addressed.
This is typical Crutcher with al...more
This is typical Crutcher with al...more
1 like · like · see review
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
4 likes · like · see review
Aug 21, 2009
Ray Li
added it
On my honor I pledge that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this assignment nor have I represented someone else’s work as my own.
Deadline
by Chris Crutcher
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Setting: The story takes place in Trout, Idaho in modern times.
Characters: Ben Wolf, Ben's Brother, Dallas Suzuki, Rudy, Mr. Lambeer(Ben's Civics teacher)
Plot Summmary: Ben Wolf has been diagnosed with a rare disease, and is told he has a year left to live. He has chosen to not undergo treatment and...more
Deadline
by Chris Crutcher
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Setting: The story takes place in Trout, Idaho in modern times.
Characters: Ben Wolf, Ben's Brother, Dallas Suzuki, Rudy, Mr. Lambeer(Ben's Civics teacher)
Plot Summmary: Ben Wolf has been diagnosed with a rare disease, and is told he has a year left to live. He has chosen to not undergo treatment and...more
The concept that Chris Crutcher presents in Deadline is immediately engaging: Ben Wolf, a high school senior, finds out he has less than a year to live, but he decides not to tell anyone and he decides against treatment. Crutcher gives Ben a strong, funny, and appealing voice throughout the first-person, present-tense narrative. I found myself re-reading sections for the enjoyable pacing and humor. Crutcher also tries to tackle several huge issues -- religion, death, terminal illness, bipolar di...more
I wanted to make sure that I read this book after the brouhaha around it and Crutcher's heated response on his MySpace page. It seemed like a good selection to get around to for Banned Books Week, and it didn't let me down.
Deadline features the story of Ben Wolf, a young man on the brink of high school graduation who is diagnosed with a terminal illness (never specified, just identified as a blood disease) during a physical for cross country the summer before his senior year. After finding out t...more
Deadline features the story of Ben Wolf, a young man on the brink of high school graduation who is diagnosed with a terminal illness (never specified, just identified as a blood disease) during a physical for cross country the summer before his senior year. After finding out t...more
I was really disappointed with this book, considering how much I liked The Sledding Hill. I think Crutcher tried to do too much in this book, and couldn't decide what he wanted to emphasize the most. Plot of kid who turns 18 then finds out he has a terminal illness and then refuses treatment and keeps it all secret so he can live a 'normal' life was interesting. I liked the scenes which had him challenging the smarmy history/government teacher; those seemed very real. But having the kid's mother...more
So I bought this book around 6:30 p.m. and finished it around 3 a.m. the next morning. That's my intro to this review.
I honestly couldn't put this book down. It's compelling, there is always something else you want to know more about. The plot had some pretty crazy twists in it and for those who are reading it right now and are unsure about it, just plunder through. The way this book is written may appear simple, but if it were any more complicated, it would have been a pain and if it would have...more
I honestly couldn't put this book down. It's compelling, there is always something else you want to know more about. The plot had some pretty crazy twists in it and for those who are reading it right now and are unsure about it, just plunder through. The way this book is written may appear simple, but if it were any more complicated, it would have been a pain and if it would have...more
The cover of this novel made me pick it up, and the plot sounded good, so I took it home and read this story of a high school senior who is told he has less than a year to live and decides to make the most of his remaining time while keeping his diagnosis to himself. I was really impressed by the thoughtfulness in this book; there were a number of scenes with good quotes to ponder. The relationships between the boy, his family, and his friends are all well done, and I kept rooting for him to acc...more
This quarter I read the emotion jerker Deadline written by Chris Crutcher. The book is based upon an 18 year old kid named Ben Wolf. Ben is going into his senior year of high school when he is diagnosed with cancer and is told he has one year to live. Ben isn’t sure at first how to react, so he tells the doctor to not tell his parents. The doctor must follow his orders considering Ben is 18, an adult. Ben could approach his last year two different ways, sad and depressed, or with an attitude of...more
I found this book on the recommend section on the website of goodread. I got interested by only looking at the cover picture and the title of this novel. “Deadline” is an appropriate title for everything. Since everything has its deadline, no matter your work or the limit of time. In my own interpretation, deadline is something that ties/limits something. In this novel, deadline is a reminder of the end of the protagonist’s life. Ben who is eighteen years old, and finds out that he has a blood...more
Maybe its my having spent too much time in the classroom, or maybe it's because Back in My Day teens were slapped for this sort of thing, but my threshold of tolerance for Obnoxious Teens is really, really low. There is a thin yet very much there line between charming and smart mouth. The narrator here is a guy who is diagnosed with an unnamed because who cares disease and will die within the year. He snot nosedly tells off the doctor who is begging this incredibly annoying boy to get treatment,...more
3 likes · like · see review
This book is really interesting and fast to read. The author, Chris Crutcher makes you think emotionally while reading this book especially if you're a teenager. You can easily relate to this book because the protagonist is also a teenager. The protagonist, Ben Wolf is 18 year old, a senior at Trout High School in Idaho. As for many teenager, we have dreams that we wish to accomplish. Ben is nothing different to us, he wish to do as much as he could. One in which he want to have a relationship w...more
The reason Deadline has my support and admiration is not because it mirrors my experiences or describes what I felt during that first lousy post-diagnoses year (though in many parts it did). I think the genius of Crutcher’s writing is his ability to imagine characters independent of societal expectations and norms.
It wasn’t long in to my diagnosis when I began muttering, “I don’t want to be your hero.” Hyper-conscious that this was my last hurrah, last kick-at-the-can, yet I balked and fought an...more
It wasn’t long in to my diagnosis when I began muttering, “I don’t want to be your hero.” Hyper-conscious that this was my last hurrah, last kick-at-the-can, yet I balked and fought an...more
Deadline is about a Senior in high school. He's a track star, with a football star younger brother. At the start of his last year in high school his doctor tells him that he has an aggressive blood disease and even with treatment his chances of surviving are slim. Ben Wolf always knew he would die young and at age 18 had to make a huge decision. He didn't enjoy the thought of dying bald and weak, and also knew he wanted to be treated "normal" on his last year of high school. He creates a bucket...more
Ben, a strong, smart, sick 18 year-old boy with set goals finds out that he has a year to live. He decides to keep his diagnosis a secret and not take the treatment offered to him. He wanst to make the most out of his life and concluded to keep his illness from his family and avoid to tell them the truth. Although he is extrememly short, thin, and fragile, Ben joins the school football team and gains the courage and confidence to ap[proach the girl he's been in love with since he can remember.
D...more
D...more
So far in my exploration of young adult novels, there hasn’t been one that forces the audience to question death as deeply and as blatantly as Chris Crutcher’s Deadline. The story’s eighteen-year-old protagonist, Ben Wolf, has just been diagnosed with a rare blood disease and seems to be handling it exceptional well. Ben makes the decision to decline any sort of treatment, and live the rest of his life—which doctors expect to be no more than a year—to its fullest potential.
Ben, who has always...more
Ben, who has always...more
I loved the book, here's why. 1. I loved the character dynamics, the relationships: Ben and his brother, Ben and Coach, Ben and Rudy, and Ben and Dallas. Especially Ben and Dallas. There were so many times in the book when I was like "NO DON'T DO THAT!" when he was in the relationship. I was hardcore pulling for him, hoping he would tell her before anyone else even though in the back of my head I knew he wouldn't. 2. I thought Ben was a great narrator, I loved the attitude the author gave him. 3...more
Deadline is about a boy named Ben Wolf who found out in his senior year of high school that he has a terminal disease. He decides not to tell anyone in his family or school because he wants to live a normal life. He also decides to forgo treatment so he can live his life to the fullest. Ben tries to do all the things he will not be able to do like go out for the football team and date the girl he has a crush on. Ben manages to live the life he wanted to, even though he makes mistakes along the w...more
I thought Deadline was a quick and easy read. When I chose it for my project RED book, I did not expect it to be anything like it was. When Ben found out he had a rare blood disease and only had a year to live, it changed how I thought on things. You never know when your last day is going to come, so why waste all your time moping about the smallest things? What really hit me was that Ben has lived in Idaho his entire life in a small town, and everyone knows who he is. That is like someone in Yo...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudy | 2 | 4 | Mar 14, 2013 03:57pm | |
| Rudy | 1 | 3 | Mar 11, 2013 08:31pm | |
| Bucket List | 1 | 3 | Mar 11, 2013 06:02pm | |
| How would you react if you found out you only had a year to live because of a rare blood disease? What would you do with your year left, and who would you spend it with? | 1 | 2 | Mar 11, 2013 05:36pm | |
| What would you do with the time you had left, given a year, and would you tell friends and loved ones that you were dying? | 1 | 2 | Mar 11, 2013 02:21pm |
Chris Crutcher's writing is controversial, and has been frequently challenged and even banned by individuals who want to censor his books by removing them from libraries and classrooms. Running Loose and Athletic Shorts were on the ALA's top 100 list of most frequently challenged books for 1990-2000. His books generally feature teens coping with serious problems, including abusive parents, racial...more
More about Chris Crutcher...
Share This Book
2 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“Love, in the universal sense, is unconditional acceptance. In the individual sense, the one-on-one sense, try this: we can say we love each other if my life is better because you're in it and your life is better because I'm in it. The intensity of the love is weighted by how much better.”
—
84 people liked it
“But the truth doesn't need to be known, or believed, to be true.”
—
57 people liked it
More quotes…
I...more
Sep 26, 2011 08:15am
At least you'd answer the right question. :)
Sep 26, 2011 11:05am