What do you think?
10 Things To Do Before You Leave School
Ruby has had a difficult year to say the least. Just before she started Sixth Form, her father died from a heart attack. In the months that followed Ruby became so depressed that she attempted suicide. She missed a lot of school, but now she’s about to go back and she’s worried. Is she well enough to get through her final year? Will the depression return? Should she apply to university?
The night before term begins, Ruby finds something that makes the prospect even more daunting: an envelope addressed to her in her father’s handwriting. Inside is a list: ‘Ten Things I Hope You Do Before You Leave School’. It makes no sense. She can’t understand why he’d want her to do these things, let alone whether she’ll be able to do them.
As Ruby navigates her way through UCAS, parties, boyfriends and A-Levels, she decides to give the list her best shot, but her efforts lead her into strange situations and to surprising discoveries. Will Ruby survive her last year at school? Can she do the ten things on The List? Will doing them make any difference?
The night before term begins, Ruby finds something that makes the prospect even more daunting: an envelope addressed to her in her father’s handwriting. Inside is a list: ‘Ten Things I Hope You Do Before You Leave School’. It makes no sense. She can’t understand why he’d want her to do these things, let alone whether she’ll be able to do them.
As Ruby navigates her way through UCAS, parties, boyfriends and A-Levels, she decides to give the list her best shot, but her efforts lead her into strange situations and to surprising discoveries. Will Ruby survive her last year at school? Can she do the ten things on The List? Will doing them make any difference?
Paperback
First published April 4, 2019
About the author
Bernard O'Keeffe
7 books222 followersI studied English at Oxford, and started out in advertising. It wasn’t for me, and I soon escaped to train as a teacher.
I turned to crime writing when I stopped teaching. The Final Round, the first DI Garibaldi novel, came out in 2021, and the series has grown from there.
If I had to describe the books, I’d call them cosy procedurals—books with dark elements but not hard-boiled, gritty or violent.
As The Times put it:
“Bernard O’Keeffe’s series is as genteel as the suburb (SW13) in which it is set. Swearing, graphic sex and gore are, for once, off the menu. The gentle humour, oodles of clues and happyish ending create perfect comfort reading.”
Like DI Garibaldi, I live in Barnes. When I’m not writing, I’m usually reading, listening to music, playing Elizabethan Bowls, or watching football—or at least the version of it that QPR play.
I turned to crime writing when I stopped teaching. The Final Round, the first DI Garibaldi novel, came out in 2021, and the series has grown from there.
If I had to describe the books, I’d call them cosy procedurals—books with dark elements but not hard-boiled, gritty or violent.
As The Times put it:
“Bernard O’Keeffe’s series is as genteel as the suburb (SW13) in which it is set. Swearing, graphic sex and gore are, for once, off the menu. The gentle humour, oodles of clues and happyish ending create perfect comfort reading.”
Like DI Garibaldi, I live in Barnes. When I’m not writing, I’m usually reading, listening to music, playing Elizabethan Bowls, or watching football—or at least the version of it that QPR play.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 10, 2019
10 Things To Do Before You Leave School is the story of Ruby. She has had a really awful year – her dad died suddenly, which led to her becoming increasingly depressed and she attempted suicide. The novel opens with her making her return to school and we see all the anxiety that goes with that. Right before she goes back to school she finds an envelope with her name on and it’s written in her dad’s handwriting. Inside is a note of ten things he hopes she’ll do before she leaves school.
This is such an incredible novel and one I’m so glad that I read. Ruby is such a believable, real character and I could feel her pain throughout this book. She carries so much guilt about her father’s death and she’s still grieving his loss. Then she’s dealing with her recovery from depression and trying to come to terms with her suicide attempt. Not to mention all the normal teenage stuff that all teens deal with – boyfriends, school and exam pressures, wanting to fit in. She has such a great attitude considering all she’s been through, or perhaps even because of it, and I was rooting for her to find her way through it all. It’s many years since I was Ruby’s age but I can remember what it felt like to be a teenager. I also had a very hard time during my A-Levels and really empathised with Ruby as a result.
I still haven’t got that study habit back, that feeling that I’m reading properly and that everything’s going in the way it used to. Maybe it’s the drugs. Or maybe (and this is a more frightening thought) what’s happened has changed me for good and I’ll never be the same again.
I know the pain of losing a parent, albeit I was in my 20s when my mum died. It changes you in so many ways to lose someone who you believed would somehow always be there. Facing life knowing your parent won’t be there makes everything different and Bernard O’Keeffe really captures the sense of loss.
I loved the relationship that Ruby has with her younger brother. They are typical siblings who argue and wind each other up but they also absolutely have each other’s backs. They are there for each other when they need to be and I adored that.
I found it interesting that we don’t get to see what’s on the list Ruby finds right away. We see her thinking about it and wondering how on earth she’s going to ever be able to do all of these things. We then see her going about her life and at certain points in the novel we see one of the things on the list as she ticks it off. At first I was frustrated because I wanted to know what was on it but actually I really appreciated seeing Ruby achieve each item and to have the satisfaction along with her that she’d accomplished something. I did wonder if the list would come to be something else that added pressure to her when she’s already quite fragile but it really does help her. It made me wish I’d had a list when I was her age and that something outside of myself had propelled me to the things that scared me, or that I didn’t have the confidence to do. I won’t spoil what’s on the list or whether Ruby manages to complete it but there are difficulties along the way, which made this book all the more real for me.
I recommend this book to everyone but particularly to teenagers – it’s a book that I wish I could have read when I was that age. It’s raw and honest and moving but it also gives you hope. I loved it!
This review was originally posted on my blog https://rathertoofondofbooks.com
This is such an incredible novel and one I’m so glad that I read. Ruby is such a believable, real character and I could feel her pain throughout this book. She carries so much guilt about her father’s death and she’s still grieving his loss. Then she’s dealing with her recovery from depression and trying to come to terms with her suicide attempt. Not to mention all the normal teenage stuff that all teens deal with – boyfriends, school and exam pressures, wanting to fit in. She has such a great attitude considering all she’s been through, or perhaps even because of it, and I was rooting for her to find her way through it all. It’s many years since I was Ruby’s age but I can remember what it felt like to be a teenager. I also had a very hard time during my A-Levels and really empathised with Ruby as a result.
I still haven’t got that study habit back, that feeling that I’m reading properly and that everything’s going in the way it used to. Maybe it’s the drugs. Or maybe (and this is a more frightening thought) what’s happened has changed me for good and I’ll never be the same again.
I know the pain of losing a parent, albeit I was in my 20s when my mum died. It changes you in so many ways to lose someone who you believed would somehow always be there. Facing life knowing your parent won’t be there makes everything different and Bernard O’Keeffe really captures the sense of loss.
I loved the relationship that Ruby has with her younger brother. They are typical siblings who argue and wind each other up but they also absolutely have each other’s backs. They are there for each other when they need to be and I adored that.
I found it interesting that we don’t get to see what’s on the list Ruby finds right away. We see her thinking about it and wondering how on earth she’s going to ever be able to do all of these things. We then see her going about her life and at certain points in the novel we see one of the things on the list as she ticks it off. At first I was frustrated because I wanted to know what was on it but actually I really appreciated seeing Ruby achieve each item and to have the satisfaction along with her that she’d accomplished something. I did wonder if the list would come to be something else that added pressure to her when she’s already quite fragile but it really does help her. It made me wish I’d had a list when I was her age and that something outside of myself had propelled me to the things that scared me, or that I didn’t have the confidence to do. I won’t spoil what’s on the list or whether Ruby manages to complete it but there are difficulties along the way, which made this book all the more real for me.
I recommend this book to everyone but particularly to teenagers – it’s a book that I wish I could have read when I was that age. It’s raw and honest and moving but it also gives you hope. I loved it!
This review was originally posted on my blog https://rathertoofondofbooks.com
May 16, 2019
Today I am taking part in the blog tour for this brilliant YA book 10 Things To Do Before You Leave School by Bernard O'Keeffe. Many thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part.
When I read the blurb for this book it really jumped at me, the book is based around Ruby who has had a really bad year leading up to her final year in school. She lost her father unexpectedly and this book is about the aftermath and her trying to find her feet again in the world.
We meet Ruby as she is returning to school after being off for a long period of time, around the same time as she returns to school she finds a letter addressed to her from her father. The letter contains a list that helps her navigate her final year in school and helps her to feel close to her father again.
I found this a raw read as it captures the essence of loss alongside the grief and depression that accompanies the loss of a loved one. This book helps you relate to the every day pressures our children are experiencing to fit nicely into society. It then adds the insight of how grief changes their feelings and perceptions about everything they have ever known.
I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to my teenager daughter, it highlights the thoughts and feelings surrounding the black cat and helps raise awareness to encourage our children to discuss mental health openly and hopefully feel that they aren't alone with their feelings.
When I read the blurb for this book it really jumped at me, the book is based around Ruby who has had a really bad year leading up to her final year in school. She lost her father unexpectedly and this book is about the aftermath and her trying to find her feet again in the world.
We meet Ruby as she is returning to school after being off for a long period of time, around the same time as she returns to school she finds a letter addressed to her from her father. The letter contains a list that helps her navigate her final year in school and helps her to feel close to her father again.
I found this a raw read as it captures the essence of loss alongside the grief and depression that accompanies the loss of a loved one. This book helps you relate to the every day pressures our children are experiencing to fit nicely into society. It then adds the insight of how grief changes their feelings and perceptions about everything they have ever known.
I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to my teenager daughter, it highlights the thoughts and feelings surrounding the black cat and helps raise awareness to encourage our children to discuss mental health openly and hopefully feel that they aren't alone with their feelings.
May 22, 2019
If you could suggest 10 things a teenager should do before leaving for university, what would they be?
The Blurb
“Ruby has had a difficult year to say the least. Just before she started Sixth Form, her father died from a heart attack. In the months that followed Ruby became so depressed that she attempted suicide. She missed a lot of school, but now she’s about to go back and she’s worried. Is she well enough to get through her final year? Will the depression return? Should she apply to university?
The night before term begins, Ruby finds something that makes the prospect even more daunting: an envelope addressed to her in her father’s handwriting. Inside is a list: ‘Ten Things I Hope You Do Before You Leave School’. It makes no sense. She can’t understand why he’d want her to do these things, let alone whether she’ll be able to do them.
As Ruby navigates her way through UCAS, parties, boyfriends and A-Levels, she decides to give the list her best shot, but her efforts lead her into strange situations and to surprising discoveries. Will Ruby survive her last year at school? Can she do the ten things on The List? Will doing them make any difference?”
Ten things about 10 Things
1 I really liked the concept of the book, which had echoes of PS I Love You by Cecelia Ahern, only in a Young Adult setting and between a father and daughter not a couple.
2 O’Keeffe made some spot on observations regarding depression – like how it becomes the elephant in the room. Whereas if it were a broken bone: “Everyone would ask how I did it and offer to help with my crutches. They’d even sign my plaster cast.”
3 To an adult (well accordingly to my D.O.B), O’Keeffe had teenage angst and the issues they face down to a T. UCAS forms, end of term, the leavers ball are all things I recall with a slight cold sweat.
4 Despite 10 Things being about depression, there were parts of it that were actually quite funny. Ruby’s mum recounting her disastrous first dates for a start. And Archie’s play. “Can I really make my final exit as a suicide bombing monkey?”
5 As a result of the book I have now listened to Nick Drake’s Black Eyed Dog.
6 I think everyone should live without screens (phone, TV, iPad) for a day. Just read Chapter 19 and see how much you see in yourself, your family and your friends in the descriptions.
7 I was a bit worried at times about where O’Keeffe was going with Mr T but in the end I think he steered it perfectly. I loved how 10 Things highlighted how good a great teacher can be. How life changing for a student to be on the receiving end. We all need a Mr T in our [child’s] life.
8 Throughout the book I was debating whether I agreed with the 10 Things chosen by Ruby’s dad. I dare you not to do the same thing! Some of the 10 I definitely would keep, others I think were too personal to Ruby for me to re-use. In any event it was a thinking point for every chapter.
9 I am now worrying about my children doing A-Levels and going off to university (even though my eldest is only 10). Thanks Bernard!
10 10 Things was published on 4 April this year and if you like it O’Keeffe has another book, No Regrets, an adult fiction about a man who decides to say yes to every invitation he receives.
The Blurb
“Ruby has had a difficult year to say the least. Just before she started Sixth Form, her father died from a heart attack. In the months that followed Ruby became so depressed that she attempted suicide. She missed a lot of school, but now she’s about to go back and she’s worried. Is she well enough to get through her final year? Will the depression return? Should she apply to university?
The night before term begins, Ruby finds something that makes the prospect even more daunting: an envelope addressed to her in her father’s handwriting. Inside is a list: ‘Ten Things I Hope You Do Before You Leave School’. It makes no sense. She can’t understand why he’d want her to do these things, let alone whether she’ll be able to do them.
As Ruby navigates her way through UCAS, parties, boyfriends and A-Levels, she decides to give the list her best shot, but her efforts lead her into strange situations and to surprising discoveries. Will Ruby survive her last year at school? Can she do the ten things on The List? Will doing them make any difference?”
Ten things about 10 Things
1 I really liked the concept of the book, which had echoes of PS I Love You by Cecelia Ahern, only in a Young Adult setting and between a father and daughter not a couple.
2 O’Keeffe made some spot on observations regarding depression – like how it becomes the elephant in the room. Whereas if it were a broken bone: “Everyone would ask how I did it and offer to help with my crutches. They’d even sign my plaster cast.”
3 To an adult (well accordingly to my D.O.B), O’Keeffe had teenage angst and the issues they face down to a T. UCAS forms, end of term, the leavers ball are all things I recall with a slight cold sweat.
4 Despite 10 Things being about depression, there were parts of it that were actually quite funny. Ruby’s mum recounting her disastrous first dates for a start. And Archie’s play. “Can I really make my final exit as a suicide bombing monkey?”
5 As a result of the book I have now listened to Nick Drake’s Black Eyed Dog.
6 I think everyone should live without screens (phone, TV, iPad) for a day. Just read Chapter 19 and see how much you see in yourself, your family and your friends in the descriptions.
7 I was a bit worried at times about where O’Keeffe was going with Mr T but in the end I think he steered it perfectly. I loved how 10 Things highlighted how good a great teacher can be. How life changing for a student to be on the receiving end. We all need a Mr T in our [child’s] life.
8 Throughout the book I was debating whether I agreed with the 10 Things chosen by Ruby’s dad. I dare you not to do the same thing! Some of the 10 I definitely would keep, others I think were too personal to Ruby for me to re-use. In any event it was a thinking point for every chapter.
9 I am now worrying about my children doing A-Levels and going off to university (even though my eldest is only 10). Thanks Bernard!
10 10 Things was published on 4 April this year and if you like it O’Keeffe has another book, No Regrets, an adult fiction about a man who decides to say yes to every invitation he receives.
April 13, 2019
Just wonderful! In what is already a tough year (A Levels), Ruby, an utterly credible and engaging teenager, also faces up to extra challenges that she cannot duck as they are set by the father she loved and has recently lost. Once you start the 'list' with her, you won't be able to put the book down.
April 19, 2019
4.5 stars
Review will be out on May 15th
Review will be out on May 15th
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews