The Deathday Letter

November 1, 2010

Gr 9 Up-In this mildly provocative but flat speculative story, Ollie, 15, has one day to live-and he knows it because in his otherwise just-like-ours world, everyone is mailed a Deathday Letter announcing their final 24 hours. His family members are devastated (but let him go to school)-and so are his best friend Shane and his ex Ronnie, who bust him out of Moriville High for a day worth going out on. Crude, girl-obsessed Ollie likes to spew predictable teen "truths" (e.g., "a teenage guy with a penis is like a twitchy marine with a live grenade"). Oddly, he doesn't seem too weirded out as he goes with the flow of his friends' ideas, some inspired by the bucket lists they wrote in sixth grade. Hijinx ensue, from jumping off a bridge to crashing a strip club to stumbling upon and smoking pot with an underground group investigating who's behind the letters (an interesting side plot that doesn't go anywhere). Along the way, he tries to make good on his rocky past with Ronnie, experiences some convenient emotional growth, and learns some not-so-shocking truths about Shane (he's gay). The narrative is authentic, snappy, and sure to entertain, but what could be an insightful exploration of mortality or relationships is more a jaunty road to a romantic ending (one can almost hear the swell of '80s movie music). A possibility for reluctant readers.-Riva Pollard, Prospect Sierra Middle School, El Cerrito, CA

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2010
Grades 10-1 Imagine getting a letterthat you could trustinforming you that you will die tomorrow. No escaping it, no thought of trying to avoid it, because everyone gets a deathday letter at some point. Only Ollie hadnt expected to get his a few months before his sixteenth birthday. All of a sudden, the routine and the ordinary will not cut it. So, for his last day on earth, he cuts school with the help of two friends and sets out to do a little living before the inevitable happens. Carpe diem becomes the rule, but Ollies need to experience drugs and sex just once, though understandable, does not fulfill his deepest desires. The reader is pulled along in Ollies grip, wrestling with the big questions of life (and afterlife) at a punishing pace. Lacking the pathos of Jay Ashers Thirteen Reasons Why (2007) or the humor in K. L. Goings King of the Screwups (2009), this first novel will appeal to male readers who care more about sex than philosophy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)