Deadline by Chris Crutcher

This isn't a book about miracles, at least not the kind where the hero is saved from death so if you look only for "happy endings" skip Deadline by Chris Crutcher.

Being diagnosed with a rare and fatal blood disease, Ben Wolf decides that he doesn't want to live dependent on medicines and last ditch efforts to save him. He also decides that he doesn't want to put his family through the pain and decides to keep his illness a secret. He has decided to live life with gusto. He joins his high school football team, frustrates his government teacher and starts dating the girl most out of his league. Everything he does, he does with a Juggernaut-like determination. He is practically unstoppable on the football field, partly because he takes hits like no one else and partly because he goes as fast as he can.

But living with a secret of this magnitude definitely has an impact on his life and as he grows sicker, it takes it toll as well. His relationships suffer through his secretiveness and readers (as well as the characters themselves) are left to wonder how the story might have gone had Ben chosen to tell his family and closest friends the truth from the beginning.

"Emotionally spare but deeply touching, the relationship between Ben and his brother will resonate with many readers, while others may find the several strong father figures comforting. Secondary characters add humor and balance, though the government teacher's voice occasionally veers too far toward that of a right-wing pundit." said Chris Shoemaker of the New York Public Library in School Library Journal.

This is a book that I waited for with bated breath, not so much for the content as for the author. I love Christ Crutcher. He is the reason that I am willing to read books about sports and athletes. He writes with such ease that I understand exactly is going on athetically as well as how it affects the characters. I recommend him to anyone and every one. (By the way, I met him in person and he is as cool in person as he is on his myspace page.)