Before I Die

This intensely moving story is now available in paperback. Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, and drugs with excruciating side effects, Tessa compiles a list. It's her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of "normal" life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa's feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, are all painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa's time finally runs out. APublishers WeeklyBest Children's Book of the Year ABooklistEditors' Choice A Book Sense Children's Pick AKirkus ReviewsEditors' Choice APublishers WeeklyFlying Start Author An ALA-YALSA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults

Before I Die is a brilliantly crafted novel, heartbreaking yet astonishingly lifeaffirming. This is Jenny Downham’s debut novel. She lives in England.


From the Hardcover edition.