Before I Die
Jenny Downham
 Tessa is diagnosed with leukemia. Despite her four-year devotion to chemotherapy she has discovered that her cancer is terminal and her doctors don't give her very long to live. Tessa with the help of her best friend Zoey comes up with a list of things she wants to do before she dies, including some risky behaviors that she deems necessary to have "lived". Tessa's dad is resistant to Tessa's behavior from the start but realizes he has little influence and can only enjoy the time they have left. Best friend Zoey is excited and supportive of the outrageous bucket list until an unplanned pregnancy test comes up positive. Tessa's parents are divorced and have very different views on her desire to experience the dangerous side of life before she passes. Her mother is loving and joking about the situation and seems supportive whereas her father is timid and just wants to spend time with his daughter. Her father's main mechanism for coping is denial. She mentions that he spends hours on the computer looking up possible treatments for her even after the doctors have told her that the cancer has consumed her body. Tessa's brother Cal is a brutally honest individual that has mixed feelings throughout the novel ranging from lack of care to jealousy to sadness. In the beginning of the novel Cal says to his sister "I'm gonna miss you" during a joking situation. One of Tessa's last wishes is to find love, of which she thinks she has with her neighbor Adam. Adam is shy and his main priority is taking care of his sickly mother after their father died. The book, written in first person from Tessa's point of view, follows her last few months of life, explores her relationships with her loved ones, and her personal feelings about being trapped in a failing body. At the end of the novel Tessa does pass away.