Before I Die

Novels for young teenagers do not usually feature drugs and casual sex within the first 20-odd pages. But most books for teenagers will not leave an adult reader's eyes so blurry with tears that it's hard to see the final chapters. Jenny Downham's extraordinary first novel does both * The Sunday Times * This is an affecting and brave novel. Tessa is such a rich character . . . For everyone, it is a reminder to value the people that matter, seize the moment, wish with courage, adventure with relish, even if it's just a trip to the swimming pool, drinking hot chocolate or driving down a dual carriageway in the rain * Guardian * Destined to drive hundreds of thousands of readers to tears and to swift injunctions to all their friends to read it * Observer * Before I Die is so real, so sad, so true - and I so wish I'd written it myself * Jacqueline Wilson * Tough but tender, angry rather than resigned, Tessa is an appealing heroine whose company is never less than bracing * Independent * It's a novel that won't fail to touch those who read it, and despite the melancholy subject matter it manages to be hugely life-affirming. A book that will make you happy to be alive. 5 stars * Heat * A work of great humanity and profound empathy. I defy anyone not to cry reading this book * Daily Express * Downham's prose is brave and bare, her characters relentlessly realistic * Sunday Telegraph * This is an oddly uplifting novel. It's about love and friendship and family. It deals with death, but it's a hymn to life * The Irish Times * Writing about dying children can sometimes seem too easy a target for instant emotion but [Downham] always does much better than that * Independent *