The Deathday Letter by Shaun David Hutchinson

**2010 Debut Author Challenge List**
Reading level: Young Adult Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: Simon Pulse; Original edition (June 15, 2010) 

Summary: The clock is ticking? Ollie can't be bothered to care about anything but girls until he gets his Deathday Letter and learns he's going to die in twenty-four hours. Bummer.

Ollie does what he does best: nothing. Then his best friend convinces him to live a little, and go after Ronnie, the girl who recently trampled his about-to-expire heart. Ollie turns to carloads of pudding and over-the-top declarations, but even playing the death card doesn't work. All he wants is to set things right with the girl of his dreams. It's now or never.
My review: If you knew you had one day to live, what would you do with it? That is Ollie's dilemma. One morning he enters the kitchen to see his sad-faced family staring at him, a dreaded Deathday Letter on the table. After the bad news sinks in Ollie goes to.... School. I wasn't sure if I would like this book and I really did. This story was hilarious. 

Ollie, 15, is a typical guy, always thinking about food and sex (he admits it too) until he receives his Letter. Even then he's still thinking of those two things. Set up like a season of the TV show "24", the book follows Ollie's entire day. And what a day it turns out to be. Without saying too much Ollie's day is memorable and fitting. He gets to hang with his best bud, Shane, and his ex-girlfriend Ronnie who also happened to be his other best bud until she developed boobs and turned pretty (Ollie also admits this).

What I really liked about this story was Hutchinson never made it over the top, having his characters do preposterous things for the sake of it being Ollie's last day. Their actions and dialog was realistic and Ollie had a great sense of humor. This is a quick, satisfying read and it was never boring. It appeals to both guys and girls. Despite its humor this story has its moments of tenderness (look at the scene I picked as my favorite--it gets to you) and wit. By saying a story is comedic can sometimes make it easily dismissive in terms of it dealing with anything dramatic. That can't be said about this book. The Deathday Letter has solid storytelling, is laugh at loud funny, and has touches of romance and sadness without any of it becoming morbid or depressing. Reading this made me feel as if I was hanging with my friends and that's the touch of a story with heart.  

Favorite moment: "The funny thing is that the closer my death gets, the calmer I feel. Not at all like Geometry. Oh, I'm still afraid. Afraid of dying badly, afraid of all the things I won't get to finish, afraid of what is or isn't waiting for me after death. But I just know that I can't run any farther. There are no more bridges to jump off, no more lighthouses to hide in, no more girls who aren't Ronnie to almost have sloppy sex with. It's just me and the end of my life.
     And Ronnie. Always Ronnie." (Page 230, ARC version.)
Cover comment: Considering the subject matter I thought this simple cover was perfect for this book. The smiley face sticker with the eyes xx-ed out is only a precursor to the amount of humor in the story.

For fans of: Contemporary YA with a lot of humor.
Rating: +++1/2
Book source: Traveling ARC Tours
Reviewed by: Meghan and Laurie