Chris Crutcher’s books always take readers on an
emotional journey, and DEADLINE is no exception. Ben Wolf learns he
has only a year to live and decides to keep it a secret from
everyone. Not even his brother Cody, also a senior in their tiny
town of Trout, Idaho, is going to know.

Though he was headed for State in cross country, Ben goes out for
football. Cody is the star quarterback, and now they make an
unstoppable team.

His next project is to date Dallas Suzuki, a beautiful, mysterious,
smart girl. To his amazement, she asks him to Homecoming. But as he
gets closer to Dallas, he learns that she also has some terrible
secrets she’s trying to live with. She trusts him with hers,
but he is not yet ready to confide in anyone about his.

As the months slip by, Ben begins worrying about what will happen
to those left behind. His coach, a longtime family friend, lost a
girlfriend in high school and never recovered. How would he handle
Ben’s death? And then there’s his mother, who battles
depression and hides out in her room for days at a time after
periods of hyperactivity and crashing. Ben has always been the one
who tries to stop her from her downward slides; his father has his
hands full trying to help out.

Ben also learns about other people during his final year. The town
drunk, Rudy, has always been virtually ignored, and Ben tries to
get to know him and help him. But Rudy’s past demons prove
too much for Rudy to bear, even after treasured nights of talking
with Ben.

School no longer matters to Ben, of course. He spends his days
questioning life, history and especially his teachers. His history
teacher, Mr. Lambeer, doesn’t appreciate having his sacred
textbook questioned or Ben bringing up darker points of American
history. When Ben makes naming a street after Malcolm X his civics
project, Mr. Lambeer threatens to prevent him from graduating. Ben
doesn’t care, and the project teaches him and Cody more then
they wanted to know about their town.

This is no-holds-barred Crutcher at his best. As a counselor, he
knows about the struggles that all people must deal with in their
lives and how to survive with them. While the premise of the
year-deadline alone would be enough to make for an emotional novel,
each of the supporting characters and their demons add power to
every page.

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