Monday, March 22, 2010

By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead-- Julie Anne Peters


Parents are definitely not going to like this one!

Daelyn is done with this life... so done with it that she's attempted suicide (and failed) multiple times, just adding to her sense of worthlessness. Luckily, she finds a website called Through the Light, which guides you step by step through your suicide process. After years of being bullied, harassed, abused, and overlooked Daelyn is ready to die. Since her first two wrist-slitting attempts were failures, and drinking bleach and ammonia didn't work either, she really wants to find a successful means to her end. Through the Light details all the different ways to end your life, how hard they are to execute, and how painful they are... this is the part I expect parents will hate.

But as her day of death draws nearer, Daelyn finds herself drawn into the lives of two other people. A homeschooled boy, Santana, won't give up on her, even though she is in a neck brace and can't speak. He sees a spark of life in her that she doesn't see herself, and wants to unravel the mystery that is Daelyn. And Emily, a chubby teased girl at school tries to befriend Daelyn too, and refutes all of Daelyn attempts to snub her.

But in the end, will the efforts of others break through Daelyns dark cloud of a lifetime of depression? And if she does end up going "through the light" which light will it be, life or the afterlife?

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