I have long been a Chris Crutcher fan and bought this book when it came out back on 2009 but hadn't gotten around to reading it until now, when I have to decide which novel to use with my Junior students 2nd semester. This book has everything that high school kids would love, and is a pretty quick and easy read. The premise is a bit far-fetched. Ben Wolf discovers that he has leukemia just before the start of his senior year and decides to tell no one. He spends his year going after the affections of a hotttie girl, trying his hand at football, befriending the local drunk and arguing with his history teacher. The book touches on pretty strong issues - sexual abuse, pedophilia, drinking and drug abuse. I'm going to recommend it to students but not teach it this year. It is a great high school book.
