Beginning Crutcher's Deadline

Of all the books that have entered my classroom, there is not one by which students have been more moved.  Students have laughed, cried, yelled, and smiled during the novel as well as encountered real-life problems.  I am, of course, talking about Chris Crutcher's novel Deadline. 

I recently read and article by If I Stay author Gayle Forman titled "Teens Crave Young Adult Books on Really Dark Topics (and That's OK)" and couldn't help but agree with her.  Hoping to find out more on this (I know squarely where I stand on this so-called "dark" literature), I read the New York Times: Room for Debate feature "The Dark Side of Young Adult Fiction" which is a collection of short essays debating the nature of young adult literature.  Of the experts writing for this piece, when Michelle Ann Abate wrote "Such elements permeate even the Victorian era, commonly credited with romanticizing children and 'sanitizing' children’s literature. Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz all are loaded with social commentary and sharp political satire," I couldn't help but smile.  Routinely in my classes (not just the English ones) we will discuss the social implications of these works.  I also read Mary Elizabeth Williams' article "Has Young Adult Fiction Become too Dark?: A scorching Wall Street Journal editorial rips apart the genre -- and lights up the Internet" and again found myself agreeing with the author.  And because I read the rebuttal to Meghan Cox Gurdon's Wall Street Journal article "Darkness Too Visible," I read it, too.

Would Crutcher's work be considered "dark?"  Sure.  And worth while. 

You need to write a blog post of at least 300 words that demonstrates good writing conventions on the following statement:

You have a year to live.

Go.