Denton Little’s Death Date

Denton Little's Deathdate Book Cover Denton Little's Deathdate
Lance Rubin
Knopf Books for Young Readers
April 14, 2015
Hardcover
352

Denton Little’s Deathdate takes place in a world exactly like our own except that everyone knows the day on which they will die. For Denton, that’s in just two days—the day of his senior prom.

Despite his early deathdate, Denton has always wanted to live a normal life, but his final days are filled with dramatic firsts. First hangover. First sex. First love triangle—as the first sex seems to have happened not with his adoring girlfriend, but with his best friend’s hostile sister. (Though he’s not totally sure—see, first hangover.) His anxiety builds when he discovers a strange purple rash making its way up his body. Is this what will kill him? And then a strange man shows up at his funeral, claiming to have known Denton’s long-deceased mother, and warning him to beware of suspicious government characters. . . . Suddenly Denton’s life is filled with mysterious questions and precious little time to find the answers.

Debut author Lance Rubin takes us on a fast, furious, and outrageously funny ride through the last hours of a teenager’s life as he searches for love, meaning, answers, and (just maybe) a way to live on.

 

Review:

Seeing as I just finished reading “Denton Little’s Deathdate”, I can only hope that I stop laughing long enough to write a coherent review.

The plot is one of the most unusual I have read in a young adult novel, especially one meant to be funny while dealing with a guaranteed date of death.  It throws in a lot of curveballs as well, and it keeps you on your toes.  There isn’t really an easy way to describe it, or fit it into one genre, and it’s very possible that it managed to create its own category.

All of the characters are well-developed and act realistically.  Well, as realistically as the circumstances allow.  Denton is especially endearing, and the dialogue had me sounding like I was recording a sitcom laugh track.  I’m pretty sure even the dogs think I’ve lost what little was left of my mind.

I highly recommend it for around eight grade and up, but only if you’ve willing to risk spontaneous urinary incontinence.

This review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warning:

Excessive Hilarity, Language,  Sexual Situations, Violence

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