Before I Die

Novels for young teenagers do not usually feature drugs and casual sex within the first 20-odd pages. But most books for teenagers will not leave an adult reader's eyes so blurry with tears that it's hard to see the final chapters. Jenny Downham's extraordinary first novel does both

The Sunday Times

Before I Die is so real, so sad, so true - and I so wish I'd written it myself

Jacqueline Wilson

Writing about dying children can sometimes seem too easy a target for instant emotion but [Downham] always does much better than that

Independent

Destined to drive hundreds of thousands of readers to tears and to swift injunctions to all their friends to read it

Observer

Tough but tender, angry rather than resigned, Tessa is an appealing heroine whose company is never less than bracing

Independent

A work of great humanity and profound empathy. I defy anyone not to cry reading this book

Daily Express

Downham's prose is brave and bare, her characters relentlessly realistic

Sunday Telegraph

This is an oddly uplifting novel. It's about love and friendship and family. It deals with death, but it's a hymn to life

The Irish Times

This is an affecting and brave novel. Tessa is such a rich character . . . For everyone, it is a reminder to value the people that matter, seize the moment, wish with courage, adventure with relish, even if it's just a trip to the swimming pool, drinking hot chocolate or driving down a dual carriageway in the rain

Guardian

It's a novel that won't fail to touch those who read it, and despite the melancholy subject matter it manages to be hugely life-affirming. A book that will make you happy to be alive. 5 stars

Heat

Captivating and emotionally turbulent this extrordinary book is ultimately a celebration of life

Carousel

This excellent novel is not for the faint hearted, but it deserves to be very widely read

The School Librarian

Gripping, heart-wrenching

Irish Independent