I thought it was amazing to see that an idea, started in a small pocket notebook, could become a published book.
From GoodReads:
On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They're going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they're both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There's an app for that. It's called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure and to live a lifetime in a single day.
I loved this book and I think teens will really love this book!
Despite the title, They Both Die At The End is much more about life than it is about death. Surprisingly, even though the novel sets both boys up to die at the end, the story is hopeful and its ideas will stay with you long after you are done reading.
Some of my favorite parts:
And one day she'll find herself on the terrible end of a Death-Cast call and it sucks how we're all being raised to die. Yes, we live, or we're given a chance to, at least, but sometimes living is hard and complicated because of fear.
I wish I was brave enough to have traveled. Now that I don't have time to gp anywhere, I want to go everywhere: I want to get lost in the deserts of Saudi Arabia; find myself running from the bats under the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas; stay overnight on Hashima Island, this abandoned coal-mining facility in Japan sometimes known as Ghost Island; travel the Death Railway in Thailand, because even with a name like that, there's a chance I can survive the sheer cliffs and rickety wooden bridges; and everywhere else.
I loved the game called Traveler and have been unknowingly playing it since college. I loved the idea of Last Message and am now considering what my Last Message would be.
And, in the acknowledgments:
And, lastly, to every stranger who didn't call the cops on me when I asked them, "What would you do if you found out you were about to die?" None of your answers inspired anything in this book, but wasn't it absolutely fun having a stranger make you observe your mortality?
Get this book for the teens you know... especially those frustrated by life. There can't be life without death. There can't be love without loss. The book's message will stay with you long after the last page and you'll find yourself with a new appreciation for life and being brave enough to live every moment... because you never know when Death-Cast may call.
