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Three-time Golden Heart® finalist Vanessa Barneveld lives in Australia. Her debut Young Adult novel, THIS IS YOUR AFTERLIFE (Bloomsbury Spark), won Oklahoma Romance Writers of America’s National Readers’ Choice Award. She's donating half of the profits from sales of her novella, LIVE FAST, DIE YOUNG, to a teen cancer charity. Vanessa’s pastimes include baking, iPhonography, and traveling the world on a quest to find the world’s greatest fries.
Reviewed by Michelle Randall for Readers' Favorite
Alex has dreamed of going to Yale, becoming a pediatrician, and spending his life with his best friend, Molly. Molly is just as hard working and dedicated to going to college with Alex and nothing is about to stop her. So when Alex comes back from a recent trip to visit his dad, Big Dave, in Sydney and seems to have lost his drive for school, studies and even Yale, Molly is livid. What Molly doesn't know is that Alex has a secret; his trips to visit his father haven't been just that - he has been getting chemotherapy and treatments for Stage IV Melanoma, but the problem is that none of it is working. Live Fast, Die Young is the story of Alex and Molly, as they deal with this diagnosis and a six-month sentence. Author Vanessa Barneveld tells the story from both Molly's view and Alex's viewpoint, and brings in real teenage emotion and thought processes.
Live Fast, Die Young is a relatively short novella that is engaging. You are easily able to understand the characters. It is a great young adult read. Reading it as an adult, I can see the problems in a few of their rationales, but as sixteen-year-olds, I definitely see that the author has captured the mindset and thought processes of the characters and real life teenagers. It is a cute, short story that is a great read and I enjoyed it quite a lot. It has no sex or bad language, so I would feel comfortable letting even younger kids read this one. It will remind kids that nothing in life is forever, and to grab what you can while you have the chance.
