If I Should Die Before I Wake

by Lurlene McDaniel

Ages 12 and up. This novel is about coping with cancer, both as the victim and the friend of the victim. Emotionally compelling scenes pull the reader into the drama of Deanne and Matt--and a romance that doesn't have quite enough time to bloom. Willowisp Press imprint.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Novels, Young Adult Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Inspirational

128 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Lurlene McDaniel (born c. 1948) is an author who has written over 50 young adult books. She is well known for writing about characters struggling with chronic and terminal illnesses, such as cancer, diabetes, and organ failure.


Other places to find her are...
https://www.facebook.com/lurlenemcdan...
http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/aut...
http://www.youtube.com/user/LurleneMc

Reviews

[Mary Bronson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a good book. Once I got started I wanted to keep going. This is a short book about a young girl, Deanne who has everything. Her dad is a well known children doctor and her mother lives for the rich social life of the country clubs and wanted her daughter to spend the summer at the club making the right friends. One day she runs into a girl from school who is a volunteer there for their teen program. So for her summer vacation she decides she wanted to volunteer there as well. When she is there she befriends this 16 year old cancer patients Matt and a beautiful friendship comes of it.

[Ella Waltman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book I read it in less than a day Fantastic book would definitely read it again its sad but still A great book and loved how it ended.

[Rosie · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this book, Deanne decides to become a VolunTeen at the local hospital instead of spending her summer at the country club like her mother wants. Deanne becomes an active volunteer while at the same time developing a relationship with one of the patients.

If you're familiar with Lurlene McDaniel's other books, the format of a typical teenager becoming involved with a terminally ill teen will sound familiar. In my opinion, I felt like the plot was short and rushed, leaving little time to develop the characters. This book was okay, not as good at some of her other books that I've read but still enjoyable.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

*******SPOILER ALERT******
This book was sad but I loved it so much!! The main character is misunderstood at home and really just wants to help everyone and it's so sweet! I love the relationship she starts with this boy though and I cried so much when he died!!

[Sharelle Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really sad and I was heatbroken when the boy knew he was going to die before he awake but very heartwarming. What I didn't like was the mom she was being so controlling over her daughters life so sad but all in all a 10/10.

[Elia A]

One of the books from my childhood I remember best. I loved how the character transformed herself.

[Vetta Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always a good read

[Wendy Darling · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book but I think this book is just like Now I lay me down to sleep.

[Hailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I can say is. This is one of the most heartbreaking novels that Lurlene McDaniel had ever written. A sad beautiful tragic story.

[Liberty {LittyLibby}]

Wow, I remember the devastation wrought upon me by this book. 😅🤭 5th grade me was wrecked.

[fosamilg · Rating 4 out of 5]

genuinely wanted to cry.

[Mary-K Motoc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read a lot of books as a teenager by this author, but this was THEE (1st book I read by her) one that I still think about to this day & began my love of her books. 🫶🏻

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now I know I said that I wouldn't be reading anymore books by this author but I couldn't help it. When I read it a few days ago I really needed a short book to pass the time. At 124 pages this book certainly fit the bill.

As much as I like Lurlene's earlier works this one fell very short for me. Actually I would even venture to say that this is my least favourite book of hers that I've ever read and I've read somewhere in the neighbourhood of 20+ of her works. I just couldn't connect to the characters or the setting.

The writing and the story in general seemed bery one dimensional to me and almost as though she didn't really put much thought or effort into this book which was disappointing since she's one of my favourite childhood authors.

I wish the Deanne had been more personable and I really wanted to smack her mother because she didn't want her daughter to help people in the hospital. Seriously, who wouldn't want their kids to be that compassionate? To me Deanne although I pitied her for how her mother treated her I just couldn't like. I also didn't like Matt the boy she met in the hospital that much either but I think that it's because the story was so rushed and the author left out a lot of details which I wish she would have put it.

Despite my feelings for this book I do think it's a great book for girls and boys aged 11+.

[Becky Tucker · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the story of a young girl who feels that she doesn't fit in to her mother's country club lifestyle. And so, in an attempt to do something on her own, she starts volunteering at the hospital where her dad works. She is a good volunteer and all the patients and workers love her. She starts working with cancer patients and she eventually falls in love with one of them. She gets very attached to him and gets to know his family and everything and then he dies and she is devastated. She then stops going to the hospital until she goes back one day on a whim and realizes that she is mean to be there as she helps a young girl who is battling cancer fall asleep.

This book sqeaked by with two stars for me. I was tempted to give it one. However, it was a typical junior high girl novel: easy to read, a tear-jerker, and somewhat romantic. Also, it did succeed in making me want to volunteer at a hospital, which I think was part of the motivation as the last page says that if you want to volunteer, you should contact your local hospital. Utterly predictable, but kind of sweet none the less, this is a very young adult novel and I would recommend it to girls in junior high probably, but most likely not high school if I could help it.

[Noa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a very easy read. It had alot of sentimentality...and romanticism. Honestly, I thought it was a bit heavy handed, but I think that it would be a good read for younger readers. Maybe 7th graders. The main character is a nearly 15 year old girl. It has themes of personal growth, personal improvement, service, fear, determination... It was really sweet at the end. it took me an hour to read, so it isn't very long. It...could be a book you assign your 10 or 11 year old kid to read in his/her spare time (no kid of mine will, but I'm sure there is someone out there that wouldn't mind...). I don't think I would teach it in schools, because the characters are too flat. The main character starts out fat and ugly and transforms into a beautiful thin girl because she spent the summer serving at a hospital. Everyone else in the book (even the RA of the hospital floor for cancer patients) is described as beautiful and tall and thin with tinsel (I wished they had used that word...the author chose "blond" to describe the basic character...) hair and bright blue eyes. (the nurse never shows up again, but I suppose there is something to be said about imagining a story for of beautiful arian people).

[Emily Haggard]

i liked this book!it is about this girl who helps at a hospital that her dad works at during the summer.she is a volunTeen.she ends up meeting this 16 year old boy that has cancer and she becomes attached to him and is his friend.her dad told her to not get attached to the patients because something could happen to them.they do a movie called Hairless.something happens to her friend who's name is Matt.it makes her sad and she doesn't want to go to the hospital after this sudden tragedy.she ends up going back and she is drawn to the room that he stayed in at the hospital.there is a little girl in there that is crying because she is afraid of the dark.so the volunTeen holds her hand until she is fast asleep.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is the kind of extremely emotional story I avoid. It's a good story and very tragic and uplifting, but I've never done well with tear-jerkers. The story is of a girl who starts to work with terminally ill kids at the hospital. When she meets a boy with cancer who is around her age, well, you know how the stories go. She falls in love.
It's very much from the perspective of a teenager. There are moments that make me think of a soap opera and others that make me think of a chick flick. Even if it isn't the type of story I like, McDaniel does a good job at writing that kind of a book. Most likely teenage girls in their older teenage years will like this more than younger girls or boys in general

[Dakota · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I Should Die Before I Work is quick read but is also a very emotional read. This good is about a girl who does not like what her mother is trying to make her. So she decides to volunteer at her father’s hospital. Her father is the Chief of Medicine at the children’s hospital. She does very well so she is sent to the cancer patient floor and soon befriends a boy named Matt who is sixteen years old. This book is very emotional and it did bring tears to my eye near the end. But I really did like this book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to read books that make them bring out there emotions every once and a while. Thank you Lurlene McDaniel for writing this amazing book.

[Anna Borgholthaus · Rating 2 out of 5]

No, no... no good. I mean, it was enjoyable enough to read but just poor writing. I don't like how all of Lurlene McDaniel's books seem to emotionally manipulate readers. Instead of writing well, she disguises her lack of imagination with tragedy. Perhaps that's a bit harsh, and perhaps there's a place for these kinds of books in the world. I mean, plenty of people like them. It's just not my cup of tea... the young girl who's disillusioned with her country club life and falls in love with a young cancer patient blah blah...

[Ellie Dynek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I was blown away by this book! Not sure what to do with herself, Deanne decides to volunteer at a children's hospital over the summer, and finds her calling working with the oncology ward and its patients. Alongside her volunteer friends and patient friends, Deanne discovers herself in a whole new light and even goes on to fall in love with a remarkable young man; I highly recommend this book to anyone who feels a little lost in their own lives and is looking for a new direction to take.

[Cami · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to read all these books about dying. I remember begging mom to bring me home the next book from the library. So sad. They all have love stories in them and so that must be why I loved them so much, but there's always someone with a terminal illness and as I recall, they don't end happy. I was a morbid 10-year-old.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book (in about an hour) for the first time since the sixth grade, when it was one of my absolute favorites. Nostalgia is probably the only reason it's getting three stars, although to be fair, the book is destined to readers far younger than I am now. And let's be real, there will always be a special place in my heart for Lurlene McDaniel books.

[Phong042008 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in the beginning of this year. This book is kind of sad. There are many people are unlucky. It makes me feel I’m still a lucky person. I like this book, because there is a really love story. i learned many things from this book to deal with my life.

[Cristy Bruso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. My daughter started reading Lurlene McDaniel's books. She loved them so much that she made me read one. She writes for teens but adults will also enjoy reading her books. I have to be careful where i read her books because they alway make me cry!

[Erin Brawner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about Deanne a rich girl that would rather spend her days volunteering at the hospital in the children's cancer wing. There is love and lose. Students could relate to this book is they or someone they know have cancer.

[Brayleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book absolutely wrecked me. It is such a touching story, I was sobbing so hard when I finished it. I definitely recommend for anyone wanting to read a sweet, simple, and innocent book that will tear you apart.

[Katiescarlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. I actually starred in a College Theatre Rendition of the book. I think every adolescent could learn a great deal from the book.

[Michelle Lea]

it made me cry.

[Dixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking but tender

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sad but moving book of a young girl's friendship with a cancer patient.