Dylan Mint has Tourettes. His life is a constant battle to keep the bad stuff in the swearing, the tics, the howling dog that seems to escape whenever he gets stressed. But a routine visit to the hospital changes everything. Overhearing a hushed conversation between the doctor and his mum, Dylan discovers that hes going to die in March. So he makes a list of things he must do before he dies: first, he wants to have real sex with gorgeous Michelle Malloy; second, hes got to find his autistic best friend Amir a new best bud; third, hes got to get his dad back home from the army so they can say goodbye properly. Its not a long list, but its ambitious, and he doesnt have much time. Sometimes youve just got to go for it no holding back and see what happens . . . Brian Conaghan makes you travel every step of the way in Dylans shoes, laughing and crying often at the same time as Dylan faces the twists and turns of an unfair world with glorious optimism and wit, raising important questions of inclusion, marginalisation and neurodiversity with sensitivity and insight. This barnstorming debut was shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal, and Brian has gone on to write many stunning, award-winning novels for teens and younger readers, including the Costa-winning The Bombs that Brought Us Together.

 

 

This book has been graded for interest at 12 years.

There are 320 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2015 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC .

Brian Conaghan is a Scot living and working as a teacher in Dublin. He has an MLitt in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow.