If I Should Die Before I Wake

...The book grabbed me and stuck with me all these years. I connected with Deanna when she had to deal with her over bearing mother, her weight problem and the way she stood up for herself. I loved the way she first met Matt at the hospital, not knowing he was a patient. The way they became friends and then how beautifully their romance grew. Especially over labor day weekend at Matt's vacation home. It was every teenage girl's dream. I admired Deanna's strength, courage and her heart. I just recently bought this book for my eleven year old daughter. This is a wonderful book. I strongly recommend it.

I got this book from a book club when I was about 9 years old. Through the subsequent years, I read this book at least 40 times. It is a lovely story about a young woman growing up, learning about love, and learning about grief. Somewhere along the way, I lost my battered and worn copy. But all this time, I've remembered this book as one of the first to ever move me and to instill in me a lifelong love of reading. I recommend it to any parent trying to get a girl more interested in reading. Hopefully, I'll be able to reaquire a copy soon...

This was among the first Lurlene McDaniel books I read as a child. Then last summer, at age 14, I discovered it again at my local library. The second time around, I loved the story even more. Deanne Vanervoort's mother planned for her to spend the summer hanging around the country club with a snobby rich boy, Judson Cortland III. The two teens couldn't stand each other. Thwarting her mother's hopes, Deanne took her father's suggestion to volunteer at the hospital were he worked as a surgeon. There, she fell in love with a cancer victim named Matt. His family accepted her the way her mother didn't. She enjoyed being with them and Matt. But is time running out for him? You'll never know unless you read the book! It reminded me of a later Lurlene McDaniel book, "Let Him Live". I highly reccomend both novels, they are very romantic and touching.

I bought this book when I was in the third grade while in Germany visiting my unlce. I had to have it, but hadn't even read the back cover. Eventually I read this book about a month after purchase. I loved it, and still do. Now being 16. I have written many book reaports over it and recamend it to every teenage girl like myself. If you want to read a good book this is the one.

This book kicks butt. It is one of her best