Q. What is the one force that can conquer even death?

a. Love
b. Love
c. All of the above

For me, this pretty much sums up Never Eighteen, by Megan Messina Bostic. Technically it’s a Young Adult novel, but as a not-so-young-adult, I found it an enjoyable read as well. Seventeen-year-old Austin Parker is a leukemia patient whose time is no longer being measured in years or months but in weeks. Austin corrals his best friend (also the girl of his dreams) Kaylee to chauffeur him on one last weekend in which he tries to finish all of his unfinished business. What I enjoyed about Never Eighteen is that this isn’t what you might expect a teenaged-boy’s bucket list to be. Yes, he goes on the carnival ride that scares the crap out of him and tries his hand at pool hopping, but he also apologizes to the kid he beat up in grade school, talks to the mother of a friend who died, and generally tries to bandage the people he loves who are hurting. It’s a noble effort that he knows will not completely succeed. The effort is enough for him, and for the reader.

Austin is very real kid to me. I liked him. Bostic does a fine job of creating a likeable protagonist who can carry the reader along on an emotional journey whose end we know is preordained. It’s worth your time.