[XLI]≡ Download The Last Leaves Falling Sarah Benwell Sarah Benwell 9781909531222 Books

The Last Leaves Falling Sarah Benwell Sarah Benwell 9781909531222 Books

Download As PDF : The Last Leaves Falling Sarah Benwell Sarah Benwell 9781909531222 Books

The Last Leaves Falling Sarah Benwell Sarah Benwell 9781909531222 Books

Abe Sora is a teenager dying of ALS. This book follows him as his health declines. When Sora can no longer go to school, he turns to an internet meesage board for Kyoto teenagers. His internet friends become real-life friends when Sora's mother suggests inviting them over. Thus begins the most meaningful friendship of Sora's short life. At seventeen, he wants to be planning a future, a career as a literature professor, but Sora's life is all about dying. Worrying about his single mother, knowing he is her whole life. Knowing all the things he will miss. Instead Abe is looking for solace in the death poetry of samurai warriors.

This is a very powerful book. It is beautifully written. It reads quickly. It doesn't shy away from the ugliness of serious illness. I didn't care for all of the internet chat in the book (there are pages and pages of reproduced internet chat room dialogue), but I suspect teenagers probably won't care about that. This is a heavy book, that deals with heavy issues. Highly recommended for older teenagers.


Tags : The Last Leaves Falling [Sarah Benwell Sarah Benwell] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Last Leaves Falling,Sarah Benwell Sarah Benwell,The Last Leaves Falling,Random House Children's Publishers UK,1909531227,Teens - General

The Last Leaves Falling Sarah Benwell Sarah Benwell 9781909531222 Books Reviews

So says Sora, the Japanese teen protagonist of "The Last Leaves Falling," as he decides to reject his doctor's offer to take advantage of a Make-A-Wish-type organization, even though he has ALS, and is slowly losing control of his facilities. An excellent student who dreams of one day becoming a professor, Sora has recently had to leave school, and spends his days at home. Lonely and longing to find peers who won't pity him or feel awkward around him, Sora begins to log into chat rooms frequented by teens and eventually forms friendships with two of them Mai, a brilliant artist whose mother is adamant that she become a lawyer, and Kaito, who is a video game fanatic and later gets into web design (their talents are eventually pooled to create something amazing in the end that they share with others). Though surprised when they meet Sora in person, they are quick to stand by him, and their relationship grows and deepens - even as Sora's time as a functional person begins to run out.

(Random side-note I thought it was interesting that Sora's character was personified as a crane, as "sora" is actually the real name of a bird. Anyway...)

This is a very G-rated book, except for one f-word, the language is squeaky clean, and there is no sex (or romance). There is a little drinking at the very end, but no stereotypical teen partying. However, Sora's final choice and act is anything but lightweight, and is sobering enough that I would only recommend this book to older kids - middle school and up. The relationship Sora has with his mother and grandparents is very sweet (perhaps a bit too so), and he is an admirable character. My one criticism is that the author didn't delve into the more personal regrets of Sora - we hear about what he wants to achieve as a career but not so much what he wants in terms of romance, something you'd think would be very much on the mind of a boy that age. But it is beautifully written nonetheless.
This was an amazing novel. Insightful look into life with ALS. Thousands of people completed the ice bucket challenge without anyone truly understanding the disease. I challenge those people to read this book and see what someone's ending is with this disease.
The book is about a teenage boy suffering from ASL and his life struggles with the early approaching of death. It tells how he coped with his deteriorating physical body and how he sees death. The most touching part is his relationship with his mum, grannies and two other teenagers.
I enjoyed every minute of the book it makes you laugh and cry all at the same time I recommend reading this book
The author did a great job exploring the many emotions associated with terminal illness. This is a worthwhile piece of fiction.
What would you do if you knew you were going to die? Travel the world? Spend it with your family? Your friends? Go skydiving? Rocky Mountain climbing? For Sora, his options are limited. What friends he had at school have stopped visiting, his grandparents live in the countryside, and his single mother has to work to support them. This leaves the wheelchair-bound Sora for the most part alone in an apartment, slowly losing the ability to use his body due to ALS. Sora reads death poetry by samurai and turns to internet message boards to find a connection and as an outlet for his questions. Sora also struggles with the inevitable death waiting for him at the end of his illness. He pays a visit to the hospital’s ICU and what he sees there horrifies him into exploring options for palliative care available in his country, and searches for answers to what happens after, a subject the internet has no answer for, and a topic no one around him wants to discuss with him. Benwell brings extra depth to the tragedy of a teenager dying too young. She peels back the layers of sadness and regret and asks "what can you do about it?" Sora cannot control his body, but he wields his mind in a desperate search for answers most adults shy away from. When is enough pain enough? Is quality of life more important than longevity? While these questions make the novel compelling, younger readers may find the themes and questions upsetting.The format uses chat boxes and familiar online forms graphically on the page, which streamlines the narrative. The Last Leaves Falling is a poetic and compelling story about respect, dignity, friendship, and making difficult decisions for oneself about both life and death.
Abe Sora is a teenager dying of ALS. This book follows him as his health declines. When Sora can no longer go to school, he turns to an internet meesage board for Kyoto teenagers. His internet friends become real-life friends when Sora's mother suggests inviting them over. Thus begins the most meaningful friendship of Sora's short life. At seventeen, he wants to be planning a future, a career as a literature professor, but Sora's life is all about dying. Worrying about his single mother, knowing he is her whole life. Knowing all the things he will miss. Instead Abe is looking for solace in the death poetry of samurai warriors.

This is a very powerful book. It is beautifully written. It reads quickly. It doesn't shy away from the ugliness of serious illness. I didn't care for all of the internet chat in the book (there are pages and pages of reproduced internet chat room dialogue), but I suspect teenagers probably won't care about that. This is a heavy book, that deals with heavy issues. Highly recommended for older teenagers.