Optimists Die First

Reviewed by: Carla McAllister - New Gloucester Public Library, New Gloucester, Maine, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 14, 2017

Review

Petula De Wilde is 16 years old and carrying a heavy burden. Her younger sister died in a strange way and Petula believes it was all her fault. Now she is an only child and she is trying to compensate for her guilt by going to great lengths to keep her parents happy. She is also keeping a scrapbook of bizarre deaths and she is overly cautious in every aspect of her life; avoiding construction sites for fear something will fall from the sky and strike her dead, eschewing public toilets so as not to contract a deadly disease, using copious amounts of hand sanitizer. Just when she begins to let down her guard and experience a bit of happiness, horrible things begin to happen and she realizes that she was right in being a pessimist; optimists die first because they are not careful enough in their everyday lives. Unpredictable and at times humorous, this will make a good addition to YA collections.

Overall Book Score: very good