The 39 deaths of Adam Strand - Gregory Galloay

Adam has died 39 times.  He has jumped 18 times, asphyxiated 5 times, drowned 5 times, poisoned/overdosed 4 times, hung himself 3 times, once each by fire, gun, chain saw, and train.  He has come back to life after each death.  He's seen doctors and psychiatrists, but no one can figure out why he comes back to life.  All of this started when Adam was 10.  His mom, brother, and him were in the car stopped at a bridge that was up to let barge traffic through.  All of the sudden he felt this pull in him to jump off the bridge.  He jumped off the bridge and died.  He came back to life a few days later.  Adam began to be know as the freak around town because he kept on killing himself.  His friends accepted that this was part of him.  As the school year comes to an end the only thing he'll miss is his English class and his teacher.  It was the only thing worth going to school for in Adam's view.  As the summer comes Adam hangs out with his friends and gets drunk most of the time.  He looks back at some different times he's killed himself.  He is seeing a new doctor who is trying to understand why Adam kills himself over and over.  He also falls in love with his longtime friend Jodi.  When he takes too long to tell her how he feels Tony swoops in and starts going out with her.  Adam and Jodi are still friends, but things have changed between them.  Tony keeps nagging him to kill himself whenever they hang out.  Adam keeps telling him that he can't just do it on command.  Tony thinks Adam is trying to prove something, but Adam is what he is.  The night of Adam's birthday he's hanging out with his friends and Tony shows up.  Tony and Adam begin to argue and Tony stabs Adam in the chest.  He's in the hospital for five days and in those days he looks back at everything that has happened in the last few years.  Is Adam doomed to keep on killing himself over and over?  Does he have the strength in him to fight whatever this is and become a better person?

I really enjoyed this book.  You got into Adam's head and saw how he thinks when he kills himself.  I did like the ending of the book too.  It gave the idea of hope that Adam could over come whatever this is and become a person who doesn't feel the need to kill himself over and over.

T.B. 3/22/13