Starred Review ALA Booklist (Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2016)

Starred Review In this darkest of comedies, the Stone family must come to terms with death and being the cast of a reality show d it's hard to say which is worse. When Jared Stone learns that he's dying of a brain tumor, he needs to find a way to provide for his wife and daughters. So he decides to auction off his life on eBay. With no time to lose, an ambitious, obnoxious television exec locks the family into a contract for Live or Die, a show dedicated to chronicling the last days of Jared Stone. Fifteen-year-old Jackie is distraught: as her dad declines, the story line heats up. Their home is invaded by producers, equipment, and, eventually, odd extras who've become obsessed with Stone; a jaded thrill seeker who wants to kill him on TV; and a sanctimonious nun who resolves he won't die on his own terms. Finally, Jackie, with the help of her Russian Facebook friend, decides to get the truth out via video. While portraying reality shows as evil is easy pickings, Vlahos successfully (and with vicious humor) takes other chances: telling some of the story from the perspective of the tumor; dealing with questions about the sanctity of life; and exposing the toll cancer takes on both patient and loved ones. This is bold, biting fare often so dark you sometimes want to look away. But you can't.

Horn Book

Jared Stone--devoted husband and father--has an advanced brain tumor. Wanting to leave his family with financial security, he tries to sell the remainder of his life on eBay, then strikes a deal with a reality television producer. The third-person narrative shifts perspectives (including Jared's anthropomorphized tumor), and some are more successful than others. Nevertheless, the story is compelling, satirical, and unsettling.

Kirkus Reviews

The members of a white, all-American family become the reluctant subjects of a reality TV show recording father Jared Stone's rapid decline from a brain tumor. Disoriented after receiving the news that he has an inoperable high-grade glioblastoma multiforme in his brain, Jared concocts a desperate plan to ensure the financial stability of his family after his death. He auctions his life on eBay to the highest bidders to do with him what they please, forgetting, in his tumor-addled confusion, to consult his family about his plans. What follows is a tragicomic romp through Jared's last months, related through the perspectives of the figures who have a vested interest in his life, from his family to the bidders (a motley assortment including a Catholic nun, a callous television executive, and a teenage gamer) to Jared's tumor itself, anthropomorphized and nicknamed Glio. The resulting reality show aggressively impinges on the privacy and dignity of the Stone family, as Glio gleefully consumes Jared's most cherished memories. Amid the chaos, Jared's quiet older daughter Jackie finds the courage to fight back by staging a behind-the-scenes show of her own. Vlahos' deadpan third-person narration amuses, but it also distances readers from the characters' emotional lives. Ironically, it is Glio who shines through most vividly as he tragically devours Jared's world. An unsettling rumination on the spectacle of tragedy. (Fiction. 15 & up)

School Library Journal (Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

Gr 9 Up-When Jared Stone is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, he decides to sell himself on eBay in order to provide for his wife and teenage daughters. Though the auction is quickly shut down, he attracts the attention of a sanctimonious, power-hungry Catholic nun; a teenage girl hoping to save him; a bored, sociopathic billionaire; and a soulless executive who will pay the family five million dollars in exchange for participating in a reality TV show broadcasting the last few months of the man's existence. The Stones agree to the TV deal, but Jackie, Jared's perceptive 15-year-old daughter, soon goes rogue, using every power at her disposal to expose the manipulative machinations of the television network. The author ( The Scar Boys ) incisively skewers reality TV, the Internet, celebrity culture, and religion, but he's equally adept at exploring the emotional lives of his characters; the bond between Jared and Jackie is especially rich. Describing the responses and experiences of the tumor, called Glio, who gleefully feasts upon Jared's most cherished memories, Vlahos artfully blends the whimsical and the poignant. While the prose is accessible, the premise (the fear of being unable to take care of one's family) and the focus on so many adult characters make this a candidate for a more mature audience. VERDICT An achingly funny satire that will appeal more to grown-up consumers of YA and sophisticated teens, especially fans of A.S. King or Aaron Starmer. Mahnaz Dar , School Library Journal

Voice of Youth Advocates

Jackie finds out her dad has an inoperable brain tumor through his eBay posting. Jared decides that selling himself to the highest bidder would be a good way to leave money for his wife and two daughters. The winner is a narcissistic TV producer who turns the life of the family into a reality show circus. Jared is not quite himself at the onset of the story, and by the end there is nothing left, a heartbreaking loss for the family that they are not fully allowed to process as they live in the fishbowl created and manipulated by the show. The conditions become like captivity, and Jackie decides to fight back, tapping into her online friendships for help in creating her own subversive videos to capture the reality behind the show. The narrative consists of multiple perspectives—including all the bidders from eBay—which makes the story compelling and complex. Even the tumor, named Glio, gets portions of the text to explain what he is doing as he consumes memories. This clever device not only anthropomorphizes the cancer, but it also serves to give the reader background about the family, and Jared particularly, in happier, healthier times. It is a thought-provoking, moving story with wicked humor and madcap action. Ultimately, the surviving members of the Stone family are able to grow closer through the experience, grieve, and get back at the show that has tried to profit from their private tragedy.—Erin Wyatt.