They Both Die at the End
Written by Adam Silvera

Publisher’s Summary:
In a near-future New York City where a service alerts people on the day they will die, teenagers Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio meet using the Last Friend app and are faced with the challenge of living a lifetime on their End Day.

Primary Source Pairing:
Mateo and Rufus are living different lives when they get the call from Death-Cast. Mateo and Rufus have different ideas about how to live their last day. It’s their differences that bring them together and make their last day the very best one they’ve lived. For this primary source pairing, begin a discussion about character traits and encourage students to incorporate visuals to fully describe Mateo and Rufus, citing textual evidence when possible. Use a Character Trait chart with students either digitally or go old school and cut up magazines to create a collage. Invite students to share their charts and post in the library or shared learning space. To begin the discussion, consider adding a picture of a phone for Mateo (always on his phone and social media and avoided taking risks, Mateo, 4:26 a.m., page 118) and a picture of a bike for Rufus (rides his bike to process his life, Rufus, 1:46 p.m., page 243).

Questions for Discussion:

• What images do you think of when you visualize the characters of Mateo and Rufus?
• How do images help you comprehend the character development in They Both Die at the End?
• Look at another character chart created by another reader of the book They Both Die at the End and reflect on the images used in the chart.
• How are they similar compared to the images you chose? How are they different?
• How does examining another character chart further your understanding of the story?

Credits:
Book Cover and Summary: Follett
They Both Die at the End Character Chart, created by JMarek: Google Docs