In a Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth

Description:

When a small mistake costs sixteen-year-old Eagan her life during a figure-skating competition, she leaves many things unreconciled, including her troubled relationship with her mother. From her vantage point in the afterlife, Eagan reflects back on her memories, and what she could have done differently, through her still-beating heart.

When fourteen-year-old Amelia learns she will be getting a heart transplant, her fear and guilt battle with her joy at this new chance at life. And afterwards when she starts to feel different—dreaming about figure skating, craving grape candy—her need to learn about her donor leads her to discover and explore Eagan’s life, meeting her grieving loved ones and trying to bring the closure they all need to move on.

Told in alternating viewpoints, In a Heartbeat tells the emotional and compelling story of two girls sharing one heart.

My Thoughts:

Organ donating is a black and white situation. You either support or you don’t. In a heartbeat is about Amelia, a girl with congestive heart failure waiting for a new heart, and Eagan the girl who provides that heart.

I will start with my story (moreover my mom’s story) and why I chose to read this book. A couple of years ago my mom started to have intestine problems. She was always sick and taking meds. The doctor finally said she needed to get an intestine transplant. In a small definition she would be waiting for someone to die so she could have their intestine. Fortunately, by way of miracle, she didn’t need a transplant. This is where my thoughts really come in. It gets you thinking, if I die I could make one last attempt to save someone’s life. I support organ donation because I saw the other side of the situation, my mom was waiting and could have waited for a long while. You won’t need it after you die so why not? (You don’t have to agree I’m just stating my position)

Sweet. The first word that comes to my mind after reading this book is sweet. This book as I explained brings up the complexities of getting a transplant. We still don’t know enough about the workings of the human body to understand the change people go through after a heart transplant. Granite not all people experience this ‘change of heart’ but it was neat seeing the switching views of the donator and the one who receives the donation.

Amelia has been sick since she was seven. A person like that seems much older than biology can explain. Amelia is shy but with Eagan’s heart she obtains a new kind of courage. Eagan is stuck in an in between state trying to get through the memories of her life. As you follow what was Eagan’s life and Amelia’s life in the present you grow to love both girls hoping well for both.

I can’t explain how this book affected me; it’s like a sad but necessary fact of life. We live, we die, and if we are lucky we survive an early death. The two girls show you what we need to be living for. I love this book on a deep level; it’s sewn into my heart.

This book had a clean yet adorable love story, of course, for both girls. Ellsworth hits every note, happy, sad, angrer, frustration, love (and not just cute boys), pain, grief, and courage. The only negative was that, like most books, it was slow in the beginning. Once you get through that you will love it!

In other words this is a must read!!

(Should I rate books? No! That’s like judging people, I don’t do that. I tell you what I like about it and what I didn't. Enough said!)

I apologizes if my review seems a little random and everywhere but I did love the book.

just sayin,
-Kare