| Number | Call Number | Branch | Status | Volume |
| 1 |
YA F Ellsworth Loretta |
CP |
In at CP (Corporate Parkway) |
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| 2 |
YA F Ellsworth Loretta |
DR |
Out: Due May 28 2013 |
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| 3 |
YA F Ellsworth Loretta |
KL |
In at KL (Kathryn Linnemann) |
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| 4 |
YA F Ellsworth Loretta |
KR |
In at KR (Kisker Road) |
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| 5 |
YA F Ellsworth Loretta |
MK |
In at MK (Middendorf-Kredell) |
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| 6 |
YA F Ellsworth Loretta |
MY |
In at MY (McClay) |
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| 7 |
YA F Ellsworth Loretta |
SP |
In at SP (Spencer Road) |
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| Ellsworth's dual narrative explores the large and small ways medical technology forever intertwines the lives of two strangers. When 16-year-old Eagan, a figure skater with her sights on the Olympics, dies in a fall on the ice, 14-year-old Amelia receives the heart transplant that she and her family have been desperately awaiting. Trapped in a foggy limbo, Eagan must relive the defining moments of her painfully short existence before she can cross over to the hereafter. In alternating chapters, Amelia grapples with conflicting feelings over her new heart, and inexplicable changes in her post-op personality drive her to seek out her anonymous donor's family for answers. Ellsworth's dramatic story of loss and second chances is deftly tempered by its candid teen narration and light touches of mystery and romance, making it a highly satisfying read, especially for fans of the novels of Lurlene McDaniel and the recent Cold Hands, Warm Heart (2009), by Jill Wolfson. Copyright 2010 Booklist Reviews. | | | |
| Told from alternating viewpoints, this supernatural and sentimental tale of a heart transplanted from sixteen-year-old competitive skater Eagan into shy fourteen-year-old Amelia overflows with earnest optimism. Stuck in a "nowhere land," Eagan wrestles with her early death and her regrets, while Amelia finds herself infused with new characteristics and inexplicable knowledge about her donor. Copyright 2010 Horn Book Guide Reviews. | | | |
| This is the story of two girls. Eagan, 16, is a figure skater; Amelia, 14, has congestive heart failure. Eagan makes a miscalculation during a competition, striking her head on the boards, and dies. Amelia receives her heart. Told in alternating viewpoints, Eagan slowly realizes she has died, and begins thinking about the things she didn't get to do when she was alive, as well as her relationship with her mother, which she wishes had been better. As Amelia heals, she begins to experience life in a way she wasn't able to when she was sick, and has a strange craving for grape lollipops-Eagan's favorite. Encouraged by Avi, whose younger brother also had a heart transplant, Amelia begin searching for the name of her donor. While meeting Eagan's dad and boyfriend, Amelia has to be rushed to the hospital, and finally meets Eagan's mom, who confirms that Amelia's heartbeat is Eagan's heartbeat. This is a story that goes both forwards and backwards in time. The characters are compelling, and the story makes it clear why organ donation is the ultimate unselfish act. Recommended. Tracy Fitzwater, Librarian, Crescent School District, Joyce, Washington ¬ 2010 Linworth Publishing, Inc. | | | |
When the life of 16-year-old Eagan, an accomplished figure skater, comes to a sudden and tragic end, 14-year-old Amelia, who suffers from congestive heart failure, gains a chance for survival ("someone else had to die for me to live," she thinks. "...when my family prayed for a new heart for me, we were praying for that to happen"). In straightforward, stirring prose that alternates between the girls' perspectives, Ellsworth (In Search of Mockingbird) explores the intimate and mysterious connection between organ donor and recipient. While Eagan finds herself in a foggy place where she has flashbacks of her past, Amelia, recovering from the transplant, feels different, like the new heart "was sitting in a space that wasn't quite right." Her memories and dreams seem to belong to someone else at times, making her wonder whether she's inherited more than a vital organ. The book's climax—involving a meeting between Eagan's parents and Amelia—feels manufactured and somewhat rushed, but the emotions of the two protagonists are painstakingly fine-tuned. Readers will likely come away teary eyed and inspired to become organ donors themselves. Ages 12–up. (Feb.) [Page 50]. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information. | | | |
Gr 6–8—Eagan is a serious figure skater and works tirelessly toward her goal of becoming a world champion. Her mother, a caricature of the pushy sports parent, invests all of her frustrated dreams in her daughter's talent, and the 16-year-old, resenting the pressure, clashes with her regularly. Then, one day, Eagan misjudges the landing on a triple lutz, hits her head against the side of the rink, and dies. Her strong, athletic heart ends up in the chest of 14-year-old Amelia, a victim of congestive heart failure. The physical and spiritual connection between the two girls, who narrate in alternating chapters, forms the basis of this sweet but somewhat melodramatic story. Things move in a strange direction as Amelia begins to feel her personality changing in response to Eagan's heart. Suddenly she is talking back to her mother and thinking about figure skating, as if Eagan's heart were somehow influencing her behavior and thoughts. Predictably, Amelia feels compelled to find out more about her donor and eventually gets in touch with Eagan's parents. The result is an unsatisfactory reconciliation between Eagan's mother and Eagan's ghost, through the medium of Amelia. It would be touching if it weren't so absurd.—Emma Burkhart, Springside School, Philadelphia, PA [Page 108]. Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information. | | | |
| High school sophomore Eagan has been figure skating competitively for years and is on her way to a championship; lately she has found romance with Scott, a nice-guy football player. Then one half-inch error in her skating routine ends with her death. Amelia, another high school sophomore, has lived most of her life with a bad heart that's getting worse and desperately needs a transplant. When she gets her new heart, though, she starts experiencing personality changes and "remembers" things that were never a part of her life. With the help of newfound friend, Ari, she decides to seek out the family of her donor. Ellsworth tells the story in first-person for both girls in alternating chapters. Eagan finds herself in some sort of afterlife waiting room and relives memories of the last few months of her life as she tries to figure out where she is and what she should do; Amelia adjusts to life with a new, healthy heart and her odd memories. While Ellsworth's version of the afterlife will not make conservative Christians happy, most young teen girls won't care as they race through the book to learn what happens to the two very likeable characters. The idea of memory transfer through a heart transplant has been researched, but there's no scientific proof. Mild bad language and tame make-out scenes should not keep this book out of most middle schools.—Kat Kan 3Q 4P J S Copyright 2010 Voya Reviews. | | |
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