Format: Paperback | Pages: 286 | Release Date: April 2010 | Publisher: WestSide Books"Change of Heart" by Shari Maurer (Read this as a part of 1 ARC Tours)
My Book Summary : At sixteen Emmi has her life all mapped out. She plans on staying the star athlete on her high school varsity soccer team, play college soccer, and then help kids in other countries. She has had these plans for so long she doesn't think anything can get in her way to stop her from reaching her dreams, until she gets a cold during her team's tournament game she passes out on the field. When she gets back home, her parents take her to a doctor and he says it's just a cold and she should be getting better soon. But when she doesn't get better her parents have her get a second opinion and find out that she has 'viral myocarditis' and is going to need a new heart.
Thankfully her friends are there for her, keeping her in the loop with what was going on at school, and just being there for her. Also, it doesn't hurt that the guy, Sam, who she had just been starting to talk to right before all this started hasn't turned tail away from her, and is sticking around to see where their relationship could end up.
But as the months pass, waiting around for someone to die so she can live, she's starting to feel like she needs to claw up the walls from the boredom. To top that off she has already had to go in to the hospital thinking they have a heart for her, to find it wasn't a good match and to be sent back home to wait some more. The only thing that is helping her move forward is her dream/goals/plans of playing soccer again and everything she planned to do once high school was over .... and no one is going to take those dreams away.
While waiting and going to the hospital she meets Abe, a guy her age who has gotten a new heart two years ago and is now just making sure everything stays A-OK for him. He helps her know what to expect and is a great source to vent to. Even though she has a boyfriend and friends to vent to also, she likes having someone whom she can relate to what she's talking about.
Will she get a new heart before her time runs out? Will Emmi decide to stay with her boyfriend or will she turn to Abe instead? And if she gets a heart .... what happens if her body decides to reject it?
My Book Review : 3 out of 5 stars. The book began with a slow start and at first I didn't know if I could get into it, but about a third of the way into it the book started to get better. As a main character Emmi was okay, even though she had all right to be she was a bit over-dramatic about the situation. In truth until Abe came into the story line I really didn't like the book, and it turned out that he was my favorite character. I will say this book stuck to the truth about how a situation like this would effect a teenager, with the emotions that run along with it for the main character and those closest around her. Also ... if you read it and happen to make it to the end ... grab some tissues because it has a good but very sad ending.
Book Teaser(s) :
"I didn't sleep much the past two nights," he confessed.
"Yeah, me either."
"I was such an idiot. I'm sorry." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "The sex shouldn't matter to me, but it did. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much I like you, and how the things I like about you are way more than the physical stuff---not that I'm not attracted to you because I am---you're beautiful. You've got a great body, and a fabulous smile." He traced my dimple with his finger. "And I love your hair."
"Now I know your lying," I said, touching my baseball cap. ~ within Chapter 27
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