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Heartbeat Sharon Creech Harpers Collins © 2004 |
Heartbeat is about a 12-year-old girl named Annie. She loves to run, but not for sport. She loves the feel of running -- barefoot. She doesn't believe in having a winner in running. Her mother is pregnant, and her grandfather, who lives with them, is becoming old and forgetful. Her best friend, Max, is becoming different and is always moody.
The track coach at Annie's school wants her to join track, and she keeps on pressuring Annie, but she doesn't want to join. Her friend Max cannot afford to buy the running shoes that he needs to, so he becomes sad. So, Annie takes out the money she has been saving for art supplies, and buys him running shoes. She leaves them with an anonymous note. Max finds them and is ecstatic. Annie sees him lose a race, and immediately learns her mom is about to have the baby. Also, Annie is assigned in her art class to draw one hundred apples, one each day for one hundred days.
This story is very well written, and after reading many of Sharon Creech's other books that are written in free verse poetry, I have top say that she is an absolutely amazing writer. She has her own unique style, which is deeply poetic, age appropriate, imaginative yet serious, and also very amusing. This book was great, but I think the plot could have been developed a little more. The book was a quick read, and I really enjoyed it. I though Creech's Love That Dog and The Wanderer were better, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I cannot wait until her next book hit the shelves, because she is truly an amazing writer.
~ Jon Gluckner, grade 8, Boardman Center Middle School