Heartbeat is a short novel written in first person about a twelve year-old girl’s everyday life. I felt that the cover and title of the book didn’t give a very good first impression, as the reader might expect something different from the actual story, but later on in the novel I realised that they were relevant to the plot. It was written in verse, with simple vocabulary and this made it very easy to read.

The novel is about a twelve year-old girl; her mother is expecting a baby, her grandpa is losing his memory, her best friend Max is growing up and changing rapidly, and she has to make various sacrifices for other people. However, I think Sharon Creech looked at these events in a different way (from Annie’s point of view) which made the book slightly more interesting.

I think that this book would be enjoyed by any younger reader, as I think that it is empathetic towards the life of a twelve year old.