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Heartbeat

Reviewed by Vincent Martin
This book, taking roughly no more than two hours to read, is the shortest book of the six in the Carnegie shortlist. This however doesn’t make a bad book. In fact it’s actually okay.

The book is written in stanza or verse (like a poem is written) which is new for a book telling a story and I have not ever come across a book written in this way. The main story is about a girl called Annie who really loves running (barefoot) and has a best friend called Max, a really strange art teacher (who’s obsessed with drawing apples), and also a strange neighbour who calls Annie “Annie-banany” for reasons we are not quite sure of, and a pregnant mum. There is also a Grandpa who sometimes gets confused with what is actually real and what is not.

As you have probably seen from the list above the book is filled with an array of strange characters but this book has other ways of grabbing attention, with a very bold front cover and a mysterious title (Heartbeat). The only downside to this title is that people (probably boys) would get the idea that this book is for girls and would be about “love”. This could put a few people off. However even though (like The Scarecrow and His Servant) this book is meant for a younger reader it isn’t what its title may make it out to be.

 

Here is an extract from the book:

And he takes off running

back down the path

and I stay on the bench

secretly glad that he does not want my money

but profoundly sad that he seems

angry

with

me

and

I

do

not

know

why.