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ladybaela's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this one, it reminded me a little of "The Fault in Our Stars".
michalice's review against another edition
3.0
I've had Cold Hands, Warm Heart sitting on my shelf waiting to be read. I decided to take the plunge and dive in. I really didn't know what to expect from this, just that someone died and donated their heart to someone else. But Cold Hands, Warm Heart was so much more than that. There was a lot of attention to detail, the before, during, and after of people who receive transplants. How it not only affects them, but also their family and friends.
I really enjoyed this book, and while it didn't blow me away it did make me think about a lot of things.
I really enjoyed this book, and while it didn't blow me away it did make me think about a lot of things.
mbrandmaier's review against another edition
4.0
If I wasn't already an organ donor, I would become one after reading this.
readwithpassion's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great book written from many different points of views, showing the power of organ donation. It shows how one family's choice to donate a family member's organs can change so many lives. Just in the beginning scene, the transplant center enters the possible donor into the database, and the screen shows an instant match for all of the lives that can be transformed. I loved how the book employed a variety of genres and points of view.
kricketa's review against another edition
3.0
found an old ARC of this in the house...obviously it's been published at this point, but what i read was the galley.
dani needs a heart transplant, but the only way to get one is for another person to die. enter amanda, who falls during a gymnastics competition and is declared brain-dead, leaving her family to agonize about organ donation. ultimately, amanda's organs give several people a new chance at a healthy life.
wolfson does a great job educating her readers on everything involved in the process of donations and transplants, down to the people who keep the organs alive until they can be harvested. i liked the character of milo and all of his research on death and how dani asks if all the information he's collected really helps a person who knows they are going to die. (and he says no). i liked tyler and how he was able to realistically assess his relationship with amanda after her death.
that said, i really hated the character of wendy. i also felt wolfson had an agenda in writing this book and really beats her point home. don't get me wrong, i find her agenda worthy, but i still feel like the entire plot was designed to advocate for organ donation and all of the events and characters were secondary. i would have liked it if she had spent more time exploring why loved ones are often hesitant to donate. even though it seems like an obvious choice to me, that's not the case for everyone.
overall: good for younger teens who tend toward the sappy.
dani needs a heart transplant, but the only way to get one is for another person to die. enter amanda, who falls during a gymnastics competition and is declared brain-dead, leaving her family to agonize about organ donation. ultimately, amanda's organs give several people a new chance at a healthy life.
wolfson does a great job educating her readers on everything involved in the process of donations and transplants, down to the people who keep the organs alive until they can be harvested. i liked the character of milo and all of his research on death and how dani asks if all the information he's collected really helps a person who knows they are going to die. (and he says no). i liked tyler and how he was able to realistically assess his relationship with amanda after her death.
that said, i really hated the character of wendy. i also felt wolfson had an agenda in writing this book and really beats her point home. don't get me wrong, i find her agenda worthy, but i still feel like the entire plot was designed to advocate for organ donation and all of the events and characters were secondary. i would have liked it if she had spent more time exploring why loved ones are often hesitant to donate. even though it seems like an obvious choice to me, that's not the case for everyone.
overall: good for younger teens who tend toward the sappy.
jbojkov's review against another edition
4.0
This was a moving account of a 15-year-old girl's wait for a heart transplant alongside the story of the eventual donor's brother and his struggle to come to terms with his sister's death. Nicely interwoven. Some suspense and fairly fast-paced for this kind of novel.
librariann's review against another edition
3.0
Ages 11+ (except for those pesky three pages where the hospital-bound teens play a game of "fucked or foolish")
14 year old gymnast Amanda is dead after a freak accident on the uneven bars. 15 year old Dani is barely clinging to life, victim of a heart that has been malformed since birth. 16 year old Tyler, Amanda's brother, isn't sure how to cope with the suddenness of his sister's death. Milo is on the wait list for a second liver transplant, after he screwed up the first one he got by drinking and not taking his meds.
Teens cope with mortality and celebrate life in this book on organ donation and its effects on donor families and recipients alike.
If you like Lurlene McDaniel or Before I Die by Jenny Downham. An interesting book to pair with Unwind by Shusterman.
14 year old gymnast Amanda is dead after a freak accident on the uneven bars. 15 year old Dani is barely clinging to life, victim of a heart that has been malformed since birth. 16 year old Tyler, Amanda's brother, isn't sure how to cope with the suddenness of his sister's death. Milo is on the wait list for a second liver transplant, after he screwed up the first one he got by drinking and not taking his meds.
Teens cope with mortality and celebrate life in this book on organ donation and its effects on donor families and recipients alike.
If you like Lurlene McDaniel or Before I Die by Jenny Downham. An interesting book to pair with Unwind by Shusterman.
bhav's review against another edition
4.0
Sometimes with multiple point of view books (especially more than three) I feel that I can't connect with characters because I only get a limited amount of time with them, that was not the case with Cold Hands, Warm Heart, I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and even without the name of the character at the start of each chapter like many books have, I could pick up on whose PoV it was pretty quick and enjoyed the couple of chapters where we saw the world through their eyes.
[b:Cold Hands, Warm Heart|6006914|Cold Hands, Warm Heart|Jill Wolfson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312048537s/6006914.jpg|6182010] was happy and sad and clever. Even though the way the book was written and the language felt that it would possibly be aimed at a younger audience than me I still really enjoyed the story and felt connected to the characters and invested in the plot. It was (dare I say) heartwarming and definitely something to pick up if you're feeling sad.
[b:Cold Hands, Warm Heart|6006914|Cold Hands, Warm Heart|Jill Wolfson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312048537s/6006914.jpg|6182010] was happy and sad and clever. Even though the way the book was written and the language felt that it would possibly be aimed at a younger audience than me I still really enjoyed the story and felt connected to the characters and invested in the plot. It was (dare I say) heartwarming and definitely something to pick up if you're feeling sad.
abigailbat's review against another edition
4.0
Amanda is a star gymnast. Dani struggles to walk across a room. They've never met. But they're about to become more intimate than most people can even imagine.
Dani was born with her heart on the wrong side of her body. It's a failing heart, a broken heart, and there's only one option if she's going to see her sixteenth birthday: a heart transplant. When Amanda breaks her neck in a gymnastics accident, Dani receives the ultimate gift: a donor heart.
In Cold Hands, Warm Heart we get Dani's story, but we also get the perspective of Amanda's family as they deal with devastating loss and a tough decision.
I loved Dani's voice and I also loved seeing the issue through multiple points of view. This will please fans of medical fiction and I'd recommend it to fans of Lurlene McDaniel who are looking for meatier fare.
Full review on my blog:
http://abbylibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/05/book-review-cold-hands-warm-heart.html
Dani was born with her heart on the wrong side of her body. It's a failing heart, a broken heart, and there's only one option if she's going to see her sixteenth birthday: a heart transplant. When Amanda breaks her neck in a gymnastics accident, Dani receives the ultimate gift: a donor heart.
In Cold Hands, Warm Heart we get Dani's story, but we also get the perspective of Amanda's family as they deal with devastating loss and a tough decision.
I loved Dani's voice and I also loved seeing the issue through multiple points of view. This will please fans of medical fiction and I'd recommend it to fans of Lurlene McDaniel who are looking for meatier fare.
Full review on my blog:
http://abbylibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/05/book-review-cold-hands-warm-heart.html
bhav's review against another edition
4.0
Sometimes with multiple point of view books (especially more than three) I feel that I can't connect with characters because I only get a limited amount of time with them, that was not the case with Cold Hands, Warm Heart, I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and even without the name of the character at the start of each chapter like many books have, I could pick up on whose PoV it was pretty quick and enjoyed the couple of chapters where we saw the world through their eyes.
[b:Cold Hands, Warm Heart|6006914|Cold Hands, Warm Heart|Jill Wolfson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312048537s/6006914.jpg|6182010] was happy and sad and clever. Even though the way the book was written and the language felt that it would possibly be aimed at a younger audience than me I still really enjoyed the story and felt connected to the characters and invested in the plot. It was (dare I say) heartwarming and definitely something to pick up if you're feeling sad.
[b:Cold Hands, Warm Heart|6006914|Cold Hands, Warm Heart|Jill Wolfson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312048537s/6006914.jpg|6182010] was happy and sad and clever. Even though the way the book was written and the language felt that it would possibly be aimed at a younger audience than me I still really enjoyed the story and felt connected to the characters and invested in the plot. It was (dare I say) heartwarming and definitely something to pick up if you're feeling sad.