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A review by kricketa
Cold Hands, Warm Heart by Jill Wolfson
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.