Heartbeat

At 13, Annie loves to draw, run barefoot, and spend time with her grandfather, who lives with her and is becoming more forgetful. She has a new love, for the baby growing inside her mother. As Annie draws 100 apples for art class, runs without joining track, spends more time with her grandfather, and goes to her mother's birthing classes, she grows with the rhythm of life, one heartbeat at a time. Mandy Siegfried makes this poetry collection a living, glowing story. As the perfect complement to Creech's simple yet elegant writing, Siegfried combines youth with thoughtfulness, emotion, and observation, giving HEARTBEAT the pulse it deserves. J.M.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award. 2005 ALA Notable Recording (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

November 7, 2005
"Creech returns to the free-verse form she employed so successfully in Love That Dog
for this insightful exploration of life's beginning and ending and the joys to be encountered on the journey," wrote PW
in a starred review. Ages 8-12.

Starred review from January 19, 2004
Creech returns to the free-verse form she employed so successfully in Love That Dog
for this insightful exploration of life's beginning and ending and the joys to be encountered on the journey. Twelve-year-old narrator Annie loves to run but has no interest in competing. She likes hearing the "thump-thump, thump-thump
" of her bare feet hitting the damp grass, and running alongside her friend Max when he joins her, stride for stride. The running becomes a metaphor: Annie's grandfather who once loved to run is now growing forgetful; Max joins the track team and his wish to win drives a wedge between them; and Annie's father and pregnant mother take her with them to hear the baby's heartbeat ("a-whoosh-a-whoosh-a-whoosh
/ very fast/ as if the alien baby/ must be running hard"). Annie describes her own heartbeat as "thump-THUMP, thump-THUMP
," curiously close to the rhythm of her running. Through Annie's observations, Creech eloquently captures the contrast between the baby's embarkation on life and Grandpa's slow withdrawal from it: "It is as if/ he is evaporating/ or shrinking/ disappearing—/ little pieces vanishing each day/ while the alien baby/ grows bigger and bigger." Annie's growing interest in and talent for drawing becomes a theme that develops so subtly that readers may be surprised by the ways in which the threads of the novel come together for a fully satisfying conclusion. Ages 8-12.

February 15, 2004
Gr 4-7-A tenderhearted story told in spare, free-verse poems. Annie, 12, takes great pleasure in running, but has no interest in racing or becoming a member of a team. For her, the pure joy comes from feeling the earth beneath her bare feet and the wind in her face. The experience is totally different for her moody friend and running partner, Max. For him, running is a way to escape his personal problems. Annie's comfortable, tightly knit world begins to unravel when she learns that her mother is pregnant and she becomes increasingly aware that her beloved Grandpa, a former champion racer, is slipping into dementia. She is a resourceful, self-possessed kid who takes comfort in the familiar but is able to face change and take it in stride. She marvels at the new life taking shape in her midst (her father provides month-by-month summations of the baby's development) and mourns the loss of her grandfather's strong and nurturing wisdom. School, art class, and chores appear throughout the verses, creating an everyday rhythm that matches the footfalls of this engaging heroine who loves to move, but who is willing to stop and smell the roses. Readers will enjoy meeting Annie, her family, and friends and will appreciate her resilience and spirit. This is vintage Creech, and its richness lies in its sheer simplicity.-Luann Toth, School Library Journal

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2004
Gr 4-7-The rhythms of a 12-year-old's life are expertly captured in this story told in free-verse poems. Annie's love of running and of drawing give her a means of release and help to see her through changes both small and profound.

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2004
Gr. 3-6. "I love to run / but I don't want to run / in a herd," avows 11-year-old Annie, the free-spirited, ruminative narrator of Creech's second novel in verse. Annie's nonconformist outlook has raised tensions with her running buddy, Max, who can't understand why Annie won't join him on the track team. In the meantime, Annie's mother is pregnant, which thrills Annie but brings her grandfather's failing health into painful focus. In the midst of these shifting relationships, a creative teacher's school assignment offers solace and, as in " Love That Dog" (2001), an opportunity for self-discovery: Annie must draw a single apple each day for 100 days. The symbolism of the apple seems belabored, and the story's gentle momentum will probably hook only the most thoughtful young readers. But like the apple Annie draws, this story is a lovingly crafted, miniature landscape, which will find its most passionate advocates among Creech's numerous adult fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)