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My Heartbeat

3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 · rating details · 1,284 ratings · 145 reviews

Ellen loves Link and James. Her older brother and his best friend are the only company she ever wants. She knows they fight, but she makes it a policy never to take sides. She loves her brother, the math genius and track star. She is totally, madly in love with James, his face full of long eyelashes and hidden smiles. “When you grow out of it,” James teases her, “you will...more

Hardcover, 160 pages

Published April 29th 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green

Best YA Fiction with GLBTQQI themes / characters

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18th out of 63 books — 137 voters

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Apr 13, 2007 eva steele-saccio rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: YA readers

This book is really, truly wonderful. The writing is unbelievably good, but it's difficult to put your finger on exactly why. I love the understanding of teenage love that it conveys--the feeling that you are saying so much, declaring your undying love with mere gestures and common phrases when really you are simply asking the boy of your dreams to pass the bread. Freymann-Weyr also captures silence as communication ever so perfectly: its contrasting power of conveying anger and hurt and its abi...more

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Mar 04, 2008 Britta rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, audio, fiction, library

This is a great book. It's well-written and not longer than it needed to be.

Ellen is 14 and her brother, Linc, is 16 (although he skipped a grade, and so he's a senior in high school). James, 17, is Linc's best friend, and since Ellen has no other friends, he's her best friend too. The three of them spend all their time together, but even so, she's taken aback when a classmate asks her if Linc and James are a couple.

The story takes a lot of twists and turns, but never loses sight of its message:...more

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Jul 03, 2008 Elizabeth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: teen girls who are looking for a quick read.

This is the story of an adolescent girl with a crush on a bisexual boy who might or might not be in a relationship with her brother, a near-genius who refuses to admit that he's gay.

Only that summary makes My Heartbeat sound far more interesting than it actually is.

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Aug 01, 2011 Tatiana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Tatiana by: Printz

Shelves: printz, 2011, ya, ala-ya-2003

The only reason I see for awarding My Heartbeat Printz Honor in 2003 is its ultra-liberal, non-judgmental approach to teen sexuality.

The novel's premise is indeed edgy: 14-year old Ellen has only two friends - her older brother Link and his best friend Jason. Ellen has a bit of a crush on Jason, but no one acts on it until it is brought up to Ellen that the closeness between Jason and Link can only be explained by these two boys being a couple. When Ellen raises the question of her friends' hom...more

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Jul 03, 2007 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who needs a break from their other book for one night.

Yes it's from the "Teen Lit" shelf! What are you gonna do about it?! That's the thing, teen lit is really good! This writer is amazing and the writing was like butta', and I wish I made up some turns of phrases that she used. The main character (14-yr-old girl, who esle?) is learning to SEE things. Not just to look, but to see, like an artist does, while struggling with her family who handles struggle and problems by not talking about it, but carefully arond it:
"If I never develop the gift of cl...more

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Jan 05, 2009 Eileen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-romance, ya-glbqt, ya-nyc

I loved My Heartbeat. It is a well written story with interesting and believable characters. Some of the deep questions raised are about identity, belonging and the ability to truly know yourself and others.

Sexual identity is a key theme. Ellen has been good friends with Link and James. It is not until she attends highs school and a classmate suggests that Link and James might be a couple, that Ellen considers that they might be gay. There is no easy answer to this question. James has had sex w...more I loved My Heartbeat. It is a well written story with interesting and believable characters. Some of the deep questions raised are about identity, belonging and the ability to truly know yourself and others.

Sexual identity is a key theme. Ellen has been good friends with Link and James. It is not until she attends highs school and a classmate suggests that Link and James might be a couple, that Ellen considers that they might be gay. There is no easy answer to this question. James has had sex with men, but not Link. Yet, he and Link have an extremely close relationship, which unravels when the question of Link’s sexual identity is discussed openly. Ellen and James become a couple and have sex. Yet, it is never clear what James’s true sexual preference is. James’s parents work long hours and spend little time with him. The McConnell’s are like his family. James loves both Link and Ellen. Is it true love or the need to belong, whether to a family or to be a part of a couple?

The question of Link’s identity is unresolved at the end of the book. His father has his own vision of what his son is: a math wiz and not gay. Link has different ideas. He dropped out of his special math class to pursue his passion for music without telling his parents. Ultimately, Link decides to attend Yale, where he will undoubtedly have the opportunity to discover his true passion, whether it is music, languages or maybe even math. This will also be a time for Link to figure out his sexual identity. No doubt, Link’s father will accept his son. James sums up the situation. “Your father means well and when you want to tell him what he is afraid to know, he might find a way to approve”.

The question of whether you can truly ever know a person is an important theme in My Heartbeat. Ellen struggles with this question throughout the novel. Can she truly know her brother, her father or James? After talking to her dad about what he is reading, Ellen wonders “Suppose he answered all my questions. I still wouldn’t discover what the quality is of his mind’s heartbeat”. Ellen concludes “Perhaps there are limits to how much you can know anyone, an unwritten social law that I am in the process of learning. Somebody should write these things down”. Ellen reads The Age of Innocence and concludes there are unwritten social codes that people must learn to navigate. Newland and the Countess never express the love they feel for each other. The same unwritten laws are still in effect today, particularly for gay people. Ellen notes “How is it that my father, whom I think I know so well, has picked the wrong-the ignorant-laws to follow?”

Ellen learns about these unwritten social laws throughout My Heartbeat and in the process learns about herself. Most importantly she learns to like who she is.
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May 10, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ellen loves her brother Link and his best friend James more than any other two people in the world; but things get much more complicated when a girl at school asks if Link and James are a couple. Are they gay? What does gay even mean? When she decides to ask, things get even more complicated than before and Link and James no longer speak to each other. Ellen has always thought James was super cute, but is it okay to date a boy who used to date your brother? Is it okay to date a gay boy at all?

Th...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Justin rated it 1 of 5 stars

Snapshot: Ellen loves her older brother Link, and loves his best friend James even more. When she confronts the two of them with a question about their relationship, the boys' friendship seemingly ends. Can Ellen bring them back together, or will she instead replace her brother as James' confidante?

Hook: The cover shows three expressionless characters, one of which is trying to separate the other two. A heart hovers over the trio. The inside cover brings an important topic to the forefront, the...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Isamlq rated it 3 of 5 stars

It’s both simple and complicated.

SIMPLE: I found myself liking the simplicity that Ellen represented, (but doubting her a little.) I found myself wondering if I’d ever been as innocent as her or as ready and compliant she was because of how she felt for them. With her, everything was simple. There was a surprising lack of drama from this fourteen year old girl (that could have been because she was just fourteen - even if she seemed much younger,- or maybe was because, as James put it, she was c...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Adriana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: tween, teen, fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. My Heartbeat is a story about Ellen’s family and how they tip toe around the thoughts of her brother, Link, being a homosexual. Ellen spent her adolescent years as a wallflower and spending a lot of her free time with her brother Link and his best friend James. Her parents encourage her to socialize at her new high school where her brother and James currently attend. Ellen really likes hanging out with her brother and his best friend who she is in madly in love with. Ellen starts to question Lin...more My Heartbeat is a story about Ellen’s family and how they tip toe around the thoughts of her brother, Link, being a homosexual. Ellen spent her adolescent years as a wallflower and spending a lot of her free time with her brother Link and his best friend James. Her parents encourage her to socialize at her new high school where her brother and James currently attend. Ellen really likes hanging out with her brother and his best friend who she is in madly in love with. Ellen starts to question Links relationship with James and happens to learn about the unwritten laws of man. . “No one writes them down because that would involve admitting they exists (p. 59).” After finally understanding these “stupid” laws, Ellen attempts to help her family with the process of understanding but has trouble because her family has never been good at expressing their feelings and communication.
While, Link the talented track star, pianist, and math genius out of the picture, Ellen get’s the opportunity to have James all to herself. Dad is happy that James is out of Links picture and bribes Link to stay with his new girlfriend Polly by not taxing his allowance. In the end, everyone grows to understand themselves and others around them as they continue their journey to self-discovery.
Garret Freymann-Weyr theme of sexual identity and interpersonal relationships in a family life setting is controversial issue that many teenagers and parents ignore. Garret allows teenagers that have never been able to identify to popular fiction characters to identify with either Ellen the sister who is trying to find out if her brother is gay, Link, the brother, who loves his best friend, and James who is in love with both his friends Ellen and Link. Garret further unveils the portrait of a father who cannot or will not admit that his son may or may not be gay because he does not want his son to be limited to “life’s margins”. There is no question as to why Garret Freymann-Weyr received the Michael L. Printz award for excellence in young adult literature or was on many best books list in 2002, because she unlike others was willing to write about the controversial issue of homosexuality and allows those that are different from mainstream society to feel understood.
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Aug 23, 2010 Patrice Sartor rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: love-sex-romance, young-adult

GENRE: Fiction: Realistic fiction, problem solving, romance.

SUBJECT/THEMES: Homosexuality, bisexuality, familial loyalty, inability to express feelings, romantic crushes, sibling relationships.

SUMMARY: Ellen is very attached to her brother Link and loves him dearly. She also has a long-standing tremendous crush on Link’s best friend and constant companion, James. Sometimes Link and James argue and cannot get past their differences. Other times it seems they have such a tight connection that they...more GENRE: Fiction: Realistic fiction, problem solving, romance.

SUBJECT/THEMES: Homosexuality, bisexuality, familial loyalty, inability to express feelings, romantic crushes, sibling relationships.

SUMMARY: Ellen is very attached to her brother Link and loves him dearly. She also has a long-standing tremendous crush on Link’s best friend and constant companion, James. Sometimes Link and James argue and cannot get past their differences. Other times it seems they have such a tight connection that they do not need to communicate verbally. After a classmate asks Ellen if Link and James are a couple, she begins to see them in an entirely different light. She researches homosexuality so she can better understand it, and hopefully, her brother. When she works up the nerve to broach the subject, Link completely denies being gay and becomes very upset. This incident causes Link and James to break apart, and Ellen becomes closer and closer to James. Ellen must battle her feelings over whether she should encourage Link and James to reunite as an actual couple, or if she should keep him for herself.

EVALUATION: I like that this title does not approach homosexuality in a straight-forward manner. Neither Link nor James can say that they are gay. James says he may be. He has slept with other men, but he likes women too. Link is further in denial, and while it feels obvious to everyone around that Link is gay, he cannot admit it to himself, much less to anyone else. He has a lot of soul searching to do after Ellen asks him if he and James are a couple. So of course the first thing he does is get a girlfriend. I like how Ellen was truly torn over to indulge in her feelings of attraction for James, or whether to leave him for Link. The whole novel is well told, with completely believable characters.

WHY I WOULD INCLUDE IT: I wanted to have a book in the collection that was available to young men that are having difficulty ascertaining their sexual preferences. As a bonus, this book is also a fine recommendation to young women that have a crush and want to become involved with a boy that may be gay or bisexual.

A booktalk for this title is located at the NoveList web site. (Retrieved April 25, 2009, from http://web.ebscohost.com/novelist/det...)

Although it may be controversial, during the week of the Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco, this title and other ones which discuss young adults coming to terms with their homosexuality and bisexuality could be set up on a display together.

ITEMS WITH SIMILAR APPEAL:
• Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List, by Rachel Cohn.
• Eight Seconds, by Jean Ferris.
• Geography Club, by Brent Hartinger.
• Boy Girl Boy, by Ronald Koertge.
• Boy Meets Boy, by David Levithan.
• Whistle Me Home, by Barbara Wersba.
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Aug 23, 2010 Holly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Holly by: Angie

Shelves: contemporary, young-adult

Ellen and her brother Link attend an elite, private high school in Manhattan. He is an incoming senior researching Ivy League schools. She just received Rollerblades for her 14th birthday. Link’s a math whiz and a genius, while Ellen is happy to be average. Link likes his best friend James, but Ellen likes “super cute” James too. The three of them form an unlikely friendship, in which Ellen loves them equally. She’s perfectly content and comfortable to have no other friends her age or gender in...more Ellen and her brother Link attend an elite, private high school in Manhattan. He is an incoming senior researching Ivy League schools. She just received Rollerblades for her 14th birthday. Link’s a math whiz and a genius, while Ellen is happy to be average. Link likes his best friend James, but Ellen likes “super cute” James too. The three of them form an unlikely friendship, in which Ellen loves them equally. She’s perfectly content and comfortable to have no other friends her age or gender in addition to being deeply and unrequited-ly in love with James until a school mate questions the nature of the boys’ relationship. And despite being close to them, Ellen doesn’t know herself. Going to her mother and finding she is also in the dark Ellen gathers all her naïve confidence and confronts James and Link themselves. What she finds astonishes her and changes James, Link, and their relationship permanently as well as providing a springboard for Ellen to discover love and identity of all kinds.

Sometimes the best things come in small packages, and in the case of My Heartbeat, it couldn’t be truer. Though I read it in one, short sitting the characters and relationships in this book have left a much longer-lasting mark. From the first page I identified with Ellen and eased comfortably into her relationship with Link and James. I was surprised at how subtle the issue of sexual identity emerged and how honestly it was handled. This potentially controversial subject comes off completely natural and normal and is only part of the many subjects and relationship types this book explores. I was happily taken aback and proved wrong many times when I almost without knowing pigeon-holed certain characters or tried to predict the plot. What Garret Freymann-Weyr portrays is real, honest life without the stereotypes. Even Ellen’s mother and father surprised me in their depth, particularly for YA parents. What hooked me though was the spare, pointed writing and Ellen. She genuinely loves both Link and James and only wants the best for them. Even if it’s not in her best interest, as this quote illustrates:

"It is true I would follow James to the moon. But if Link would let me, I would follow him anywhere he wanted."

Her naïve innocence and maturity are raw and endearing. The life lessons Ellen learns are sweet and profound. With a perfectly hopeful and understated ending and fluid style, I’m surprised My Heartbeat isn’t more well-known. It undoubtedly stands out from the YA contemporary crowd and deserves more readers. For now and always I’m proud to count myself as one of them and will surely be checking out Freymann-Weyr’s other books.(less)

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Feb 02, 2009 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: older teens

Ellen McConnell is looking forward to joining her brother Link and his best friend James for her freshman year at prep school, but she is in for a rude awakening. Shortly after her arrival at school, she witnesses an argument between the two boys that puts a significant strain on their relationship. Subsequently, Ellen and James begin spending time together and eventually become a couple, creating a love triangle (Burkam, 2002). Ellen eventually realizes that her brother is gay but has not yet...more

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Nov 16, 2009 Shaya rated it 3 of 5 stars

When my librarian announced this as one of the award winning books we had to pick from, I rushed to it. I was so excited because I love the whole "forbidden love" thing. So I checked it out, and read it in a whole day. I'm greatly disappointed. I love the way Garret Freymann-Weyr wrote this, but two things bugged me;

1) Link and James didn't end up together. At first I thought James just used Ellen as a rebound because he really showed no interest in her before, only interest in Link. It kind of...more

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Dec 04, 2007 Jan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: teenbooks

Although this book was an award winner when it was first published in 2002, I didn't find it to be everything it was cracked up to be.

The family in this novel are overeducated Manhattan snobs obsessed with their own intellectual pretensions, which makes them distinctly unlikable. Although this is an interesting look at how adolescent sexuality can be defined in many different ways, I couldn't get past the annoying characters, who were a bit too precious for my taste.

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Jan 16, 2010 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2010

O.....M.....G. This book is a friggin diamond in the middle of a giant coal bucket. I L-O-V-E-D every inch of it, right down to the commas, from front to back and upside down. When I bought it I thought it was just going to be some cutesy little story about a girl figuring out that her brother is gay, but omg, it is so much more than that. There's laughter, there's tears, there's confusion, there's love, there's acceptance, and most importantly, there's truth: there's truth in the message that n...more

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Apr 05, 2012 Racy-tay rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids-books, women-gender-queer

I absolutely loved this book. It has its faults; I really had no desire to read about privileged kids in NY, hear yet another preachy moment about the dangers of teen sex complete with pregnancy and AIDS, but I still absolutely loved this book. As a teen this is what I would have wanted to read without realizing it. I love the characters and they resonate with me. The main character is a girl who adores her brother and desperately wants to know him. Her family can't communicate, they are bad wit...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Dain Mun rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ellen is a 14 year old girl. She loves two boys the most. One is Linc who is her older brother. The other one is James who is the best friend with Linc and Ellen. They all hang out together. Suddenly the questions comes if Linc and James are together. But they don't know what they feel exactly. James has slept with other men but Lin hasn't. He refuses to define their relationship and label himself as a gay. Because the problem isn't solved, their friendship torn apart. Linc doesn't want to deal...more

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Apr 16, 2008 Laura Leonard rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who liked Hard Love, Postcards from No Man's Land & "Hello," I Lied.

Shelves: realistic-fiction, teen, glbtq

Ellen, 14, has always envied the closeness shared by her brother Link and his best friend James. Some people at their school think James and Link are a couple. When Ellen asks them, Link backs away and James and Ellen grow closer, eventually becoming a couple themselves. Ellen also confronts "unwritten" laws about homosexuality held by many people in society, including her father.

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Jul 10, 2009 Helen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, lgbt, 2009

I'm still quite torn about this book--I loved many things about it, but there were plenty more that unsettled and, quite frankly, irritated me. Like some of the reviews on Amazon, I did feel the characters and their families were very pretentious, but I became less annoyed about that when it became clear they all had various problems of their own, and their living and financial situation was just something I had to take as is for the purposes of the novel.

I found it difficult to relate or form a...more

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Mar 05, 2012 Katie rated it 1 of 5 stars

I really did not like this book.
First of all it was classist. Although the homophobia behind the action may be similar, paying off one's son is disgusting. The talk of Ivy league schools and other high-brow examples turned me off (especially when it was the bulk of the book).
Secondly, what started out as the main story (the relationship between the boys) turned out to be non-important at the end.
Thirdly, who in their right mind would really be okay with their sister dating someone they were in...more

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Nov 06, 2007 Christina rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: teens who like relationship books

Shelves: realistic

A good story about relationships. The main character, Ellen, starts to question why her older brother is so close to his best friend. Gradually she realizes they are gay, and this affects her feelings for both of them. What happens when you find out the guy you like as "more than a friend" won't ever like you that way back?

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Jul 23, 2010 Bridget rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: rhrr

I have to admit I had my doubts as I began to listen to this on CD. The narrator is only 14 and it seemed to play a bit young at the beginning. However, there was much more depth here than I first saw. There are lots of questions asked by Ellen, the protagonist, about "seeing people", being gay, sex, relationships, the use of silence as communication. I think the best part of this book was all the question-asking Ellen did. She asked questions and got opinions and thought hard about really big i...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Judy (Geeky Reading) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own

~3.5/5
[Also available on my blog.]

This book kind of surprised me. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, it just wasn’t what I was expecting.

My Heartbeat is about Ellen and her brother Link and Link’s best friend James. Only, maybe James isn’t only his best friend. Link and James have been friends forever, really close, and spend practically all their time together. Which makes some people wonder if, maybe, they aren’t only friends. When someone mentions this to her, she starts wondering, a...more ~3.5/5
[Also available on my blog.]

This book kind of surprised me. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, it just wasn’t what I was expecting.

My Heartbeat is about Ellen and her brother Link and Link’s best friend James. Only, maybe James isn’t only his best friend. Link and James have been friends forever, really close, and spend practically all their time together. Which makes some people wonder if, maybe, they aren’t only friends. When someone mentions this to her, she starts wondering, and can’t stop, and then things get messy when she asks them about it.

I don’t want to spoil things too much, but things didn’t get messy in the way that I expected them to. It was interesting to me how things got messy, and while it didn’t quite feel right, as in it gave me uneasy feelings, things kind of worked themselves out.

I liked Ellen, and found her relationship with James to be interesting. I also liked Link. At first, I was unsure of him, and felt a little sorry for him, and while I still kind of do, he surprised me a little. He didn’t do quite what I expected, even if he did do something that wasn’t too big a surprise. I was hoping he would go a step further, and I really wanted to see if he was going to accept what he was feeling, if it really was what he was feeling. I think, overall, I just wanted to know more about Link. I wouldn’t have minded getting in his head for a bit.

There are some gay messages in here, but not really in the way I was expecting. I liked Ellen’s mother’s take on it, but not her father’s, at all. I didn't much like her brother reaction about it, either. And I really enjoyed, and respected, what Ellen did about it. She didn’t shy away from any of it, she was honest to herself about what she thought about her father and her brother, and I really liked that she went out and did some research on the subject when she realized she knew very little about it.

She did comment on how it’s not really that big a deal anymore, and she didn’t understand why her brother and father were afraid of it. And, while I really liked those thoughts, I didn’t really agree. I mean, this was published back in 2002, and things still haven’t really cleared up on whether it’s a big deal or not. A lot of people still think it is.

I rather enjoyed this book. It wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t what I expected, and I wanted more from it, but I enjoyed it.(less)

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Apr 30, 2009 Todd rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 12s-13s, character-driven, family, mature

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 17, 2011 Shelley Daugherty rated it 5 of 5 stars

A very moving story about a 14 year-old girl who is struggling to figure out whether her brother and his best friend are a gay couple or not. This book explores that moment of realization with an honest view from young eyes. Little does she know, the two boys have never thought they would have to explain their situation and this causes a rift between the two of them. But who are they without each other and is there any good way to broach this situation and not offend anyone. Beautifully honest....more

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May 28, 2011 Lucia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookoncdtapefinished, young-adult-fiction

I had to listen to most of this audio book twice but I may not have been in a listening mind when I started. This books focuses on the emotional issues of gay relationships, teen angst while figuring out one's sexuality ( that seems so lightly put), and family relationships and dynamics.

(The following statment could be considered a spoiler)
I think the part that bothered me so much was the fact that the young girl was only 14 and pushing herself into a sexual relationship. I know this happens al...more

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Jun 24, 2009 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

Kinda cute YA book about very priviledged kids who talk about Great Literature a lot. It's a love triangle, with issues of sexual orientation. Cool thing is it addresses bisexuality in a very natural way. But the characters were annoying and unrealistic...And it's weird for a 14 year old to date an 18 year old who is truly in love with her brother...Plus he acted like a father to her and was sometimes condescending. Not a great example of a good relationship. Although he was very mature about se...more

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Sep 11, 2012 Hannah rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is sweet, slightly unrealistic, and just generally lovely and easy to read. I got lost in the story pretty much immediately. what I particularly liked was how the characters had depth to them, and believable flaws that an actual real life person might have. It didn't have a happy ending, which is a shame, but I guess it wasn't really the kind of book destined to have an 'ending' of any kind anyway. It is like a small snippet of someone's life, and I almost...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Victoria rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reads-in-7th-grade-mp-4

This book didn't really pull me in like all of the other books I have read, but it definetly was worth the read. I mean, considering I stood up until 12 o'clock in the morning to finish reading it, I'd say that I was pretty interested in it. It's really just about this girl who's trying to figure out whether or not her brother is gay for his best friend of not, but then she ends up dating his best friend and her brother ends up dating a girl, just to prove to other people that he wasn't gay. Thi...more

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About Garret Freymann-Weyr

Garret Freymann-Weyr (née Weyr) was born and raised in New York City. She inexplicably went to college in North Carolina (UNC-Chapel Hill) and, just as inexplicably, got an MFA in film (NYU). She now lives outside Washington, D.C. with her husband. She has written five books for young adults, one of which, somewhat inexplicably, won a Printz honor. Her work has been sold to countries including the...more

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Quotes from My Heartbeat

“Not that there’s anything wrong with geeky," Link says before Dad has a chance to. Geeky is one of Dad’s favorite words, and I listen with glee to my brother’s imitation of our father: "Geeky people often have that which is most valuable in this life." Link pauses here for effect, so that James and I can join in, shouting Dad’s favorite phrase, "A mind with its own heartbeat.” — 3 people liked it

“I'd love it if the first time I spent the night with a girl it was because she was tired," James says. "I'd love it if it were you.” — 1 person liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/331711.My_Heartbeat?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347621973l/331711.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/331711.My_Heartbeat?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr[/url]

My Heartbeat

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