Heartbeat CD
by Sharon Creech
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Read in January, 2008
Annie loves to run. Annie loves to draw. These are constants in her life when so many other things seem to be changing. Her mother's having a new baby. Her grandfather is losing his memory and sometimes doesn't recognize himself. And everyone keeps asking Annie about her friendship with Max. Are they just friends? Or are they something more?
This quiet novel in verse documents a year in Annie's life and how she deals with it. She realizes that everything changes and she might have to change, to...more
This quiet novel in verse documents a year in Annie's life and how she deals with it. She realizes that everything changes and she might have to change, to...more
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Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com
In this poetic novel by acclaimed author Sharon Creech, Annie, a twelve-year-old girl, is trying to find out who she is. A lot happens in this short one-hundred-and-eighty-page book.
Annie's mother is pregnant, her grandfather is beginning to forget things, and her friend Max is extremely moody. Annie loves to run, and throughout the book there are "thump, thump, thump" lines where she can hear her heart beat in rhythm with her feet...more
In this poetic novel by acclaimed author Sharon Creech, Annie, a twelve-year-old girl, is trying to find out who she is. A lot happens in this short one-hundred-and-eighty-page book.
Annie's mother is pregnant, her grandfather is beginning to forget things, and her friend Max is extremely moody. Annie loves to run, and throughout the book there are "thump, thump, thump" lines where she can hear her heart beat in rhythm with her feet...more
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Despite the obvious fact that this book is below my reading level, I read it on my free time and didn't originally plan on putting it on goodreads. This book actually surprised me, it was very insightful. First of all, I LOVE Sharon Creech's writing style, and anyone who read Love That Dog would agree with me that a book in poetry format is just as meaningful as a normal novel.
This book very nicely examined the growth of a child (as many of Creech's books do) physically, and mentally as well....more
This book very nicely examined the growth of a child (as many of Creech's books do) physically, and mentally as well....more
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Obviously below my level of reading, Heartbeat still interested me. I read it because it was poetry and I believe poetry, even with simple words can be very meaningful.
"When Max says he will open camp
for boys like him
I ask him what kind of boy that is
and he aims his eyes at me again
and keeps them there
and keeps them there
as he lifts one hand
to remove a lead from my hair
and he says
Boys with nothing.
And he will not stand still for my reply.
He is already off and run...more
"When Max says he will open camp
for boys like him
I ask him what kind of boy that is
and he aims his eyes at me again
and keeps them there
and keeps them there
as he lifts one hand
to remove a lead from my hair
and he says
Boys with nothing.
And he will not stand still for my reply.
He is already off and run...more
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Read in August, 2004
Sharon Creech is one of my favorite authors for young adults, and although I enjoy all of her books, this is one of her best. The entire book is written in poetic free verse (like Love That Dog), and I love that form of storytelling--it is extraordinarily expressive with just a few words. If you want to see what I mean, you should read a chapter on the...more
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recommended to Michaela by:
Mr. Durfee
recommends it for: any girl
recommends it for: any girl
This book was just beautiful. It isn't exciting (that is coming from a fantasy fanatic). But it makes you think. The character Annie and I think in the same reflective manner. She is believable and MAX is hot and awesome and amazing. What can I say? I'm all about the Angst-y, sulky, mood-swing-y, jerks. Any girl in a public school could enjoy this book, unless you deny that you are female. Then you need the school shrink.
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This book,as I recall was a really good book. The second fastest I had ever read a book. I remember enjoying this book because I loved the poetic format of the whole book, and that fact that the book as a whole was not boringly narrated. I kept flipping the pages, feeling a warming peace and amusement as I read it. Its not your ordinary book; the teen drama. Its one that will have you smiling the whole way.
--I dont suggest this book to people who like dislike poetry and overly adore action, an...more
--I dont suggest this book to people who like dislike poetry and overly adore action, an...more
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Annie is a smart, artistic twelve year old who enjoys running barefoot through the country with her friend Max. She is given an art assignment at school to draw an apple 100 times. As the drawings of the apple change and develop, Annie discovers new things about life and the family and friends around her as her mother becomes pregnant, the health of her live-in grandfather begins to fail, and friendship with Max is strained. Written in verse, this book is a quick read.
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Read in September, 2007
This is one of the Young Hoosier Books for this year (the program nominates 20 books every year that have been recommended by librarians, students, and teachers from Indiana). It reminded me of Sonya Sones' book, "What My Mother Doesn't Know" because the entire book was written in open verse style. It was a fast read, but the story wasn't new to me. It was an okay book. I wouldn't call it groundbreaking, but it wasn't as depressing as last year's books.
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This is one of the Young Hoosier Books for this year (the program nominates 20 books every year that have been recommended by librarians, students, and teachers from Indiana). It reminded me of Sonya Sones' book, "What My Mother Doesn't Know" because the entire book was written in open verse style. It was a fast read, but the story wasn't new to me. It was an okay book. I wouldn't call it groundbreaking, but it wasn't as depressing as last year's books.
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Read in January, 2005
I picked up Heartbeat because I adore Love That Dog. Sharon Creech has a gift for writing in verse, and Heartbeat also intruiged me, though not as much.
This book is a more expected kind of teen and pre-teen literature - a girl with family and boy problems. But Annie also surprises. She draws and runs to keep her world from spiraling out of control.
I would recommend this book to any Sharon Creech fan, particularly middle school readers.
This book is a more expected kind of teen and pre-teen literature - a girl with family and boy problems. But Annie also surprises. She draws and runs to keep her world from spiraling out of control.
I would recommend this book to any Sharon Creech fan, particularly middle school readers.
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Read in February, 2004
A lovely novel told in verse, by the author of Love That Dog. It's about a girl named Annie who has always loved running with her best friend, Max. But now that they've turned thirteen, Max has become moody and withdrawn, and Annie doesn't know how to relate to him anymore. At the same time, she is about to have a new younger sibling, and her grandfather is slowly succumbing to Alzheimer's. It's a joyful, lovely book about change.
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I abosolutley loved this book!I must have read it three times!Sometimes it is written in poems and other times in short paragraphs!Annnie loves to draw and run.The book gets its title from her heartbeat when she runs.She is encouraged to try out for the track team but thinks running should never be competetion.Annie's mom is pregnant and her thoughts get deeper i and deeper while she draws her apple.Everyone should read this book.
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
everyone
Erg. I almost wish I didn't like Sharon Creech's books so much. This one, yet again, caused me to stay up past my bedtime in order to finish it. I love how Creech can still convey such character and depth even in her novels written in verse. I turned around and had a girl in my 7th grade class read it, since her mother just had a baby, and she was done in two days. Awesome.
NB - the most appropriate cover, ever.
NB - the most appropriate cover, ever.
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Read in June, 2008
Being a huge fan of Sharon Creech's after reading Walk Two Moons, Bloomability, etc., I expected a bit more form Heartbeat. I just couldn't get as wrapped up in the characters or the plot as much as usual. This is probably because she wrote it in a more lyrical/poetic style.
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4 comments
Read in September, 2007
This is a quick read as you can read the book in 3 days. It is in poem format but it is a nice book. I love the story, it is simple. there is something about this book that i really like, i think it is the way the author writes it that makes me want to read this again. Some people have read this and say that they do not like it but I do, hope you do as well.
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There is not much to this story, but I did like the idea of the girl who runs. The added elements of a pregnant mother, an ailing grandfather, and the art project of drawing apples all add levels of interest, but not of them are very well developed. this book would be great for struggling readers, once the get used to the poems that tell the story.
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Read in May, 2008
So SWEET! Creativity bursting like fireworks in a pitch-black night sky! It's a series of different styles of poetry, mostly narrative poems, all of them telling an event of Annie's life. It took me just a few minutes to read this REALLY short read and I was smiling the whole time... and a bit drowsy because it's VERY late at night right now... :D
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A jr fiction book... this one is about a 12-year old girl, Annie, who is dealing with her mother that is pregnant, her loved-grandfather who is failing and her best friend and running-mate who becomes distant. There is much more to this book than that descriton. It is very well written and tender in the realization that Annie comes to about life.
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recommends it for:
anyone
Every time I read this book, I want to run barefoot down dirt roads, breathing in life and experiencing the wonder of the world. I like the poetry-type style this book is written in, I like how it the ending is full of promise, rather than tragedy, and I like how Anna runs because she loves it, not because she wants to win races.
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