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Booklist

Booked Up 2008

Heartbeat

Description

Heartbeat
Sharon Creech

Annie loves drawing, running barefoot, her family, and possibly Max, her best friend. It’s an eventful time for the 12-year-old: her mother is about to give birth, her beloved grandfather is slowly losing his memory and her friendship with Max is changing. Max believes joining a team will improve his life, but Annie isn’t so sure. Annie’s life and the changes happening in it are mirrored by the apple she has to draw 100 times, over 100 days in her art class.

About the author
no image available

Sharon Creech
Heartbeat

Sharon was born in South Euclid, Ohio a suburb of Cleveland, and grew up there with her noisy and rowdy family: her parents (Ann and Arvel), her sister (Sandy), and her three brothers (Dennis, Doug and Tom). In the summer, they usually took a trip, they all piled in a car and heading out to Wisconsin or Michigan or once to Idaho. Her trip to Idaho was the inspiration for her book Walk Two Moons.

When Sharon was young she wanted to be many things when she grew up: a painter, an ice skater, a singer, a teacher, and a reporter. She says it soon became apparent that she had little drawing talent, very limited tolerance for falling on ice, and absolutely no ability to stay in tune when singing. Sharon also soon learned that she would make a terrible reporter because when she didn’t like the facts she changed them. It was in college, where she took literature and writing courses, that she became intrigued with story telling.

She is the winner of the Newbery medal for her novel Walk Two Moons, which was also shortlisted for the Smarties Book Prize and received a Mind Boggling Books Award and a United Kingdom Reading Association Award. Chasing Redbird was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award.

Sharon is married to Lyle Rigg, a headmaster in New Jersey and they have two grown children: Rob and Karin.

Read an extract

(Page 1)

"FOOTFALLS


Thump-thump, thump-thump

bare feet hitting the grass

as I run run run

in the air and like the air

weaving through the trees

skimming over the ground


touching down

thump-thump, thump-thump

here and there

there and here

in the soft damp grass


thump-thump, thump-thump

knowing I could fly fly fly

but letting my feet

thump-thump, thump-thump


touch the earth


at least for now..."


Extract taken from Heartbeat by Sharon Creech published by Bloomsbury

Read your reviews

Average Rating

heartbeat
i thought that it was a great book and they should be another book called heartbeat the 2nd.
Jason
Eston park school
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 15:52:10 hrs
Awesome
I've read this book before and i couldn't put it down. I read and read until I finished it. It great I recomend it to EVERYONE!
Lucy
South Craven
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 15:44:10 hrs
Heartbeat
This book is about a girl that loves to run.her mums just about to have a baby untill the babys born she calls the baby a alien baby !! I like this book because it is very well explained about her life its as if shes running right through her life ! My Favourite Part of the book is were her mum evencully has her baby and its a boy But to be honest i liked it all ! This Book made me feel happy and excited to read on to finish and find out what is going to happen next ! i would recomend this book to children of the ages of 9 and on words. This Book Was Fantastic.
Bryce
Retford Oaks High School
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 15:38:08 hrs
HartBeat
This book is about a girl that loves to run and her mum is haveing a baby . They call the baby the alien baby because it seemed like it was an alian inside her mums belly. I like this book because it is the culpture of a very young girl that has alot going on in her life. my favoroit patrt is when her mum has the baby because it has alot of impact. I would recomend this book to the ages of 9 and above because it is very exciting and I think you'll love this book.
Georgina
Retford Oaks High School
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 15:37:50 hrs
HEARTBEAT
The sory was about a girl that is trying to chanse her life. Finally fines a love for running. It was exilleratlhy. My favourite part is where the man said ro the boy that she copied the pictures of a skeleton. I' given it this rating because I enjoyed the book blurb I couldn't understand it.
RYAN
RETFORD OAKS HIGH SCHOOL
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 15:28:03 hrs
what a great book!!!
it was a great book and i will defenetly read it over and over again. I liked the way it was writen in poems not paragraphs, also the plot is not too boring. If you read it you would not get bored at all.
simone
sevenoaks prep school
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 15:25:10 hrs
heartbeat
it waz well good like innit!!
catherine
brownstone collage
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 14:57:01 hrs
heart beat
Heartbeat is a great book that has an individual style. it is a true to life tale that is believable and is a book that you dont find very often because it is so fantastic.
Emily
collins
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 14:55:07 hrs
Hartbeat
Hearrtbeat is an amazing book you read it and read it read it till it's finished and it leaves you trapped in it's amazing world. I thought that it really helped with my reading and i'm sure it will help you.
Emma
Morcroft
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 14:53:15 hrs
whoo
tis book was great i would recomend it any day!
emily
kingmoor
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 14:48:19 hrs
Laugh out loud
The Book was amaising!! I could never put it down.
E.Pywell
The Learning Village
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 14:31:23 hrs
WHAT A BOOK
Its such a heart felt book! I found it so hard to put down
HAILEY
BENNETT
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 14:19:52 hrs
Heartbeat!
This is a wonderful book! I imagine me to be Annie and Mac to be Max! I love the romantic touch I felt in this book. I would reccomend this book to each and every one of you. It is very easy to read,and that's my favourite part!
Shereen
Emerson Park School
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 14:17:29 hrs
One of the best books ever!
Heartbeat is one of the, like, best books ever! I wish Annie was me and Jack was Max.Their friendship was great, until he started to do running. At times it can be sad, but at others, it's happy!
Emily
Coopers Company And Coborn School
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 14:17:08 hrs
heartbeat
i didn t read the book yet , but i ve read the information on the website and i think that i will really enjoy reding it and i ll definetly order it as soon as possible. p.s the cover is good as well.
martyna
cardinal wiseman
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 14:10:48 hrs
heartbeat
havent read it yet but it looks good!!!
hayley
st Michaels
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 13:57:52 hrs
good
its sounds great but i haven't read it yet but oh well this book i am getting.
harriet
tolworth girls school
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 13:51:09 hrs
looking forward
I've read the reveiw on heartbeat and ordered the book im soooo looking forward to reading it!
natalie
Oct 23rd, 2008 at 13:43:48 hrs
Heartbeat
I got my book today and so far I think it is a very good book. I have never read a book which is all told in poems. It is a great book and I will enjoy it a lot. I am very happy I picked this book!!!
Jessica Collings
La Sainte Union Secondary school
Nov 17th, 2008 at 13:38:35 hrs
Heartbeat
I loved this book 100%! I loved the way that it's set out like a poem but tells a story. It makes it easy to read but the story is challenging. I read this book in LESS THAN ONE DAY! I loved it loved it loved it!
Fiona
Fakenham High School
Nov 17th, 2008 at 12:06:36 hrs
Could not put the book down!
I got this book Saturday afternoon and finished it on Sunday what a wicked BOOK! Annie had some funny times and some sad times Max kept calling her Annie banany! The story got right into my head and I started to feel like Annie.READ THIS BOOK!
Charlea
Hawes Down Junior School
Nov 17th, 2008 at 12:01:54 hrs
funny
It was very funny and it had lots of poems about stuff.
Shanti
wreake valley
Nov 12th, 2008 at 12:01:09 hrs
running annie and max
A girl named Annie loves to run. Her mum is pregnant and nine months later she has the baby. But the baby is born but does not breathe. My most favourite part of the book is when the mother is in labour. My least favourite part is the begining part of the book. I recommend this book to anyone between the ages of 11-14.
Hannah
Notre Dame
Nov 12th, 2008 at 11:37:44 hrs
Running Annie
This book is about a girl called Annie who has a grandfather who is slowly losing his memory. Her mother is about to have a baby and her best friend Max is getting angry at her all the time. My favourite part is when Annie's mother gives birth and the baby does not breath. My least favourite part is at the begining. I will recommand this book to 11 year old to 13 year olds.
Natasha Amponsah
Notre Dame
Nov 12th, 2008 at 11:34:18 hrs
annie
Its like wicked init
elouwieese
st joseph
Nov 12th, 2008 at 10:22:18 hrs
Heartbeat
I think that this is a great book and I love the way that it is set out like lots of poems but they tell a story. I could really relate to this. It's easy to read and doesn't take long either! Its a different sort of book but I loved the way you could see Annie's opinions through her eyes. I would reccommend this book to anyone!!
Demi
Vyners
Nov 12th, 2008 at 10:11:34 hrs
Heartbeat
Heartbeat is a breath taking tale by Sharon Creech, which is about a young girl named Annie, who is experiencing a time in her life where she is questioning family commitments, for example, how will she feel about a baby coming into the family? Also how will she cope with the fact that her grandpa's aging and how long will it be before he can no longer remember her?

I really enjoyed this book, I loved finding out what Annie's opinions on events were. It was interesting to see the event through her eyes. The story is written in the layout of a poem book which was interesting because each chapter told a poem. I loved the use of repetitive wording because it made the meaning of her poem clear and exciting. I would recommend this book to everyone, in my opinion I would say that it is for all ages, I really enjoyed it and hope that you will to!

Taran Kaur Sidhu
n.a.
Jun 6th, 2008 at 16:43:01 hrs

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