Book Review: Change of Heart

By: Shari Maurer

Published by: WestSide Books

Released on: April 28th, 2010

Source: ARC from author

3.5 stars: It was a good read

Purchase from: Barnes & Noble

In a world where the most stressful thing seems to be winning a soccer game or what to wear in the morning, you take some really basic things for granted.

Like the love of your parents.Or hanging with your friends.Or the beating of your heart.When you’re 16 years old, it never occurs to you that you might die. Emmi Miller’s got a fabulous life. She has tons of friends, does great in school and is an all-star soccer player who played in Europe last summer. It even looks like Sam Hunter, a totally cute baseball player, might be interested in her. And then she gets a virus. No biggy, right? Until the virus goes to her heart and weakens it so much that, without a transplant, Emmi will die.Will Emmi get a heart in time? Is Sam too good to be true? What about her new friend Abe, who has also had a transplant and guides her through these scary times — is he just being supportive or is there more going on between them? And will Emmi realize it before it’s too late? - quoted from Goodreads

Change of Heart is a book that's been sitting on my shelf longer than I intended it to be. I'm glad I finally picked it up. It's one of those reads that kind of took me by surprise in terms of the story and how I felt about it. I started off really liking Emmi. She's the star soccer play, she's a typical teenager who loves her family, but gets annoyed with them, has great friends, does well at school etc. Than out of the blink of an eye, everything changes for Emmi. Through the course of some testing from her doctors Emmi learns she needs a heart transplant.

I liked the way Shari created Emmi's story. It was very realistic in the way they uncovered the cause of Emmi's heath problems. I also liked how Shari incorporated the vast arrange of emotions that not only Emmi felt and deals with, but her family and friends. Anger, frustration, hope, dread, worry, hopelessness, "why me" and faith that things will work out. In dealing with something on this magnitude it was nice seeing both the support system Emmi had with her family & friends and the way it effected everyone. I admire Emmi for wanting to just get back to her "normal life", being the soccer star, hanging out with her friends, getting to school, and her first love, despite having to deal with a life threatening situation.

The story is at time moving, and it gives a realistic portrayal into the lives of transplant patients. Sometimes the wait is years, sometimes months, and sometimes, sadly it never happens. Like Emmi, sometimes when the call comes and you rush to get to the hospital and start to get prepped, the surgery is canceled because the organ wasn't the right fight. One of the things I really liked about this story was the statics and the information Shari gives at the end of the story for transplants in the US. This story is powerful in the awareness it gives the reader for organ donations, and at the same time reads like a YA contemporary. There is the mention of underage drinking and a mention of non graphic sex scene.