Cold Hands, Warm Heart

by Jill Wolfson

Hardcover, 2009

Status

Available

Call number

813.6

Collection

Publication

Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (2009), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover, 256 pages

Description

After sixteen-year-old Tyler convinces his parents to donate the organs of his fourteen-year-old sister, who died during a gymnastics meet, he writes letters to the recipients, including Dani, who finally has a chance at normalcy after living fifteen years with a congenital heart defect.

User reviews

LibraryThing member dmreilly
Great read. Some language, but not over the top. Gives good incite to emotional and physical reactions with organ transplants. Realistic, easy to read. Recommended for Grades 6 & above.
LibraryThing member abbylibrarian
Amanda is a star gymnast. Dani struggles to walk across a room. They've never met. But they're about to become more intimate than most people can even imagine.

Dani was born with her heart on the wrong side of her body. It's a failing heart, a broken heart, and there's only one option if she's going
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to see her sixteenth birthday: a heart transplant. When Amanda breaks her neck in a gymnastics accident, Dani receives the ultimate gift: a donor heart.

In Cold Hands, Warm Heart we get Dani's story, but we also get the perspective of Amanda's family as they deal with devastating loss and a tough decision.

I loved Dani's voice and I also loved seeing the issue through multiple points of view. This will please fans of medical fiction and I'd recommend it to fans of Lurlene McDaniel who are looking for meatier fare.
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LibraryThing member koalatees
Dani’s heart is on the right side of her body, meaning the wrong side. This has caused her life to be filled with many doctor visits. Then, at fifteen, her heart is struggling to keep her alive, so Dani must stay at the hospital. At the hospital, Dani meets Milo, a boy who needs a liver
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transplant. However, there is one person who can help Dani at the expense of her own life–fourteen year old gymnast Amanda. Amanda’s family must cope with the sadness of losing a family member, while knowing another family is experiencing joy.

First of all, Cold Hands, Warm Heart had an unique story line. I have never read a story about organ transplants, and it was very interesting. I can also tell that Wolfson did her reasearch on organ transplants. She combined so many perspectives and emotions in one novel! The problem is, though, that the novel is only about 250 pages. There were about 5 different point-of-views in the story, so there just was not enough space to fully develop each story causing the novel to lack depth. So basically, what was in the novel was good, but there was too much missing that ultimately could have made the novel great.
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LibraryThing member brandileigh2003
This was a book about organ donation. It gave a glimpse into the donor's life before she died, the recipient of the heart, as well as the donor's brother. I liked this book, as I am a fan of this type of books. I love Lurlene McDaniel, and books about sickness and dying, so this was up my alley. I
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took away some points because it gets medically technical, and descriptive at a few points in the book, but it is easy to skim over those parts. There is also a bit of romance going on, which always is welcomed in my world.
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LibraryThing member RefPenny
15 yr-old Dani was born with numerous heart problems and needs a heart transplant. But for this to happen - someone has to die. That someone is Amanda, a competitive gymnast. This is the story of a heart transplant (minus the gory details) and its effects on Dani and on Amanda's family.
Cold Hands,
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Warm Hearts does a great job of giving teens some insight into the complex issues and emotions surrounding organ donation whilst being a very readable story about realistic people. Recommended for thoughtful readers 13 and up.
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LibraryThing member NBLibGirl
Fifteen-year-old Dani was born with a really bad heart. An accident to a world-class gymnast is about to result in a transplant for Dani and a shot at living a more normal life. Populated with interesting characters and details, Cold Hands, Warm Heart does a good job of giving readers a gripping
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view of the physical and emotional rollercoaster that is the world of organ donation for the people involved, including donors, recipients and the professionals who work with them.
Highly Recommended.
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LibraryThing member sennebec
Dani has been limited her entire life, thanks to a heart that grew on the wrong side of her chest and could never pump properly. She's rolled with most of the limitations, but can't help but wonder whether she'll die with a bucket list of 'nevers'.
Amanda is an accomplished and focused fourteen
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year old gymnast. They've never met, but their lives are about to intersect after Amanda misses part of a routine and suffers a serious brain injury.
When Amanda's parents and her older brother have to face the choice of removing life support and deciding whether to donate her organs, it's very painful. Each one deals with their pain in a different way. Tyler, her brother discovers a secret folder on his sister's computer that opens up an entirely new way of understanding her.
While Dani is waiting for a new heart because hers has weakened too much, she meets other kids who are waiting for transplants. There's nine year old Wendy, a ball of sassy fire who needs a kidney and Milo who looks hot even if he's sort of yellow because his first donor liver is dying because he got angry and stopped taking care of himself. The last thing Dani expected while wondering if she's going to die or get a new heart is a boyfriend, but that's what happens when she and Milo start talking.
There are multiple story lines in this wonderful book. The girl whose mistake cost her life, but allowed several other kids to have a new lease on theirs, the grieving brother who starts to see the world in a totally different way as he reads letters from the kids who received his sister's organs and the bit players like the nurses, organ transporter and the parents.
This is a beautiful book about a reality that many juveniles will face either personally or when a family member or friend needs a transplant. Jill Wolfson has done a superb job of weaving the realities of transplants into a quirky teen love story.
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Physical description

256 p.; 7.8 inches

ISBN

0805082824 / 9780805082821
Page: 1.5578 seconds