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Heartbeat
Heartbeat
Heartbeat
Ebook201 pages1 hour

Heartbeat

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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“A stunning accomplishment. This story pierces the heart.” Chicago Sun-Times

RUN RUN RUN. That’s what twelve-year-old Annie loves to do. When she’s barefoot and running, she can hear her heart beating…thump-THUMP, thump-THUMP.

It’s a rhythm that makes sense in a year when everything’s shifting: Her mother is pregnant, her grandfather is forgetful, and her best friend, Max, is always moody. Everything changes over time, just like the apple Annie’s been assigned to draw a hundred times.

Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech masterfully weaves this tender and intuitive story told in free verse about a young girl beginning to understand the many rhythms of life, and how she fits within them.

Named one of the New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing

“Tenderhearted. Vintage Creech. Its richness lies in its sheer simplicity.” —School Library Journal (starred review)

“The story soars as Annie’s feet fly.” Bookpage

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateOct 6, 2009
ISBN9780061972478
Heartbeat
Author

Sharon Creech

Sharon Creech has written twenty-one books for young people and is published in over twenty languages. Her books have received awards in both the U.S. and abroad, including the Newbery Medal for Walk Two Moons, the Newbery Honor for The Wanderer, and Great Britain’s Carnegie Medal for Ruby Holler. Before beginning her writing career, Sharon Creech taught English for fifteen years in England and Switzerland. She and her husband now live in Maine, “lured there by our grandchildren,” Creech says. www.sharoncreech.com

Read more from Sharon Creech

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Reviews for Heartbeat

Rating: 4.085714285714285 out of 5 stars
4/5

35 ratings33 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is about a young girl following her own heart rather than going along with "the herd".
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is a compilation of poems in various verse that tell the story of Annie. Annie is twelve years old, and is going through some pretty big life changes, including her mother having another baby, her grandfather loosing his memory, and a temperamental best friend. She finds comfort in running alone, and drawing. I thought this book was such a unique and interesting way to present the thoughts of a twelve year old. The whole book had a wonderful cadence, and did a great job emoting the thoughts of a tween realistically. I would love to read this to older students and have them work on a story told in poetry, or even just write one poem about the events that occur in their life or even just in that day. I also think that the content of the book is incredibly relate able to kids in that age group, and it would be comforting to them to read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    4Q 3PA novel in verse that pulses with a fresh perspective. 12 year old Annie enjoys running barefoot and drawing the world around her. Sweet and simple, her daily observations and musings envelop the reader into her world. While a rather idyllic setting, the tone never becomes too saccharine and Annie's voice lingers long after her story is read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Memorable story told in free verse of the realities of family life and the joy of running and art. Y6+.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A novel in verse about a girl named Annie who loves to run and is coping with a lot of changes in her life, including a new baby, a grandfather with alzheimer's, and a best friend who is increasingly moody. It's really lovely, and I liked it a lot.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was an amazing book, and I would recemend it for anyone who enjoys poems. It is appropriate for all ages.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Written completely in free verse, this book took a few chapters to grab my attention, but by the "Footnotes" chapter, I was hooked.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is full of emotion. Once you start this book it is hard to put it down.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is really good! Its about Annie's point of view. She loves to run. She is an only child..and her mom is going to have a baby! She lives with her mom,dad, and grandpa..who is VERY forgetful. Every day after school she draws an apple. She 100 drawings of apples. This book is really easy to read! So I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING IT..at any age!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wonderful book, although it's written with young people in mind this adult loved it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Annie loves to run, just not competitively and not in shoes. She could keep running forever, just not on a team. Max wants her to join him on the track team, her mom is pregnant, and her grandfather had dementia and it's getting worse. How will she deal with it all? A beautiful book in verse
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A story told from Annie's point of view, about what matters to her most, running, art, family and her friend Max. It's the beat of running and the rhythms of life that make this book a delight to read. Mrs. Freely art assignment of drawing an apples a day for 100 days creates a visual picture of the artistic side of Annie. a thoughtful and delightful book of an independent young girl who is true to herself.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    heatrbeat is really good. there is a girl and she loves to run a hole lot. she has a friend that likes to run also. her mom is prenet. she has a grantpa thats really old. one day wile she was watching a race a lady comes a gets her and takes her to her mom. she having the baby. dose the babay come out a live ro not. read the book to find out if the baby dies or not. this book was really heard to put down.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My copy has the yellow apple cover.Heartbeat As I have probably mentioned, my favourite used bookstore is closing soon. I sauntered over there the other day to see how it was going (big sale, you know). As luck would have it, I happened upon another gem from Sharon Creech, she of Love that Dog, Hate That Cat wonder.Heartbeat is told in the voice of 12-year old Annie, whose great love is running. It is a coming-of-age story, as she processes and comes to understand her world. Her world includes her best friend and running buddy, Max, her parents and baby growing inside her mom, and her grandpa whose health and memory are not what they once were. But Annie also shows her strength and grace not only at home, but in school, dealing with her English classes, art classes and unwanted pressure from a track coach to join the team. Annie is a girl who has a solid sense of herself and it is a joy to share a glimpse of this through this year of her life. Sharon Creech has done it again, creating a compelling story in spare, free verse, that can easily be read in one sitting. I didn't want it to end. For those of you who loved the other 2, I highly recommend this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Age/Grade Level: 4-8 gradersGenre: Realistic Fiction novel written in a poetic style. Themes: New baby in the Family, Aging Grandparent, The influences of pressure, AcceptanceThis novel is about 12 year old Annie who is about to be a big sister. Her mom is pregnant throughout the novel. Annie loves to run and this is like the heartbeat of the new baby. Thump, Thump, Thump which is repeated throughout the novel. Annie's grandpa lives with them and he is getting old and is starting to forget things. Annie's best friend, Max wants Annie to join the track team but Annie doesn't want to. She doesn't want to wear shoes or run for anything except the love of running. She holds her ground even when the track coach pressures her. Annie draws an apple for 100 days and notices the changes.I really enjoyed this book. I listened to it on tape and I feel that I need to go back and read the novel because of the way it is written. It is hard to listen to a novel when it is written is poetically. I really enjoyed Annie's attitude towards running in this story because I think that today kids play sports for all the wrong reasons and it takes the fun out of them. This connection to doing sports because it is fun should be taught in every school. There should also never be a point in public education where you are not good enough to join. I would like to have my students read this book and then make connections to their own lives and sports, pregnancy, aging family member, and art.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Heartbeat is written as a poem, but it doesn’t rhyme. It is a story and reads like a story, but I think the fact that it is written as a poem guides the reader to follow the story and not be distracted by too many words. It is in the first person, as most Young Adult novels seem to be, and the girl telling the story likes to run, but she is not competitive. She does not understand why people race to win, because she likes to run by herself or with one friend, and she runs barefoot just because she likes to run.Throughout the story she is learning about life and thinking about what she likes to do, and besides running she loves to draw. In the story she is having a hard time seeing her grandfather forgetting things, but this is balanced by the joy of her mother having a baby. This is a peaceful story that is enjoyable to read.I enjoyed the parts about what she was learning from her teacher about footnotes, “forbidden words,” and using the thesaurus. For a book written as a poem with no real sentence structure, there was a lot about grammar in it!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    i loved this book it is so discriptive and it talks all about this girls life and what she does and it is just a really awesome bookl.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I love how this book is written by poems. I think it makes it more meaningful in a way. It's nice how the author compares it to different things. I also like how her emotions are clearly shown.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book is written in poetry and sometimes it's hard to understand but I love how Sharon Creech compares things to things that you would have never expected to be compared to. The ending is sort of a cliff hanger but it's good
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Heartbeat by Sharon Creech is a book written in poetry. The story is of Annie, who loves to run. Annie lives with her pregnant mother, father, and grandfather. She loves to run with her friend Max. Max does not come from a very good home life and hopes that being a good runner will be his ticket out of town. Max tries to get Annie to join the girls track team, but she runs for the pleasure of running. Annie's mother has her baby and Annie begins to understand the circle of life by seeing the new baby with her grandpa.This book really hit home with me because my own grandpa is having health problems. I seemed to pick it up at just the right time.In the book Annie tells us about several assignment given to her by her teachers. Her art teacher has her draw 100 pictures of an apple. Her English teacher makes a list of words the students are not allowed to use in their writing. The English teacher also has them make a list of things they fear and love. I think all of these would be good assignments.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I have read this book many, many times. I love it!!! :)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a really beautiful book. Blank verse like this is very accessible to children but this has something for all ages.It's the tale of a girl who likes to run whose mother is expecting a baby and grandfather who is getting old. Simple but quite powerful in places.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is very descriptive and engrossing at the start. However it can become a chore to read due to repetitive literature.But puting that aside, thae
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is a good book. It shows how a person thinks.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Mediocre. It's very similar in style and voice to Love That Dog, and it's a VERY easy read. Totally accessible cute little story for middle school girls whose reading levels are not up to par. Two of my 8th grade girls loved it.

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A tenderhearted story told in spare, free-verse poems, Heartbeat is the story of twelve-year-old Annie, who loves to run for the sheer pleasure of running. It is when she feels the most free in a year when everything in her life is changing, just like the apple that Annie has been assigned to draw one hundred times. Annie's comfortable, tightly knit world begins to unravel when she learns that her mother is pregnant and she becomes increasingly aware that her beloved Grandpa, a former champion racer, is slipping into dementia. She is a resourceful, self-possessed kid who takes comfort in the familiar but is able to face change and take it in stride. She marvels at the new life taking shape in her midst (her father provides month-by-month summations of the baby's development) and mourns the loss of her grandfather's strong and nurturing wisdom. School, art class, and chores appear throughout the verses, creating an everyday rhythm that matches the footfalls of Annie who loves to move, but who is willing to stop and smell the roses. She is attempting to understand not only herself and her place in her family, but also to understand those around her. At the same time, she is attempting to understand larger, more complex questions: how we become who we are, and to what degree we should conform; how we are unique and yet how we are all alike.I would recommend this book for most eighth graders, but in particular to reluctant readers. It is so rare to find a book told from the point of view of a 12 year old that anybody over 12 could enjoy reading! It is told in a loose poem form, it is highly readable, moves along quickly, and has a wonderful rhythm to it. It is wonderful for children whose life is in flux. Lots of emotional issues flow through the book, but it is still a good choice for children who are uncomfortable with too much intensity in books, as the writing is light and the issues are handled with care. (Amazon)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Twelve-year-old Annie loves to run with her friend Max. During the approximate year that this book takes place, she experiences the rhythm of life in her running, in her mother's pregnancy and the birth of her brother, in her friendship with Max, in her art class. The story is told in lyrical free verse rather than prose.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A sweet book that was recommended to me by one of my students. It is emotionally potent and tells a story of a family and their experiences with love and loss.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is a good example of a realistic novel because Annie is not a real person, but the events that happen to Annie are very much things that happen to many people in this world, such as their mom getting pregnant later in life, and watching their grandpa get older and older, and start dealing with dementia.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The way the book was written was different. The chapters were written like free- verse poems. The book was written through the character's eyes and is a little interesting to read.

Book preview

Heartbeat - Sharon Creech

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 …

MAX

Sometimes when I am running

a boy appears

like my sideways shadow

from the trees he emerges

running

falling into thump-thump steps

beside me.

Hey, Annie, he says

and I say, Hey, Max

and we run

fast

and

smooth

and

easy

and we do not talk

until we reach the park

and the red bench

where we rest.

Max is a strange boy

thirteen

a year older than I am

deeply serious

determined.

He’s in training

he says

in training to escape.

BEFORE I WAS BORN

My mother says

I was running running running

inside her before I was even born.

She could feel my legs whirling

thump-thump, thump-thump

and she says that when I was born

I came out with my legs racing

as if I would take off

right then, right there

and dash straight out of her life.

She says it made her laugh

and it scared her, too,

because she’d only just met me

and didn’t want me to race away

quite so soon.

She says I’ve been

running

running

running

ever since—or nearly ever since—

I ran before I crawled

I ran from dawn to dusk

And sometimes at night

she would see my legs still restless

as if I were running

in my sleep

through my dreams.

I tell her not to worry

that I will always come home

because that is where

I get my start.

QUEASY

I was worried about my mother

who started taking naps

and stopped eating

and threw up in the kitchen sink

and in the bathroom

and in the car

and I was pretty sure

she had a deadly disease

and she would shrivel into nothing

and she would die

and I would be alone

with my father

who would cry

and I would run run run

but I would have to come back

thump-thump

thump-thump

sooner or later.

BUT!

But! My mother did not die.

She does not have a deadly disease.

Instead she has a baby growing

inside her

little tiny cells

multiplying every second

and the queasiness has stopped

and now she feels good—

like a goddess, she says

and we look at the books

which show cells

multiplying

and it seems miraculous

and strange

and sometimes creepy

and I ask her if it feels as if an alien

is inside her

and she says

Sometimes, yes.

GRANDPA

Grandpa lives with us

ever since Grandma died

and now we take care of him

because he is poorly.

He says he is falling to bits

little pieces stop working each day

and his brain is made

of scrambled eggs.

On his wall are photos

of when he was young

and he looks like me

with frizzy black hair

and long skinny legs

and often he is blurry

because he was running.

One photo shows him standing tall

with a medal around his neck

and a trophy in his hands

but his face is not smiling

and when I ask him why

he was not happy

sometimes he says:

I don’t remember

and sometimes he says:

Is that me?

and sometimes he says:

I didn’t want the trophy

and when I ask him why

he didn’t want the trophy

sometimes he says:

I don’t remember

and sometimes he says:

A trophy is a silly thing.

THE RACER

Mom says Grandpa was a champion racer.

He won the regionals when he was nine

and the state championship when he was twelve

and the nationals when he was fifteen

and then

he stopped

running

and he wouldn’t say why

and he didn’t run again

until my mother was three

and the two of them could run

together

and that, my grandfather told my mother,

was the only kind of running

he would ever do

because it was the best kind of running

and the only kind of running

that made any sense to him at all.

MOODY MAX

Moody Max

Moody Max

puzzles my brain.

I’ve known him all my life.

Our grandpas used to take us

to the same park

the one we run to now.

We balanced each other

on the teeter-totter

tossed sand at each other

dug in the dirt together.

We got older

played catch with pinecones

pushed each other on the swings

chased around the grass.

Max would laugh one minute

scowl the next

pinch my arm

and then kiss the pinch mark.

Then his father left

and his grandpa died

and Max got quieter

more serious

and when he ran

he pounded the dirt

with his feet

and ran farther and faster

as if he could run

right out of his life.

He thinks I’m spoiled

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