In a Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth

Publication Date: February 2, 2010

Summary:

When a small mistake costs sixteen-year-old Eagan her life during a figure-skating competition, she leaves many things unreconciled, including her troubled relationship with her mother. From her vantage point in the afterlife, Eagan reflects back on her memories, and what she could have done differently, through her still-beating heart.

When fourteen-year-old Amelia learns she will be getting a heart transplant, her fear and guilt battle with her joy at this new chance at life. And afterwards when she starts to feel different—dreaming about figure skating, craving grape candy—her need to learn about her donor leads her to discover and explore Eagan’s life, meeting her grieving loved ones and trying to bring the closure they all need to move on.
Told in alternating viewpoints, In a Heartbeat tells the emotional and compelling story of two girls sharing one heart.

My Two Cents:

Eagen gets into a tragic skating accident and ends up in limbo, not quite in heaven but in a very gray area that shows memories of her life, good and bad. Her and her mother have a love/hate relationship but when she dies she sees how much her mom really cared about her.

Amelia, she's been sick for the last 7 or so years of her life because of a heart condition. When Eagen dies, she gets the heart transplant. She doesn't know how to feel. Sometimes she's happy to be alive and sometimes she's guilty for beingalive and knowing Eagen isn't. Suddenly she's beginning to get some of the same traits and Eagen and just KNOW certain things about her. Eagen becomes a part of Amelia through the heart. Now all of a sudden she gets smart with her mom, she's more gutsy. Amelia's set on meeting the family of Eagen's. That in itself was such an emotional moment in this book.

Warning: If you're a big cry baby like me don't read this book! This was such an emotional read...man. I was sucked in from the very first page. It had excellent character development. It was such a short book, only 200 pages but it was very much complete. Great plot. The author even managed to squeeze in a bit of romance in there. Definitely look out for this one in February 2010.

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