''Heartbeat'' is a 2004

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

Sharon Creech Sharon Creech (born July 29, 1945) is an American writer of children's novels. She was the first American winner of the Carnegie Medal for British children's books and the first person to win both the American Newbery Medal and the British C ...

, published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

in the US and Bloomsbury in the UK. It is aimed at children aged 10 and above. Like '' Love That Dog'', the book is written in free verse, which alters according to both the subject and the main character's mood.

Summary

Twelve-year-old Annie is having a very significant year. Her mother is pregnant, her grandfather is forgetful, her best friend is always moody, and she has a new art assignment-draw an apple each day for one hundred days. She is friends with Max, a mysterious boy that wants to "escape"

Reception and awards

Adèle Geras Adèle Daphne Geras (née Weston; born 15 March 1944) is an English writer for young children, teens and adults. Early life Geras was born in Jerusalem, British Mandatory Palestine to British Jewish parents. Her father (later a lawyer and Hi ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' gave the novel a positive review, praising its ability to get straight to the point, and commented that although "verse novels are risky", Creech's verse "will encourage young readers to put their own emotions into words precisely because the form is so much less daunting than thickets of dense prose." ''Heartbeat'' was nominated for the 2005 Carnegie Medal.

Editions

* ,

hardback A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...

, 2004 * ,

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, ...

, 2005

References

2004 American novels American children's novels Novels by Sharon Creech Verse novels 2004 children's books {{2000s-child-novel-stub