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When My Heart Joins the Thousand
When My Heart Joins the Thousand
Reviewed by: Noelle Gallant - Saco Middle School, Saco, Southern Maine Library District
Review Date: September 14, 2018
Review
A relationship develops between strangers when a foster-care runaway sees a fragile young man toss his cell phone into a pond at a park near her home.
17-year-old Alvie recovers Stanley's phone and offers to return it to him in an email, and an online relationship develops. The two eventually meet in person, and readers realize Alvie like falls on the Aspergers/Autism spectrum and Stanley suffers from physical challenges of his own. The closer the two get, the more Alvie struggles, and she eventually cuts off ties with Stanley, loses her job, and becomes homeless. The two eventually reconnect and their relationship becomes stronger despite their individual faults. This book's strengths lie in the development of the characters, particularly Alvie in flashbacks to her upsetting childhood and her relationship with her mother.
This book would appeal to high school readers and would not be appropriate for middle school due to sexual content and some troubling family scenes.
Overall Book Score: very good
About the Book
Author:
Steiger, A.J.
Illustrator: ,
Publisher: Harper Teen / Harper Collins
Book Type: chapter book fiction
Genre: realistic fiction
Audience: grades 10-12
Binding Type: trade edition
Binding Quality: excellent
ISBN: 9780062656476
Price: 17.99