The Girl with More Than One Heart - Tapa dura

"Bass tackles some heavy issues--having a sibling with a disability, losing a parent suddenly and at a young age, and coping with a parent's depression--but she manages to do it with grace and empathy."--Kirkus Reviews "Bass excels in portraying the family members, their relationships, and how they shift when one person is no longer there . . . A heartfelt story of loss, grief, and healing."--Booklist "Bass balances the coming-of-age narrative with a grief journey that sensitively and realistically shows how friendships and family relationships change after a tragedy."--School Library Journal "Readers struggling with responsibility for younger siblings might especially relate to this."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books "Throughout The Girl with More Than One Heart, Briana reflects on happier days with her late father . . . and those memories propel her to find her own way, to "be her own" (as her second heart tells her) and embrace her new life."--BookPage "Written through a series of flashbacks mixed with the present day, Bass has created a sad but hopeful novel about grief and growing up . . . This is a heartwarming tale full of believable characters and situations, with an ending that is hopeful and realistic."--School Library Connection "In this tenderhearted tale, Bass (Sign of the Qin) conveys the complex, conflicting emotions that arise in a family facing the unexpected death of a parent . . . It's an emotionally nuanced exploration of grief and resilience."--Publishers Weekly

When Briana's father dies of a heart attack, she feels a new heart grow inside her body. Through this heart, her father's voice speaks to her. It guides Briana through her grief as well as her new, not-so-normal life at home. When her mother's own grief becomes debilitating, Briana feels like she's solely responsible for her autistic little brother, Aaron. As she begins to spend much of her time and energy caring for Aaron, she begins to wonder: did his special needs hurt her father's very fragile heart? The voice of Briana's 'new heart' helps her to navigate the messy uncertainties, as she balances her first feelings of romance, making new friends, and following her dream of writing for the school newspaper. And as Briana finds strength and knowledge in herself, she's finally able to let go of her new heart and rely solely on her own.