Artichoke Hearts

Product Information

To be honest, at first look I wasn't expecting all that much - the cover seemed a little 'young' and the blurb just sounded average. When Mira has the courage to speak at her grandmother's funeral, her words about her grandmother's legacy had me weeping.

I stayed up too late reading this novel, even though I'm sleep-deprived, because I didn't want to let it go. Kids with questions about death (or are grieving themselves) will get a lot out of this book, including how hospices work, the different ways people deal with death, and how to celebrate a life. The cancer has come back and Mira and her family are watching as, slowly, Nana Josie fades away before their eyes.People who are on the ‘Y’ side of ‘YA’…but also people who don’t mind reading books with a younger protagonist. I felt that the author introduced many issues (see above) and in doing this did not develop the story. Whoever you are and wherever you live, I think that a lot of people will be able to connect with her. I wasn’t expecting this to be a coming of age story but as well as that, Artichoke Hearts is sad, funny and heart-warming all at the same time.

There are so many other little side stories with the secondary characters that, even though subtle, are so heart-wrenching.I became truly immersed in Mira's world and found myself caring for everyone through their troubles, wishing I could give them a hug! Mira also experiences love for the first time, but her friend Jidé is a complex and reserved boy whose story is gradually revealed. The framework of the book being a diary felt unnecessary to me and having the characters in a writing class seemed like a device just to get in some metanarrative. Although I am not Pat Print (I don't generally go into schools wearing walking boots or holey cardigans unless I have been savaged by Smokey our temperemental cat! Nejprve jsem si myslela, že to bude obyčejná knížka o dvanáctileté holce, která řeší takové ty typické problémy dospívajících, které sice nechci zlehčovat, ale číst o nich mě až tolik nebere.