The Story of a Heart by Rachel Clarke

Sam Bush gave me this book for Christmas-- I believe it was a blind recommendation from a bookstore employee-- and I'm grateful to them both for a memorable read. Written by a doctor, this book pieces together the story of a heart transplant from one child to another. It introduces readers to the families, the tragedies, the hospital stays, the medical challenges, and the sweeping developments in medicine that culminated in a few tense hours in an operating room, saving one life by sharing another. 

While parts of this book are all history and do well explaining complex medical procedures in lay person's terms, the heart of this book is very human. Clarke always brings us back to the two kids involved, one donor and one recipient. She includes their parents and siblings and the very hard truth at the heart of transplant medicine; part of one person's body goes into another and in a heart transplant, this means one person is dead. When both the donor and the recipient are children, it lands a little harder. The book is written beautifully, holding the truth of something difficult and precious without being too sentimental or proper. Reading it left me impressed by our medical systems, human bodies, and the human capacity for both suffering and love.

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