The Unbroken Hearts Club

Volume XXV / Issue 13 - November 30 / 2018
Unbroken Hearts Club

The Unbroken Hearts Club

Author: 
Brooke Carter
Series: 
Orca Sounding
Victoria, BC: Orca, January, 2019
153 pp., pbk., pdf & epub, $9.95 (pbk.)
ISBN: 
978-1-4598-2061-6 (pbk.)
978-1-4598-2062-3 (pdf)
978-1-4598-2063-0 (epub)
Grades: 
7 and up
Ages: 
12 and up
Review by: 
Sarah Wethered (Reviewed from Advance Reading Copy)
3
Excerpt: 

The river was Mom’s favorite place. Dad had the memorial bench installed. I didn’t have to sneak out - I doubt Dad cares that I’ve been getting up early for a change -- but if he knew where I’ve been going, he’d try to tag along. I don’t have time for that.

Dad is the opposite of me. He’s all raw feelings and big dramatic gestures. He always wants to talk, talk, talk. He will talk about Mom to anyone who will listen, even strangers in the grocery store.

That’ why Dad loves his grief support group so much. All they do is sit around and talk about the people they’ve lost. Mom died of Huntington’s disease, which is an evil genetic disorder that is 100 percent fatal. Dad wants to talk and I do my best not to. I want to be left alone in my darkroom. In here, all that exists are the photographs. Snapshots of time. There’s no death.

In this short novel, Logan is trying to come to terms with her mother’s passing from Huntington’s Disease and the all-too real possibility that she might have it also -- a possibility that brings with it a death sentence. Consequently, Logan is reluctant to admit that she has feelings for her best friend and buThe Unbroken Hearts Club is part of the “Orca Soundings” series for reluctant readers. dding filmmaker, Cole. At the same time, Logan’s father is becoming close to a member of his support group, Kelsey, whose husband died of lymphoma. When Cole and Logan agree to help make the support group more fun, the Unbroken Hearts Club is born.

Readers of The Unbroken Hearts Club will be compelled to find out whether Logan has Huntington’s and whether she can begin to live her life again. The subplot about the budding romance between Logan and Cole is sweet and accurately portrays a teen romance where one partner is reluctant to get involved because of family circumstances.

I recommend The Unbroken Hearts Club to readers who enjoy realistic fiction. The plotline moves quickly, as all “Orca Soundings” novels do, the descriptive sections are well done. The dialogue sounds realistic and is not stilted. The author accurately reflects hpw teenagers speak. Lastly, readers who have lost family members or who have faced serious illness may be able to identify with Logan who is struggling being able to get on with her life.

Recommended
Reviewer: 

Sarah Wethered, who has been a teacher-librarian at New Westminster Secondary School for 19 years, currently lives in New Westminster, British Columbia.