My Beating Teenage Heart [Hardcover]

C. K. Kelly Martin (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 27, 2011

Ashlyn Baptiste is falling. One moment she was nothing—no memories, no self—and then suddenly, she's plummeting through a sea of stars. Is she in a coma? She doesn't remember dying, and she has no memories of the life she left behind. All she knows is that she's trapped in a consciousness without a body and she's spending every moment watching a stranger.

Breckon Cody's on the edge. He's being ripped apart by grief so intense it literally hurts to breathe. On the surface, Breckon is trying to hold it together for his family and his girlfriend, but underneath he's barely hanging on.

Even though she didn't know him in life, Ashlyn sees Breckon's pain, and she's determined to find a way help him. As her own distressing memories emerge from the darkness, she struggles to communicate with the boy who can't see her, but whose life is suddenly intertwined with hers. In alternating voices of the main characters, My Beating Teenage Heart paints a devastatingly vivid picture of both the heartbreak and the promise of teenage life—a life Ashlyn would do anything to recover and Breckon seems desperate to destroy—and will appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen, John Green, and David Levithan.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, October 2011: Ashlyn Baptise doesn’t know where she is. Now somehow without a body she still exists in consciousness, and she finds herself drawn to a stranger. Brecken Cody is out of sorts, too. Having recently lost his sister, for which he feels partly to blame, Brecken is in the throes of grief. It is hard to talk about this novel without giving away a pivotal plot point but that the way in which Martin reveals how Brecken and Ashlyn are intertwined was unexpected—and amazing. Voice really drives the novel, making it impossible not to root for both characters as they try to navigate new emotional (and in Ashlyn’s case, physical, too) experiences. In the vein Gayle Forman’s If I Stay and Jenny Downham’s Before I Die, My Beating Teenage Heart is the type of novel that will remain with you long after you’ve read the last page. --Jessica Schein

Review

VOYA, October 2011:
Life is full of mysteries and unanswered questions. This novel is an excellent bibliotherapy for anyone who has recently suffered an unexplainable loss and has to keep living. Martin has written a teen angst novel filled with all the "big questions" of life. It resembles a teen version of the play Whose Life is it Anyway? by Brian Clark. The book may wake the reader up to all the unrecognized beauty life has to offer. Reviewer: Ellen Frank                

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (September 27, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375868550
• ISBN-13: 978-0375868559
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,279,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Long before I was an author I was a fan of books about Winnie the Pooh, Babar, Madeline, Anne of Green Gables and anything by Judy Blume. Throughout high school my favourite class was English. No surprise, then, that most of my time spent at York University in Toronto was as an English major--not the traditional way to graduate with a B.A. in Film Studies but a fine way to get a general arts education.

After graduation I headed for Dublin, Ireland and spent the majority of the nineties there in forgettable jobs meeting unforgettable people and enjoying the buzz. I always thoughts I'd get around to writing in earnest eventually and I began writing my first novel in a flat in Dublin and finished it in a Toronto suburb. By then I'd discovered that writing about young characters felt the freshest and most exciting to me.

Currently residing near Toronto with my Dub husband, I became an Irish citizen in 2001 and continue to visit Dublin as often as I can. My first book, I Know It's Over, came out with Random House in September 2008 and was followed by One Lonely Degree, The Lighter Side of Life and Death and My Beating Teenage Heart. My newest YA, sci-fi thriller Yesterday, hit shelves on September 25th. I've also released a book called Come See About Me, featuring my first adult character: twenty-year-old Leah.

You can find out more at www.ckkellymartin.com or www.comeseeaboutme.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Story that everyone should read September 27, 2011

By CJ

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

My Beating Teenage Heart is a wonderful book. I couldn't put it down and finished it in one day. It is so beautifully written and I felt like I was going through what Ashlyn and Breckon were going through. I felt their pain and happiness.I dont want to give too much information in this review and ruin it for others but I will recommend this book to everyone. :) It's a must read!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Haunting YA October 12, 2011

By Deborah VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

If you're one of those people who still seem to think that YA books are all fluffy and happy, you will want to probably avoid this book. This is one of the saddest books that I have ever read. I would highly recommend having a box of tissues prepared if you're going to read this. If you think that teenagers are incapable of feeling true emotion and are only bent on creating drama, you will rethink that after reading this.

This book is told in alternating perspectives between Breckon and Ashlyn. No need to worry about getting confused, each chapter is clearly marked with who the narrator is. Breckon is still recovering from the loss of his sister. Ashlyn is in a place where she neither here nor there. Soon the two become connected though they don't fully realize it. We discover both their pasts and what led to the situations that they are in now.

It's a bit weird to read several books regarding dead people but I don't feel too morbid. With this book, I just feel sad. This is the first book by Martin that I have ever read but it definitely will not be my last. I found myself glued to the story and swept into the lives of the characters. I wish that I could have done something for both Breckon and Ashlyn, to make their lives happier. That's how much the beautifully written story impacted me. If you are looking for a realistic contemporary YA book that goes a little deeper, try this one.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Surreal and poignant October 3, 2011

By The_BookishType

Format:Hardcover

My Beating Teenage Heart is unlike any tale of death and the afterlife I've ever read. It is a surreal experience, an existential look at life and death and meaning. C. K. Kelly Martin's prose envelops readers, giving them a sometimes poetic and sometimes stark look at her characters' reality. This story transcends age. Though the title references teenagers, the pain the two protagonists experience is sympathetic to anyone who's ever lost a loved one, been abused, been bullied, struggled to hang on. Martin plunges headfirst into a range of painful and hard-hitting issues, treating them all with piercing, but ultimately necessary, honesty.

Breckon's struggle with his family's tragedy is dark and raw. Martin doesn't shy away from the sometimes drastic measures people turn to in their grief, or try to rationalize the reckless abandon that comes with intense pain. He is lost and guilt-ridden and alone, pushing everyone away as he wallows in his despair. Though his feelings are understandable, at times his behavior is distancing. He doesn't try to be a martyr, which is a relief, but he's also willing to let himself hit rock bottom, to be dragged into the abyss. He doesn't try to save himself. Breckon tries so hard to suppress his emotions that they become abstract, not as viscerally wrenching for readers unfamiliar with this kind of utter devastation. The emotion behind his actions doesn't always shine through, making it difficult to connect with his motivations.

The novel features a surprising element of mystery, as readers struggle to uncover the connection between Ashlyn and Breckon, and the events that led to their separate tragedies. Ashlyn herself is in the dark (both literally and figuratively) as the novel opens. She intuitively senses that there are some things about her life she doesn't want to face, and as her memories slowly return, readers will feel the pain and frustration of injustice and cruelty alongside her. Ashlyn is a fascinating counterpoint to Breckon. They are both broken in different ways, but in life Ashlyn was determined to carry on through the pain. Her life was far from perfect, and in death she comes to realize that sometimes heartbreak and suffering are senseless, but if we're lucky, we manage to rise from the ashes -- a reality Breckon desperately needs to face.

The ending of the novel feels a little abrupt. The exposition seems to suggest a profound connection between their fates, but though there is one, it's fairly insubstantial. The resolution becomes increasingly philosophical, much too tidy for such a somber tale. Though it is perhaps the "expected" message, it diminishes the truth of loss and living that the novel has been working toward, and left me feeling a little unfulfilled.

Nonetheless, My Beating Teenage Heart is a highly intelligent novel, thought-provoking and to-the-point look at the randomness of tragedy, the sometimes irrational effects of grief, and the seemingly insignificant ways we touch each other's lives that may turn out to be the only moments that truly matter.

~Review from [...]