Customer Reviews

Girlhearts

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Girlhearts, a book by Norma Fox Mazer is a very touching story. It's about an unwealthy 13-year-old girl, Sarabeth. She and her mother live in a small trailer by themselves. Her mother unexpectedly dies from a heart attack one day. Sarabeth moves in with a family whom she had known her whole life. Sarabeth goes through the hardships of being yanked outn of her home and put into another while facing her mother's death.
For anyone who has ever lost anyone this book is for you. I have lost family members in the past, and I could relate to the way that Sarabeth felt.
In the book, Mazer writes with a technique that I found confusing: she doesn't specify who is talking during the dialogue. However, if you were as interested in the story as I was, then you'll enjoy reading through the text to figure out the confusing parts. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever gone through any kind of loss even if it isn't a death. This book really illustrates that everyone goes through hard times but the better you deal with them, the better of a person you will be afterwards.

I read "Silver", the first novel about Sarabeth Silver, in junior high, and have saved my paperback copy along with a number of other childhood favorites for occasional re-reading. I found the sequel to be a pleasant, quick read, with believable characters and a good storyline. However, I too was bothered by several inconsistencies, some of which were so obvious they detracted from my enjoyment of the book. The age thing really annoyed me - why did everyone become a year younger? Many of the things Sarabeth and her friends do and say seem more consistent with 15 year olds (which is the age they would really be a year after "Silver" took place) than 13 year olds. "Silver" was supposed to have taken place a year earlier, and yet Cynthia's baby is a toddler, though she only became pregnant at the end of the previous book. And why do Sarabeth's friends no longer call her Silver, her nickname in the first novel? These things may not be a big deal, but I read "Silver" so many times I feel I know the characters well, and it bothered me to see so many inaccuracies. I also felt the ending was too rushed - I would have liked to have gotten to know Sarabeth's relatives better, especially Traci. Maybe another sequel is in the works? Flaws aside, I did enjoy the story, and my rating is more like three and a half stars. I certainly recommend the book to anyone who enjoyed "Silver".

I purchased Girlhearts because I enjoyed the first book about Sarabeth Silver, 'Silver', when I was a young teenager. Although I am twenty-four now I thought it would be a nice afternoon read and something to keep for my baby daughter's library if the material turned out to be appropriate. However I had a problem with the chronology of these two books. In 'Silver' Sarabeth, the protagonist, is fourteen years old and starting a new high school. 'Girlhearts' is supposed to be Sarabeth one year later so logically she would be fifteen years old. But in 'Girlhearts' Sarabeth is only thirteen years old. This bothered me a bit. Other than that I liked the book, some of the conversation struck me as somewhat unrealistic for thirteen-year-olds, assuming all of Sarabeth's friends also became younger instead of older, but overall it was a good story with a satisfying ending. I also liked that the young girls in this story were not obsessed with boys, romance, sex, clothes, makeup, etc., --Sarabeth and her friends are generally wholesome characters and I would feel comfortable with my daughter reading this book when she is old enough.

I am a fan of all of NFM's books as she possesses that narrative drive which makes it hard to put any of them down, plus the characters, with all their quirks and problems are sympathetic, plus she deals with important social and emotional issues without any preaching.

However, I just read GIRLHEARTS 12 days after the terrorist destruction of the World Trade Towers here in New York. I wish I could give this book to every young adult who experienced the unexpected death of someone they cared for, - whether it was in thier own family, the parent of a friend
or firefighters at their local engine company. The manner in which Sarabeth Silver succombs to and then overcomes her grief at the sudden loss of her mother is likely to be illuminating and ultimately comforting to all who mourn. Come to think of it, all the kids in this city are mourning so I hope GIRLHEARTS becomes very widely available.

Having read "Silver" as a young teen, I couldn't resist picking up the sequel when I discovered it well into my twenties. I loved the world that Sarabeth and her mother inhabited. Although they were poor, and struggled through every day, they had a special bond that no one could match.

In "Girlhearts," Sarabeth's mother unexpectedly dies of a heart attack, barely thirty years old. In a matter of days, Sarabeth finds her world turned upside-down permanently, as she becomes a ward of the state and is taken in by her mother's best friend Cynthia.

Although Cynthia and her husband Billy were always like family to her, Sarabeth finds that living with them is not exactly ideal. Things come to a head until she flees from their home, determined to find out more about her parents' mysterious origins.

While the book is certainly powerful of its own accord, I'm not sure I really like it as a follow-up to "Silver." The Sarabeth that existed in that novel peeks through in a few points here, but is essentially replaced by a hard, grieving replica, which readers may or may not like.

Like any kid her age, 13-year-old Sarabeth isn't sure what to think of her young, hard working, sometimes eccentric mother, but she is all Sarabeth has; her mother lost any sort of family support when she became pregnant with Sarabeth at 16. However, mother and daughter manage to form a semi-stable relationship and make a home for themselves in a modest trailer park. When a heart attack takes her young mother's life, Sarabeth is shocked. Left alone without a real family or a home, she moves in with Cynthia and Billy, two of her mother's friends. While trying to cope with the staggering loss of a loved one, Sarabeth finds herself dealing with vague feelings that she is intruding on Cynthia and Billy's life as well as confusion in dealing with her mother's estranged family and former boyfriend.

Most compelling in GIRLHEARTS is the conflict Sarabeth faces when dealing with the reactions of the people around her. The relationships Sarabeth has with her school friends are strained as she becomes cynical and hard. Also, the tenuous friendship between her and her mother's old boyfriend, Leo, changes rapidly over the course of the book. These developing conflicts were intriguing, and I eagerly waited to see how they would work out.

However, this was the best part of the book. Other characters seemed flat and lacked depth. Often, Cynthia and Billy's actions seemed pointless --- only occurring because the story needed to be moved along. Sarabeth was realistic only some of the time, and her emotions were often illogical and decidedly hard to believe. Of course, I don't expect to understand completely, never having lost such a close family member myself. Still, the story would have been greatly improved if there were more of a connection between Sarabeth and the reader. This might have been forgivable if the story had been stronger and the outcome more gripping, but because the story was not particularly extraordinary in those areas, it had no room for the uncomfortable flaws in Sarabeth's character.

Still, GIRLHEARTS is worth a read. It is flawed, but it is a fascinating process to watch Sarabeth change and grow as her situation evolves.

--- Reviewed by Mary Crew

In the book "Girlhearts", by Norma Fox Mazer, a 13 year old girl named Sarabeth loses both her mother and her father. She never really knew her father since he died in a car crash when she was little, but her mother recently died of a heart-attack at 29 years old.
Sarabeth is devastated when she loses her mom. She has to figure out where to live, what to do, and how to move on with her life. She lives with her mom's friend for awhile, but not permanently. Sarabeth later comes across a decision of visiting her mother's family.
I'd say that this book is very much worth reading. So many emotions run through you head while reading this book. You just want to keep reading on to see if Sarabeth will be OK and how her life will turn out. Reading this book is like trying to swim across the ocean and desperately get to the end to see if you'll make it.
Norma Fox Mazer did very well writing the book "Girlhearts", and this book is now a book I am recommending to everyone who asks me what to read.

When I bought this book, I didn't know how touching it would truly be. The main characters; Sarabeth, Leo, Pepper, Cynthia, Billy, Jane Silver, and many more, really get to you whether or not you can empatize with their pain. It's one of those situations where you think the main role in the story has been through enough already, maybe too much. But of course, the author has to give an upgrade on the suffering. Who would suspect a 29 year old mother to die of a heart attack? The sudden death changes Sarabeth's entire heart and soul, but she finds that everything happens for a reason, and maybe the truth of tragedy can shine through.

Sequel to Silver.

Sarabeth Silver lives in a trailer with her slightly off-the-wall mom and her cat. Sarabeth's dad died in an accident when she was very young. When her mother dies suddenly of a heart attack at only 30 years old, Sarabeth's life is thrown into turmoil. She has to move into a tiny apartment with her mother's best friend and her cat is taken in by another family. Sarabeth struggles to be grateful to the people who step in to help her (even though none of them will really listen to her), but she becomes depressed and angry as she deals with her mother's death.

Her friends, old and new, support her and try to help her heal. They inspire her to make contact with her long-lost relatives and to find out more about her parents' families (who disowned them when Sarabeth's mother became pregnant at 16 years old).

Girlhearts, by Norma Fox Mazer is a teary eyed story about Sarabeth Silver who goes through the pain of a lost loved one. On the last night of the life of her mother, they played in the rain having a wonderful time. The next thing poor Sarabeth knew, her mom had died of a heart attack. Sarabeth goes through depression, sadness, and is now living with the neighbors. This story is about losing someone and being able to cope with it.
The chapters have been organized to end with cliffhangers so that you want to read the next chapter immediately. Sarabeth is an interesting character with questionable emotions. Norma Fox Mazer has used fascinating wording that grab you and transports you into the story.
This has been a winning story with very lifelike characters and personalities. I would recommend that anyone who has lost a loved one or family member should read this book. Or perhaps someone who wants to read an emotionally eventful story should read Girlhearts.