Searching for David's Heart: A Christmas Story [Paperback]

Cherie Bennett (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up

When her older brother, David, dies in an accident, Darcy feels responsible for his death. Then she meets the boy who received David's heart in an organ transplant, and learns that life truly does go on.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590306731
• ISBN-13: 978-0590306737
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #426,627 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read!, November 19, 2005

By 

danielle (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Searching for David's Heart: A Christmas Story (Paperback)

I haven't read this book in five years or so, but the book is still good even from an almost-twenty-years-old perspective! Darcy Deeton is a twelve-year-old girl who loves her older brother, David. She becomes jealous when he falls in love with a girl, and Darcy inadvertently leads David to his tragic death by a car accident (read it, it's touching). The Deetons decide to donate David's organs. Darcy is so guilt-ridden about his death that she is determined to find the person who has his heart so she can find some closure. Darcy embarks on a wild adventure with her best friend, Sam.

These two twelve-year-olds are smart! Sam is an aspiring magician, but Darcy knows how to pick locks, too. With their wits, they manage to travel across many states and stay in one piece. Their whopping lies about their lives in the circus keep them from being discovered.

There is also a mini-story about Darcy's father, who lost a job promotion to a black man. The stunning conclusion ties everything together: in addition to Darcy's finding closure, her father finally resolves his bitter hate against blacks. For a book meant for 5th graders, it does a good job addressing issues about organ donation and racial issues.

I love this book - I'm not 13 anymore, but I recommend this to adults as well, who want a short but heartwarming read.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tugs on Heartstrings, March 11, 2007

By 

A. Luciano (Lowell, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Searching for David's Heart: A Christmas Story (Paperback)

Darcy is in sixth grade and she feels very awkward. She stutters when she gets nervous, and she finds it hard to talk to people. Her younger brother is a brat, her father always seems to be angry at her, and her grandmother is in a coma at a nursing home, where the children have to go visit her. But Darcy's big brother David is perfect. He is strong and sweet to everyone. Everyone likes him and he can get along with anyone, but he is especially good to Darcy. There is no one in the world she loves more.

Then David gets a girlfriend. She may be perfectly nice, but Darcy hates her and the fact that she seems to be taking David away. One night in a fit of fury after a ruined birthday celebration, Darcy yells at David and his girlfriend that she hates them and wishes her brother were dead. Then she runs off. As David is chasing after her, he is hit by a car and he dies.

Darcy is riddled with guilt. She feels that she is a murderer, that David's death is her fault. She doesn't know what to do, and her family is falling apart now more than ever. Then Darcy makes a decision. She knows that her parents donated some of David's organs, including his heart. Darcy decides to find the recipient of that heart, to maybe see if that person now has a little bit of David in him or her. Darcy and her best friend Sam set off on their journey to track down David's heart.

I liked the character of Sam, and the way he related to Darcy. I liked how the story was resolved at the end, and I liked how the father's prejudice was explained and dealt with. I thought that Darcy's parents were pretty horrible throughout most of the story, though. They should have been able to do something to help Darcy.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Searching for David's Heart, February 13, 2003

By 

Kim (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Searching for David's Heart: A Christmas Story (Paperback)

Cherie Bennett's book Searching for David's Heart is a very exciting book. I was not able to put it down. It is about a boy named david who dies. His sister Darcy feels it is all her fault. David is a organ donor. He gives his heart to a little boy in Miami, Flordia who is about to die too. Darcy did not know about David's heart getting donated, until she sees it on the front page of the newspaper. This begins the serch for her brother's heart. Read the book to find out how David dies, and what his sister does about it. This book is very sad but yet exciting too. I loved reading this book so much. I usually don't enjoy reading but this book I could not put down. I am looking foward to reading more of Cherie Bennett's books.