Paper Heart

PAPER HEART by

Category: Contemporary

Age Recommendation: Grades 6+

Release Date: 10/1/06

Publisher: Front Street

Reviewed by: Mechele R. Dillard

Rating: 5 Stars

Nadia really does want to play with the other kids. She is tired of playing with paper dolls. But her

overprotective

mother will not allow her to do anything that will put her fragile heart at risk; i.e. anything that

could help her make real

friends--running, jumping, rolling around on the forbidden sawdust pile. Besides, the

paper dolls have never laughed at

her. They have never pointed at her or called her “the sick girl.” Still, as she

plays with her dolls, despite her mother’s

constant warnings to the contrary, it occurs to Nadia that she does

not wish to allow fear to dominate her life:

“Paper

dolls. Paper books. Paper cards. Paper life.”

So, Nadia devises a plan. She will become an actress. She will secure the lead in the sixth-grade play, and

then she

will be someone everyone will want to know. She won’t tell her mother, of course, and by the time

Mrs. Riley knows

that the little white lies she has told to get the role are, well, not the complete story, no one

will be angry with her

because she will have shown them all that she does indeed have value beyond being a

source of constant worry for her

mother and a target for teasing for the kids at school.

Arrington does an excellent job of exploring the problems that arise when a parent becomes overprotective of

a child

with a medical condition. Additionally, the unexpected twist she includes is a welcome breath of fresh

air in this

reviewer’s opinion. It is entirely credible, but keeps the storyline from becoming predictable. Nadia’s

quest to be more

than just “the sick girl” becomes a journey for both her and her mother, and it is one that the

reader will be glad she

has taken, as well.

Paper Heart
by Aileen Arrington