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Title details for What Hearts by Bruce Brooks - Available

What Hearts

by Bruce Brooks
John McDonough
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available

Recipient of a 1993 Newbery Honor, this novel is an achingly beautiful, powerfully rendered journey through childhood that is not to be missed, now available in a new edition with a striking new cover.

"From an outstandingly perceptive writer, a moving portrait of a boy, observed at four revealing turning points." — Pointer Review/Kirkus Reviews

"Combines fast, exciting action with an astonishing ending that proves the power of the individual imagination." — Starred Review/ALA Booklist

""Asa—possessed of rare sweetness, humor, and inner strength—survives intact cruel tests of his integrity, intellect, and sense of decency. From an outstandingly perceptive writer, a moving portrait of a boy, observed at four revealing turning points."" —K. ""Told with controlled imagery, insightful illumination of motive and the needs of his characters, Brooks has proven himself once again a master of language."" —BL.

1993 Newbery Honor Book
Notable Children's Books of 1993 (ALA)
1993 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)
1993 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
1993 Teachers' Choices (IRA)
1993 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)

  • Creators

  • Series

    Laura Geringer

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    September 8, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780061791444
      • File size: 141376 KB
      • Duration: 04:54:31

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • ATOS Level: 6.1
    • Lexile® Measure: 900
    • Interest Level: 9-12(UG)
    • Text Difficulty: 4-5

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Bruce Brooks's 1995 Newbery Honor book is a complex depiction of a young man trying to come to terms with life after his parents' divorce. John McDonough narrates Asa's story with the objective tone of an interested but emotionally distant bystander. He makes the often- obnoxiously precocious boy sympathetic as he relates Asa's love-hate relationship with his stepfather, Dave, and the challenges of 10 moves and new schools by age 11. This is the story of the dynamics of an uneasy blended family and its toll on an intelligent, insightful boy who puzzles over his own lack of empathy. McDonough makes this work accessible to young listeners, who might lose their way amid the story's psychological complexity in print. N.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 2, 1992
      Quieter but no less penetrating than Brooks's futuristic No Kidding , this present-day saga traces the formative years of Asa, who has spent most of his life moving from one town to another with his emotionally fragile mother and bullying stepfather. Like the protagonist of No Kidding , Asa takes on the role of protector as he chooses to make sacrifices in order to save his mother's marriage or prevent her from falling into a depressive state. Effectively revealing the psychological burdens of an intelligent, sensitive child, this book remains honest and intense from beginning to end. Asa's isolation and mental batterment by his stepfather create somber undertones, yet the book does offer some uplifting moments (Asa's first experience with romance, for example), which illustrate how spiritual renewal can occur under even the grimmest conditions. Ages 10-up.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Asa's story, complex, heart-breaking and quietly inspiring, is given a characteristically gentle, leisurely reading by John McDonough, which both enhances and complements the text. The novel offers a quartet of snapshots of the circumstances of a young boy's life and his hard-won emotional development from first through seventh grade. The close third-person narrative of this Newbery Honor Book requires a reading reflective of Asa's own unfolding awareness and growing wisdom as the structure of his life repeatedly collapses through two divorces and more moves than he can count. The strength of McDonough's reading comes from the unfailing equanimity in his voice, so reflective of Asa's own even temperament and open heart. T.B. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 2, 1992
      ``Effectively revealing the psychological burdens of an intelligent, sensitive child, this book remains honest and intense from beginning to end,'' PW said in a starred review of this Newbery Honor title. Ages 12-up.(Feb.) q

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:6.1
  • Lexile® Measure:900
  • Interest Level:9-12(UG)
  • Text Difficulty:4-5

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