Book review: To continue living when you've been close to death

”When was the worst moment in your entire life publicly, on a hard, cold chair, with strangers passing by. That you'll die. Or think you're going to die. And then you die, despite the odds.”

the 18-year-old Marlowe in the australian Shivaun Plozzas ”Your heart is mine” has received a dödsbesked. She has been crying, lost hope, and tried to reconcile with the idea of dying, and then suddenly saved by an organ donation. She gets a new heart from an anonymous donor and life begins.

currently the shadow in the ungdomslitteraturen. It is the sibling who commits suicide, boyfriends who crashes with cars, moms who fall asleep and dödssjuka young protagonists.

Of the latter is berättarjaget cancer and Annika from the Gunnel Beckman's ”Access to the party” (1969) one of the more well-known Swedish examples.

There are more similar stories, Jenny Downhams Before I Die” (2007) and John Green's ”The Fault in Our Stars” (2012) to name a few.

We are working with literature for young people are forced to cry a lot on the job. Therefore, it is wonderfully liberating to Shivaun Plozza turn on the roast. ”Your heart is mine” starts where the previous stories ends. It is both smart and innovative. I have actually not thought of what happens to those who do not die.

Everyone remembers James Dean's crash, get Bob Dylan. Plozza is well versed in the process surrounding organ donation and describes empathetic to the enormous pressure to be happy that Marlowe feels.

”Your heart is mine” is a boring novel. Berättarjagets portrayal of his militant veganmorsa, fjantiga little brother and the awkward attempts to make new friends is addictive.

It is difficult to describe the twisted characters without it becoming artificial but Shivaun Plozza mastered the art to the fullest. I miss Marlowe, her family and friends as soon as the book has come to an end.

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