Book Review: Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

Heart of the Matter

Author: Emily Giffin

Publisher: St. Martins Press

Date: May 6, 2010

Length: 400 Pages


This book review was written by guest reviewer Cindy Phelps Thomas.

About The Author
Emily Giffin is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law. After practicing litigation at a Manhattan firm for several years, she moved to London to write full time.

No Matter How Flat You Make A Pancake, It Still Has Two Sides

Nick & Tessa Russo have a wonderful relationship. Nick is a world renowned pediatric plastic surgeon and Tessa has recently made the decision to stay at home with their two young children. The couple is very involved socially and have many friends.

Valerie Anderson leads a very different life from Tessa. Valerie is a single mom working as a lawyer who depends heavily on her family for emotional support. Valerie has no real friends due to the stigma that is placed on her for being a single mom in the prestigious area that they live.

Tessa and Valerie have very little in common though they live so close to one another, until the night of the accident. Valerie’s son, Charlie, is severely burned and rushed to the hospital. This is the night Valerie and Charlie meet Nick for the first time. Nick and Tessa slowly become more and more estranged, while Valerie and Charlie are building a relationship with Nick.

Tessa finds herself wondering if quitting her job and increasing her dependence on Nick is causing him to become distant. Valerie is seeing a male figure in Nick that has been missing in their lives for so long and finds herself thinking of him all too often. Charlie is looking to Nick to finally have a dad.

Heart of the Matter takes a journey down the road of love, trust, and forgiveness.

Will Nick and Tessa make it through this obstacle in their life?

Has Valerie finally found someone worth fighting for?

One thing is certain, they will all learn a little about themselves and forgiveness.

My Thoughts
As I read Heart of the Matter, I couldn’t help feeling connected to both of the women in the novel. The character development and the subject nature felt like they could be women I would consider a friend. I liked the style of writing also. Emily Giffin lets the reader experience each story through the eyes of the two characters by alternating views every other chapter.

The subject is a bit controversial, but at the same time it is a work of realistic fiction.

This is the fourth Emily Giffin book that I have read and I look forward reading more. I definitely recommend this novel and all others by this author.

MY RATNG: 5 Stars Out Of 5

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Children's Book Review: Penelope Popper Book Doctor

Penelope Popper, Book Doctor

Author: Toni Buzzeo
Illustrator: Jana Christy

Publisher: Upstart Books

Date: March 28, 2011





About The Author
Toni Buzzeo is an author as well as a career library media specialist. She writes picture books for children as well as many professional books and articles and lives on a colonial farm in Maine.

Penelope Popper Wanted To Be A Doctor
Penelope wanted to be a doctor and was always looking for opportunities to practice her doctoring skills. Her friends were tired of having their heartbeats listened to, their blood pressure taken and their reflexes checked.

One day she went to visit Ms. Brisco, the school librarian. Ms. Brisco showed Penelope some books that were "sick" and needed the attention of a book doctor. The librarian taught Penelope how to clean and repair the sick books so that children could read them again.

One of the illustrations in this book show a poster with the following five rules for taking care of books;

1. Wash your hands before reading a book.
2. Turn pages from the upper right-hand corner.
3. Never dog-ear a page.
4. Keep books safe from babies, pets and liquids.
5. Use a shelf marker to hold your spot and then replace books carefully on the shelves.

Penelope was called to perform an emergency "operation" when a huge dictionary fell behind the classroom radiator. She was able to rescue the dictionary and repair the damaged pages.

Penelope was awarded a special badge to wear by her teacher and librarian. The badge said, "Penelope Popper, Book Doctor."

My Thoughts
When I was working as an elementary school librarian, I was always looking for books to help children learn the library rules and how to take care of books. I love to see a book that features a school librarian as the "star" of  the story.

Children need to learn that books are their friends and they must be treated with care. This book will reinforce the library rules that children have learned in the past. The illustrations are bright and colorful and Penelope is sure to be a hit.
A great book for children in early elementary grades.

My Rating: 5 Stars Out Of 5

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