Sabrina, the Girl with a Hole in Her Heart

Gr 2—4—Lewis has created a character to represent thousands of children with heart defects who have been helped by the Save a Child's Heart organization. Sabrina tells of living with poor health in Zanzibar and being given the opportunity to travel to Israel to undergo surgery, and eventually returns home healthy. While this is a touching story and full of good information, the writing is stilted and does not feel authentic to the voice of a young girl. The inclusion of factual information about the heart-valve defect and surgery is a plus as is the reality that children from all around the world need to receive adequate medical care. The book includes a pronunciation guide as well as more information about the organization and heart-valve disease, and two activities for lesson planning. The illustrations are clear and in some cases very emotive, but seem a little disjointed and do not always correspond to the text on the page in a cohesive way. Overall, this is a touching story and the proceeds go to a worthy cause, but neither the text nor the artwork makes it a necessary purchase.—Catherine Brenner, Bethlehem Public Library, Delmar, NY