APRIL 2019 - AudioFile
Narrator Katherine Littrell wrests all the humor, angst, and anguish from this first-person account of Australian teen Marlowe Jensen’s attempts to adjust to normal life after her heart transplant. Littrell captures Marlowe’s many moods with an engaging performance that moves with the text from intensely introspective to wryly humorous and fiercely poignant. She expertly depicts Marlowe’s struggle to embrace life after staring death in the face for so many years. From feelings of guilt for taking the heart of a boy who died to making her own decisions against the iron will of her passionately vegan mum, along with first friendships and first love with—gasp!—a butcher’s son, Littrell’s well-paced, well-modulated tones meld this coming-of-age story into a satisfying listening experience. S.G. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 12/24/2018
A heart transplant means that Australian high schooler Marlowe is healthy for the first time in years, but she’s still the shy member of a family—with her vegan activist mother and costume-wearing little brother—that likes attention. Still, it’s hard to stay under the radar once she’s back in school, trying to make friends and deal with bullies, and gets caught up in an intense prank war with the adorable guy who works at the butcher’s next door to her mother’s vegan store. Could it be that she isn’t so shy after all? That being healthy means she needs to find out who she really is? Convinced that meeting her donor’s family will answer these questions, Marlowe barrels on despite their refusals, eventually getting caught in an elaborate lie and hurting the people she cares about most. Funny and direct, this book by Plozza (Frankie) is capable of balancing heartbreak, first love, mortality, and the absurd—or, as Marlowe puts it, “that moment when you’re standing in front of Bert’s Quality Butchers holding a speaker blasting ‘Meat Is Murder.’ ” Ages 14–up. Katelyn Detweiler, Jill Grinberg Literary Management. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
Nominated to ALA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults List
“Funny and direct, this book is capable of balancing heartbreak, first love, mortality, and the absurd—or, as Marlowe puts it, ‘that moment when you’re standing in front of Bert’s Quality Butchers holding a speaker blasting ‘Meat is Murder.’” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Readers will cheer for Marlowe's bildungsroman—simultaneously unique and universal.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“With a witty yet awkward main character at the helm, this story will quickly hook readers and keep them laughing, crying, and rooting Marlowe on. A great read for fans of LGBTQ-friendly coming-of-age stories.” —ALA Booklist
“Would you still be the same person if you had someone else’s heart? Marlowe Jensen is proof that a borrowed heart can be a big one, and from cover to cover her story is swoon-worthy, moving, deep, and funny. I loved it.” —Jennifer Niven, author of All the Bright Places
“Tin Heart cements Plozza as a writer with a charming voice and a flair for flawed, loveable characters. Fans of contemporary rom-coms with grit, such as Cath Crowley’s Graffiti Moon, will find much to enjoy here.” —Jordi Kerr, Books + Publishing
“Apt and poignant...a triumph of wit and awkward pathos, forgiveness and love.” —The Australian
“Funny and romantic.” —The Melbourne Herald Sun
Praise for Frankie
YALSA Teens’ Top 10 Pick
ALA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults List
Winner of the Sisters in Crime Davitt Award (YA )
A Victorian Premier’s Literary Highly Commended Title
Shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year Award
Shortlisted for the 2017 Gold Inky Award
“Readers will love Frankie for her courage, passion, and honesty as a narrator. A powerful debut about a girl learning to love despite the dangers.” —ALA Booklist
“An edgy and drily funny novel that dives deep into how forgiveness—especially forgiving oneself—can help a person grow.” —Publishers Weekly
“Frankie’s first-person narration gives readers a well-rounded picture of a formerly bullied teen from the wrong side of the tracks struggling to make sense of her past and how it affects her present relationships. A gritty and darkly witty debut.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Frankie’s a great, gutsy character, full of heart.” —Printz Award winner Melina Marchetta, author of The Jellicoe Road and Saving Francesca
“Frankie will make you laugh till it hurts and then she’ll break your heart. Spoiler alert: it may be with a welding gun or the collected works of Shakespeare. But no matter what she throws at you, you’ll want to keep rooting her on to the bitter end.” —Morris Award Finalist Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock, author of The Smell of Other People's Houses
“Original, and often obscenely funny. I frequently laughed aloud while reading Frankie.” —Australian Book Review
“This is a great debut novel from a fantastic new Australian author, Shivaun Plozza. It has everything YA fiction needs to be captivating: mystery, tough women, annoyingly cute bad boys, sarcasm, and humor. Highly recommended.” —Readings Monthly
APRIL 2019 - AudioFile
Narrator Katherine Littrell wrests all the humor, angst, and anguish from this first-person account of Australian teen Marlowe Jensen’s attempts to adjust to normal life after her heart transplant. Littrell captures Marlowe’s many moods with an engaging performance that moves with the text from intensely introspective to wryly humorous and fiercely poignant. She expertly depicts Marlowe’s struggle to embrace life after staring death in the face for so many years. From feelings of guilt for taking the heart of a boy who died to making her own decisions against the iron will of her passionately vegan mum, along with first friendships and first love with—gasp!—a butcher’s son, Littrell’s well-paced, well-modulated tones meld this coming-of-age story into a satisfying listening experience. S.G. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2018-11-21
Seventeen-year-old Australian Marlowe Jensen—just returning to high school after a successful heart transplant—obsesses about her anonymous donor while also navigating relationships with friends, family members, and her first love.
Marlowe, who is of Danish descent, narrates the tale in present tense. Among her many anxieties: "There is no ‘me' anymore. They're seeing a girl with a borrowed heart." Although this and other insecure musings pepper the text, it is also filled with Marlowe's witty comments. Her zany, controlling mother and adoring younger brother provide additional humor: Mum, owner of the "vegan-organic-wellness store called Blissfully Aware," participates in showy, anti-establishment protests, and 10-year-old Pip—who seems younger—uses every possible occasion to wear outrageous, painstakingly created costumes. High school bully Eddie Oro and his bubble-headed followers are stock characters, but Marlowe's budding friendships with cool, gay Zan Cheung and maybe-the-sister-of-Marlowe's-heart-donor Carmen Castillejo ring true. So does the slow move from adversary to love interest with Leo, the next-door butcher's son—which begins with a series of escalating pranks on both sides. Without didacticism, the text offers a glimpse into two sets of rare challenges: those faced by Marlowe, grappling with the fact that her life was restored by another's death, and those faced by Carmen and her father, still grieving over 16-year-old Luis, whose organs were donated after a car accident.
Readers will cheer for Marlowe's bildungsroman—simultaneously unique and universal. (Fiction. 12-16)
