Paper Heart (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Looking for Bapu Hope Morrison Banerjee, Anjali Looking for Bapu. Lamb, 2006 [160p] Library ed. ISBN 0-385-90894-6$17.99 Trade ed. ISBN 0-385-74657-1$15.95 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 4-7 "Because of her bad heart, Nadia did not play at recess"; in fact, the sixth-grader doesn't get to do much of anything, restricted as she is by her worried mother from socializing with other kids, being outside in the cold, or engaging in just about any physical activity. An increasingly restless Nadia begins to rebel, trying out for the class play (her mother gets wind of the plan and tells the teacher not to cast her) and making friends with a tough classmate, but when friction between her and her mother leads to an emergency-room visit, Nadia discovers that what she has always believed about her condition may not be true. Arrington creates an intriguing plot that has a touch of mystery and suspense, hinting periodically at the truth—that Nadia has no real heart disease, just a non-threatening murmur, and her mother has overreacted to it ever since the heart-related death of Nadia's father. This isn't a TV-movie tale of Munchausen's by proxy, however, so much as a story that renders the eternal battle between parental desire for protectiveness and a child's desire for liberty in particularly urgent terms. It's especially believable and poignant that Nadia has absorbed her mother's conviction, taking every flush of disappointment or speeding heartbeat of anger as an episode of illness. Though things wrap up a bit speedily at the end, the concept remains intriguing and the telling intense, so readers will easily sympathize with Nadia's plight even as they begin to wonder about their own parental restrictions. Copyright © 2006 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois