When My Heart Joins the Thousand

Reviewed by: Noelle Gallant - Saco Middle School, Saco, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 14, 2018

Review

A relationship develops between strangers when a foster-care runaway sees a fragile young man toss his cell phone into a pond at a park near her home.

17-year-old Alvie recovers Stanley's phone and offers to return it to him in an email, and an online relationship develops. The two eventually meet in person, and readers realize Alvie like falls on the Aspergers/Autism spectrum and Stanley suffers from physical challenges of his own. The closer the two get, the more Alvie struggles, and she eventually cuts off ties with Stanley, loses her job, and becomes homeless. The two eventually reconnect and their relationship becomes stronger despite their individual faults. This book's strengths lie in the development of the characters, particularly Alvie in flashbacks to her upsetting childhood and her relationship with her mother.

This book would appeal to high school readers and would not be appropriate for middle school due to sexual content and some troubling family scenes.

Overall Book Score: very good