Cold Hands, Warm Heart by Jill Wolfson

This is the story, from start to finish of a heart transplant. We visit with the donor before they are a donor, we visit with her family as they make hard decisions. We learn about Dani, a girl who was born with her heart on the wrong side of her chest. We visit with her pre-op and post. Along the way we learn all about transplants and what they really entail and we laugh and cry and hope that we never need to be in such a position.

This was an extremely well written book. I really enjoyed how the author tied all the disparate stories together. I say that because many people think just about the person getting the organ, but in order for anyone to get an organ so many stories must also be put into play. The author takes what could become a saccharine movie-of-the-week plot and maintains just the right level of heightened emotion without ever devolving into a soppy sappy cry-fest (and you totally know the type of which I speak). There is crying (at least my eyes stayed pretty wet) but the story earns your tears.

This is a first rate book.