The Anatomical Shape of a Heart

September 7, 2015
In her first book for teens, adult author Bennett (the Arcadia Bell series) presents a story about two unusual, talented artists: Bex (short for Beatrix) Adams, who dreams of becoming a medical illustrator, and Jack Vincent, who has a double life as a San Francisco street artist, traversing the city by night to spray paint words like “Fly” and “Trust” in gold. Their chance meeting—and Bex’s quick discovery of Jack’s secret—sets off a sweet romance between these two struggling teenagers. Bex lost her father to divorce, and her family can barely make ends meet, while Jack has family problems of his own. Jack’s fascination with Buddhism intrigues Bex, and he sees in Bex some of the peace he so desperately seeks. As they fall in love and make their first forays into sexual intimacy, Bennett doesn’t let their story fall prey to melodrama, even when their relationship is challenged. Readers interested in art and Buddhism will find this novel a satisfying read. Ages 12–up. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary Agency.

August 15, 2015
Take a contemporary San Francisco, add an undertone of classic Romeo and Juliet, some grit and viscera, and this story of two remarkable teens is the result. Beatrix, 18, isn't your average artist; she does anatomical studies and wants to attend school to become a medical illustrator. She feels her only chance is winning a scholarship by drawing from life-or rather death-a real cadaver. Bex is intensely focused, but then she meets Jack, and her focus expands. Jack is also an artist, notorious for his beautifully executed graffiti-and wanted by the police. Beatrix is intrigued by his wit, Buddhist beliefs, and "retro-rockabilly" looks. However, there's a sorrowful secret in Jack's family that, to Bex's initial consternation, causes him to be mercurial. Their romance flourishes as understanding grows into a deepening respect for one another. When the relationship becomes sexual, they are careful to spend time tenderly discussing it first. Bex narrates in a trenchant past tense, her wit on display in both dialogue and exposition, and art becomes both a point of connection for the two lovers and their weapon. In the face of family opposition to their relationship, Beatrix and Jack strive to convey that art is meaningful and healing for both creator and beholder. A thought-provoking exploration of art as an expression of love and pain. (Fiction. 14-18)

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October 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-Beatrix is not a typical teen artist. Her specialty is anatomical drawing. She wants nothing more than the chance to get into the Willed Body facility at a San Francisco medical school to draw the cadavers, sure that her precise work will win her a scholarship in a museum-sponsored drawing competition. Being a medical illustrator is an ambition she works toward by clerking in a local organic market to save for college and help her divorced RN mom keep their household afloat. Stuck waiting for the late bus one day, Beatrix meets a mysterious and gorgeous boy. They connect at once, staring into each other's eyes while flirting on the bus, but when a can of gold spray paint rolls out of Jack's bag, she knows why he's nervous and who he is: a notorious street artist who leaves single words of graffiti around the city. It should turn her off that he appears to be trouble, but Jack turns all of Bex's buttons to ON, and he is just as smitten, tracking her down and wooing her, even as she comes to understand that the words he's painting have as much to do with family and secrets as they do with art. Characters are well wrought, and dialogue feels realistic as the two navigate their lives and a fledgling relationship with humor and frank talk about sex, parents, and art. VERDICT An appealingly realistic romance that will curl toes and inspire sighs.-Suzanne Gordon, Lanier High School, Sugar Hill, GA

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2015
Grades 9-12 Bex considers herself a rational, science-minded person. That's why she abandoned color in her art, turning instead to the grayscale realism of medical illustration. It's also why she is so hesitant to succumb to her intense attraction to Jack, the dashing boy she meets on the bus home from the gross anatomy lab where she is drawing cadavers. But Jack is both irresistible and persistent, and before long, Bex finds herself unable and unwilling to set aside her feelings. Jack, meanwhile, is secretly undertaking an illegal public art project, which is rooted in something far deeper than mere adrenaline. Bex and Jack's witty banter crackles, and while their growing relationship is earnest and communicative, it's also packed with teenage horniness, mostly, it's refreshing to note, from unabashedly lustful Bex, whose narrative is packed with precise anatomical terms. Though a subplot with Bex's estranged father feels tacked on, and her financial problems, which add a nice touch of realism, are solved altogether too easily, Bennett's swoon-worthy, sex-positive romance will nevertheless appeal to teens who prefer proudly unconventional protagonists.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2016
Outside the hospital where she practices her anatomy drawing, seventeen-year-old aspiring medical illustrator Beatrix meets mysterious Jack, a Buddhist graffiti artist and the son of San Francisco's mayor. As Bex learns about Jack's tragic family secrets, she discovers some her single mother has been hiding from her. The resolution of these dramas feels sappy, but steamy romance and an interesting premise will attract readers.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)