First published 2004
Annie is twelve and loves to run barefoot. When her feet hit the ground, she hears her heartbeat keeping time. Thump-THUMP, thump-THUMP. The rhythm stays steady even when nothing else does. Her mother carries a baby that will change everything. Her grandfather forgets things he used to remember perfectly. Max, her best friend, snaps at her for reasons she cannot figure out. At school, Annie draws the same apple over and over, one hundred times total. Each drawing looks different. The apple changes as she watches it, just like everything else in her life. Annie tries to understand how all these changes fit together. She listens to the different rhythms around her. Some speed up, others slow down. Her own heartbeat remains constant as she runs, giving her something solid to hold onto when the world feels uncertain.
Genres: literary-fiction, family-life, coming-of-age, contemporary
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, found-family
192 pages · Hardcover · HarperCollins