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Pig-heart boy ISBN: 9780552551663
Blackman, Malorie
Published by Corgi, 2004
Two years before the beginning of this story, Cameron caught a virus that affected his heart so adversely that he now needs a transplant. Trouble is, time is running out. When his father contacts Dr Bryce, a pioneering experimentalist, about Cam's receiving a pig's heart, Cam's mum is furious. Cam must make the decision though, and he decides to go ahead. Life has become so difficult that he is willing to try anything for normality. At first everything goes very well, and Cam seems to go from strength to strength, the only fly-in-the-ointment being the hyper media coverage from the sensationalist press. More worrying are the threatening letters Cam's parents get and the attentions of animal-righters. When his body begins to reject the new heart, Cam must decide whether he wants to go through the whole procedure again. This is a stunning book. Cam's feelings about his health problems, his friends' often adverse reactions to his pig's hear, his sometime cruelty to those same friends, and his relationship with his warring parents are explored fully and honestly. He makes some of these feelings clear by the use of a device: he video records messages for his as yet unborn sibling whom he calls Alex. While the ethical dilemma of using animals for transplants is covered well, one feels this can only be used with heart patients with huge care. Perhaps it would be possible to use the beginning where Cam talks about his health problems and how he feels about them without getting into the whole story.
Age: 10+