Pieces of Me by Amber Kizer (review)

When a car accident takes Jessica’s life, her organs are donated to some desperately ill young people, and Jessica then finds her spirit is tied to those recipients. Vivian, who has cystic fibrosis, is a talented painter; Leif is a star quarterback now drawn to Vivian and reconsidering his life; Misty, whose liver failure and transplant left her impoverished immigrant family stunned and destitute, desperately seeks some way to stay afloat; Sam runs both an online game and a website about miracles, through which he meets Leif and Misty. Jessica watches as the lives of the four begin to intertwine, and as the other three struggle to help Misty, whose condition is deteriorating. The organ-donation plot is an interesting premise, but characterization is minimal and clichéd (Misty’s family has no cultural identification beyond being foreign), with Jessica particularly unformed, going from mousily passive to boldly directive without ever getting enough dimension enough to be interesting. The writing is strained and sometimes confusing, and the plotting is highly improbable (Jessica’s recipients either go to her high school or are related to someone who does); the medical information veers from realistic and informative to vague and perplexing. There’s some soap-opera enjoyment out of the events that may appeal to kids who love classic Lurlene McDaniel books, but those looking for a compelling exploration of the topic should look instead to Chris Lynch’s Pieces (BCCB 3/13). An author’s note about organ donation and cystic fibrosis is appended.