Saturday Schoolyard: Searching For David’s Heart | Cherie Bennett | Book Review

Saturday Schoolyard

As many of you may know April and I first met as elementary schoolers while taking part in an activity known as Saturday Schoolyard. Saturday Schoolyard was this thing our school did where elementary kids could sign up to participate in various activities once a month (I believe it was) on a Saturday morning. I vaguely remember there being different activities involving foreign languages, cooking, cosmetology, and other fun things Of course, there was also a bookish activity, and that is where April and I first connected. Things are a bit of a blur from that era in our lives but it did begin to cement our friendship in a long and endearing way that the only books can do. And now I’ve decided that it might be fun to put a little book blogging spin on it.

I thought that it might be a little fun to look back on some of the books that I read as a child or as a young adult in school (in activities such as a Saturday Schoolyard or other book related clubs) and re-read them from an older perspective. Then I would type up my thoughts and post them for all of you to see.  If you all seem to like what you’re reading then I will continue. Maybe I will even get April or Cassie to participate in this too. If there doesn’t seem to be any interest then I will chalk it up to a good thought and move onward. Also, if you like the idea and want to use it for yourself, feel free to do so. Just make sure you link it back to me somehow

So, what is the first book that I will be reviewing for Saturday Schoolyard? After a bit of deliberation and thought the first book I chose to re-read and review is one called Searching for David’s Heart written by Cherie Bennett. It’s a Christmas story that I first read back in middle school during a book club that April and I were both part of. It touched my heart back then so much so that I still have the original copy on my bookshelf. I’ve read it a few times since the initial reading, and each time it seems to touch my heart just a bit more in ways that I wasn’t exactly expecting.

Searching for David’s Heart tells the story of twelve year old Darcy who is beyond devastated after her brother dies in a horrific accident. She blames herself for the accident and thinks of herself as a murderer. Because of this, she decides to run off with her best friend and search for her brother’s heart as a way of finding forgiveness and peace of mind for herself. And when I say, she’s searching for her brother’s heart I mean she is literally searching for her brother’s heart because her brother was an organ donor, and his heart was donated to someone who needed a transplant.

It’s a beautiful heartfelt story that explores many issues including organ transplants, grief, depression, family, friendship, forgiveness and there even a few racial undertones through out that story which I found as an older reader re-reading the story to be very interesting. Some may view Darcy as being selfish but I’ve always seen her as being a caring twelve year old who is at that brink of awkwardness and doesn’t know what to do about it. And when the one person she thought she could always rely on disappears, it is understandable why she takes it the way that she does.

After re-reading Searching for David’s Heart I can honestly say that I’m glad that this is a book that I still have on my shelves. It really is a quick read but it’s also one that you can pace yourself with in order to more immerse yourself in the topic of discussion. Cherie Bennett handles the topic of organ transplants with sensitivity but she is not over cautious either. She is realistic which I think it very important. She can also bring out the tears in you as well. If you haven’t read this one before, I do recommend that you give it a chance.

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