Title: Pieces of MeAdd to Goodreads
Author: Amber Kizer
Publisher: Random House
Pub. Date: February 11, 2014
Genre: Young Adult
Rec. Age Level: 12+
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It isn’t until Jessica Chai dies that she truly learns what it means to live. Jessica spent the majority of her short life invisible to her parents
and peers. It isn’t until the final days of her life that anything remotely
notable happens to Jessica, when her long, beautiful hair is hacked off by a
posse of mean girls in the short span between classes. Jessica’s hair, a shield
to hide behind and an integral part of her identity is suddenly gone, leaving
her with unexpected, but not completely unwelcome clean slate. But, before
Jessica can unveil her reinvention to her peers she’s in a fatal car accident. She
doesn’t see a tunnel of light calling away from her old life, she doesn’t
simply blink out of existence, she simply stays, as invisible as before. When
her parents decide to donate her organs, giving four teens a second chance, Jessica
is angry; she knows her mother is manipulating Jessica’s legacy for their own
gain. She lingers somewhere between life and death, following the daily lives
of the four recipients. Time soothes Jessica’s bitterness about her life and
untimely death; what she first considers a betrayal by her parents, becomes the
very act that gives Jessica life and allows Jessica, finally, to be seen. Amber
Kizer’s PIECES OF ME is a raw, inspiring story of life after death and the
enduring legacy of a girl whose untimely death grants the gift of life.
PIECES OF ME is a departure from what I’ve come to expect
from Amber Kizer, but it carried the intensity and directness that I’ve come to
associate with her writing. Kizer doesn’t do fluffy, she does real. I was so
affected by the topic of organ donation that, immediately after I finished
PIECES OF ME, I went online and registered to be an organ donor.
The four recipients Jessica follows are so much more than
their illness or medical issue. They face complicated home lives, financial
hardships, and bullying. But, at the same time, they experience first love,
connection, spirituality, freedom, happiness, and best of all, the chance at a
future.
The only aspects of the novel that I felt off to me were the
romantic elements. Maybe it was that I wasn’t expecting any romance or simply
that I was focused on other plot lines, but I found the romance distracting.
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Pieces of Me Blog Tour
2/4:
Peace Love Books
2/5:
A Patchwork of Books
2/7:
Once Upon a Twilight
2/10:
Bookish
2/11:
The Hiding Spot
2/13:
Paranormal Angel
2/15:
Live to Read
2/17:
Jean Book Nerd
2/18:
Confessions of a Readaholic
