About Griffen's Heart

Author(s): Tina Shaw

Fiction - YA

James Griffen is sixteen, with a bad heart. HeÂs on the hospital waiting list for a valve replacement. Meanwhile his physical activities are seriously curtailed so he gets about on his dead fatherÂs Vespa  his lifeline  and hangs out at the local video store with misfit Marlene. HeÂs considered a nerd at school but even before the Vespa, he was never the seriously sporty or macho type. By contrast, his younger brother Ryan is tough and worldly-wise with a smart mouth. Reflective, funny, self-deprecating James falls for the Âhottest chick in school  whoÂs also the unlikeliest catch. Roxy is more like Ryan: cool, streetwise and angry. But James is loyal in his affections and in spite of the thrashing his heart gets in the pursuit, he and Roxy form an odd bond, and James is the one who hangs in there when things turn nasty. ThereÂs a street-fighting crisis, a near-death, and James finally gets his operation. Told in smart, nifty prose by a veteran writer, this is a gentle story with tough moments, a more-or-less happy ending, and real heart-appeal for 12 to 15-year-olds. Storylines Notable Young Adult Fiction 2010. First published February 2008.

$19.99 NZD

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Product Information

Shortlisted for Storylines Notable New Zealand Books: Young Adult Fiction 2010 and LIANZA Children's Book Awards: Young Adult Fiction Award 2010.

Tina Shaw is the author of five novels for adults, the most recent being The Black Madonna. Her other novels are Paradise, City of Reeds, Dreams of America and Birdie. Shaw was First Runner-Up of the 2003 Sunday Star-Times Short Story Competition. She edited travel essays by New Zealand writers, A Passion for Travel, is a former recipient of the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship, and has held the Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers' Residency. She was Writer in Residence at the University of Waikato in 2005, and has since been writing junior and young adult fiction.

General Fields

  • : 9781877460135
  • : Longacre Press
  • : Longacre Press
  • : 0.17
  • : February 2009
  • : 198mm X 128mm
  • : New Zealand
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Tina Shaw
  • : Paperback
  • : 823.2
  • : 168
  • : Fiction