Pighearted
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Charlotte's Web meets My Sister's Keeper in this charming story told from the alternating perspectives of a boy with a fatal heart condition and the pig with the heart that could save his life.
Jeremiah’s heart skips a beat before his first soccer game, but it’s not nerves. It’s the first sign of a heart attack. He knows he needs to go to the hospital, but he’s determined to score a goal. Charging after the ball, he refuses to stop…even if his heart does.
J6 is a pig and the only one of his five brothers who survived the research lab. Though he's never left his cell, he thinks of himself as a therapy pig, a scholar, and a bodyguard. But when the lab sends him to live with Jeremiah's family, there’s one new title he’s desperate to have: brother.
At first, Jeremiah thinks his parents took in J6 to cheer him up. But before long, he begins to suspect there's more to his new curly-tailed companion than meets the eye. When the truth is revealed, Jeremiah and J6 must protect each other at all costs—even if their lives depend on it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jeremiah, 12, is a cued-white Houston boy born with a bad heart; his need for an imminent transplant becomes apparent after a soccer field collapse. Jeremiah 6 (known as J-6) is a lab pig chimera injected with human DNA and growing a human heart, who doctors believe can save Jeremiah's life. When, three months before Jeremy's scheduled surgery, he receives J-6 as a gift from his parents, claiming the pig is a therapy animal, the boy has no idea of the newfound pet's fate. Predictably, the two soon bond and become loyal brothers as Jeremiah learns some of J-6's remarkable skills, including understanding human language, spelling, and reading. By the time Jeremiah realizes his beloved pet is going to die on the day he receives a new heart, he's willing to do anything to save J-6's life—even if it means risking his own. The parents' behavior feels a bit callous, but debut author Perry, exploring the ethics of animal experimentation, offers two compelling first-person perspectives, alternating between a dying boy and an anthropomorphic pig and providing a sweet, if slightly farfetched, resolution. Back matter includes an author's note and resources. Ages 8–12.
