I loved this. The representation is awesome. ( )

This story just gave me all the feels. I wanted to hug Wing through most of it. This is a beautifully written story. ( )

I wasn't a fan of the lion/dragon thing, it just felt odd and out of place to me, but other than that it was very cute. ( )

Library Merit: Great
Characterization: Well Done
Recommendation: Recommended
Level: Middle and High School

"The Heartbeats of Wing Jones" was a wonderfully written book that deals with a host of issues that plague teens today. Not only does Wing feels as though she is different since she is of mixed races (African and Chinese), but she seems to have an imagination that helps to stir her differences. Through the book, Wing mentions her Dragon and Lioness often as a way to help push her while she runs. Her running helps her to cope with her intense emotional situations. Wing is developing feelings for her brother's best friend, Aaron. Those feelings are so intense that she doesn't know what to do with herself or how to concentrate on anything else. You really get a look inside her mind and how she thinks and feels. Her thoughts come right off the page, making her a very believable teenage girl. Her brother Marcus is the opposite of Wing in so many ways, it makes one wonder if the author intentionally meant to write the siblings as dichotomies of each other just to see how their personalities switch by the end of the book. We don't get much characterization of Marcus in the book. While he is a main focus, he is in the actual book for such a short length of time. We do see how he goes from an all-star, outgoing athlete to a sullen young man, who made a terrible mistake and now it costs him dearly. The adult characters in the book serve a great purpose to help push the story and Wing along in her own growth, particularly from Granny Dee and LaoLao. Her mother isn't present much in the book, which is understandable given the circumstances.

The story is set in 1995, but that is not something that you can easily tell. The struggles that Wing faces in the book are the same problems that many teens today face such as poverty, racism, and challenging family situations. This book would be a great read for a class discussion on consequences and how they not only effect the person, but those around them as well. This is a very well-written book with an strong, young woman facing down the problems in her life and how she overcomes them. ( )