A review by cwhooley15
Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith

4.0

This young adult novel discusses social issues that pertain to Native American high school students from the perspective of a young woman who experiences these issues firsthand. I appreciated the first-person point-of-view that was believably from the perspective of a high school senior. However, because of the quick pace of a young adult that I typically enjoy, it tends to cut off on different topics to end a chapter, causing the perspective on the issues of racism and growing up to be less deep. Despite this, I would still recommend this to any middle school classroom (particularly eighth grade though this might be okay for seventh) that shows students how their voices could impact civil discourse on social issues. Specifically, I could see this being used as an option in literature circles for a unit on when it is right to take a stand. I would have each student focus on a role that would allow them to bring a different perspective to their groups such as summarizer, illustrator, and word watcher that would allow the group to understand the text and its topics better. I can see this text being a mentor text for deeper discussions on how students can best take a stand.