Pig-Heart Boy

Pig-Heart Boy is a critically acclaimed book for younger readers from the author of the bestselling Noughts and Crosses sequence.

But most normal kids don't need heart transplants.

So there's this doctor. He says there's a chance for you. But he also says it's experimental, controversial and risky. And it's never been done before.

Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, this is a powerful, thought-provoking story from the award-winning Malorie Blackman.

A powerful story about friendship, loyalty and family around this topical and controversial issue' - Guardian
'An engrossing story' - Daily Telegraph

'That's all I ever did - watch and listen. I was always a spectator, never a participant. I didn't call that living. I was alive - but that was all.'

Cameron is thirteen, and all he wants is a 'normal' life - friends, swimming, school, family.

But his life is far from normal. Not every thirteen-year-old desperately needs a new heart because theirs doesn't work properly.


Finally, one doctor offers hope.
Cameron could - if he and his parents agree - take part in a radical and controversial procedure involving the transplant of a pig's heart into his human body.

It's risky. And it's never been done before . . .

While Cameron comes to terms with the idea, he finds the world around him is much less accepting.

But surely everyone will understand that it's better to have a pig's heart that works than a human heart that doesn't - won't they . . .?

'A sensitive and informative story that provides a vivid insight into transgenics and xenotransplantations and still manages to squeeze in the inevitable guinea-pig and piggy in the middle jokes' - Independent