Tiny pieces of us by Vicky Pellegrino

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Hachette, 2020. ISBN: 9781869713850.
(Age: Adult - Older adolescents) This most unusual narrative is about the donation of body parts to those in need, captured in a narrative that is riveting, heart-warming, and thought-provoking. When her young son is killed in a traffic accident, Grace decides to donate as many parts of his body as would be useful for those in need. This decision will change her life.
Mourning her son's death, Grace feels very lonely. Spending time alone pondering her life, she decides to create a new family by asking all of the recipients of his body parts to meet her and thus, potentially, to become linked, as it were, like a family. Most are somewhat skeptical of such a connection but gradually see her rationale and so decide to accept her offer to meet. This decision is not suggested by the medical experts as appropriate, yet the connection is surprisingly accepted and becomes something that changes how they view their lives.
This narrative would be suitable for older adolescents and adults as Pellegrino raises some interesting points that reflect aspects of the modern world in terms of both medical and social issues.
Elizabeth Bondar

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