A HEART DIVIDED
Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld
Delacorte Books
Fiction/Values/Prejudice/Racism
ISBN: 0385327498
320 pages

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pinkyankeebebe@comcast.net
I found Kate Pride's story compelling, interesting, lively, and compassionate. I could relate to the feeling of rejection. I learned so much and I know have a different perspective on the Confederate Flag controversy. I used to look ate the flag as a symbol of hate. I now see that just because a person flies that flag it does not mean that they are racist. It could mean they are proud of their heritage. I found that A HEART DIVIDED was an incredible book that I would recommend to anyone.

phuocduong@bellsouth.net
A HEART DIVIDED touches upon the life of a young playwright Katie Pride who, due to her father's work, transfers from New York City to Tennessee. She sees Redford as she'd expected a southern city to be; the air filled with country music, diners that serve tea and grits. Being the new Yankee girl at Redford High isn't so great either, or at least until she met Jackson Redford III, the Redford's pride. Upon the discovery of his love for plays as well as his southern charm, she soon fall in love with him and their relationship is inevitable. This quixotic romance revolves around Redford High's latest issue: the symbol for which the school's Confederate flag stood for. As the protest about the flag's meaning carries on, Jackson faces a decision: to side with his friends and his tradition and stay loyal to the flag, or support his true love, Katie Pride, and go against the flag he's known all his life. Katie herself faces the decision of leaving Jackson and going back to her old life in New York City or staying in Redford, where she is deeply resented. This book is great; it involves deep emotions that keeps you glued to the book, anticipating what would happen next to each character. It involves issues that go back to the Civil War era and relates to today's world. The one thing that stood out in this book for me was the constant opposing conflicts the characters faced; Katie choosing North or South, Jackson choosing the old or new ways of life. It brings to mind the conflicting issues that to this day, still exist. All in all, the style and nature of this book is astounding, a true piece of literature.

hockeybabe629@hotmail.com
Over all I found A HEART DIVIDED to be simply an "OK" book. While I understand the message that the authors were trying to convey, I didn't find the characters very believable. I realize that by saying ya'll and other things the authors were trying to emphasize the fact that they were in the South, but being from the South I found it to be kind of goofy sounding. I also did not find a single one of the characters as someone I could relate to or even very likable, Kate especially. To me the plot was also lacking, Portia getting shot for example. It jumped around too much and I didn't feel as if the plot led up to it enough, it just kind of happened and I was left feeling really confused. Another major thing was that while the book was obviously trying to discourage the rebel flag I found myself siding more with Jack and his family's point of view that the flag was simply a symbol of southern pride, which, to me shows serious lack of depth/convincing details in the book (this coming from a person with no strong opinions on the rebel flag to begin with). The end of the book where the reader got to see Kate's finished play was disappointing also. The whole book I had looked forward to it and when I finally got to it I found it really boring and forced myself to finish reading it. I'm sorry, I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but I'm assuming that you wanted my honest opinion of A HEART DIVIDED and this is it.

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