An incredible journey into the life of a young heart transplant patient, SICK GIRL (Grove Press; October 2007; US $24.00/CAN $29.95), is extraordinary both for its gripping story of a "crazy kind of amazing" medical miracle and for its surprisingly irreverent and occasionally fierce narrator, Amy Silverstein. Her bold, unforgettable self-portrait will forever change your perspective on life, health, and medicine. At just twenty-four, Amy Silverstein was your typical type-A law-student: smart, driven, and highly competitive. Adroitly juggling a budding romance and a heavy academic schedule, Amy did not have time for illness—even one that caused violent and erratic heartbeats, shortness of breath, blackouts, and temporary blindness. When her family doctor suggested that her symptoms were due to stress and diet, she was more than happy to drop a few classes, think calm thoughts, and eat fistfuls of salt. At such a young age, vibrant and energetic, how could she have guessed that her heart was about to fail? With grace and wit, in her debut book SICK GIRL Silverstein chronicles her astounding medical journey from the first misdiagnosis to her astonishing and ongoing recovery, experiencing an unheard-of and ever-tenuous longevity without additional transplants—she has healthily surpassed her doctors' life expectancy predictions by more than 9 years. Distrustful of her doctors and insistent in her refusal to be the "grateful heart patient" she is expected to be, Silverstein presents a point of view that is truly eye-opening and sometimes controversial. "What happened to me demonstrates that there are illnesses that can outsmart and out perform even the best doctor gods," writes Silverstein in her riveting, keenly observed, wryly humorous look at full-throttle life-threatening disease. Told she is a "sick girl" by her physician, Silverstein makes every effort to live as a "normal" person, despite immunosuppressive medicines that are actually poisons that keep her body from attacking her new heart and the unrelenting danger of transplant-related death. Her remarkable account is made all the more dramatic by the deliriously romantic bedside courtship with her devoted boyfriend, Scott (now her husband), and a single, uncompromising desire. Although two cardiologists render definitive nos on the issue of pregnancy, no one ever told her she could not be a mother. For Silverstein, her miracle and the heart of her recovery is a baby boy. A riveting memoir, SICK GIRL is fundamentally about relationships—between patient and doctors, wife and husband, mother and son, sick friend and well friends—and how all these strengthen or shatter under the pressure of a freakish illness. Buoyant and ultimately triumphant, Silverstein's is a compelling and courageous new voice that will stay with you long after you have turned the final page. Read Amy's blog on gratitude and illness here. Read reviews here. BUY THE BOOK Amazon Barnes & Noble Books-A-Million Borders Book Sense Grove/Atlantic hardcover (October 2007); ISBN: 0802118542; ISBN-13: 9780802118547