I must be on a roll with the sports books this summer. A Matter Of Heart by Amy Fellner Dominy is another YA sports book that I’ve recently read. This one features a girl who is a swimmer. Abby finds out that she has HCM – which is Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This means she has an enlarged heart and could die from it. It’s actually something that goes undetected and young athletes can die from it. So, the book centers around this issue without really feeling like an issue book.

Abby is your average teen – except she is this amazing swimmer. She’s so good that she could qualify for the US Olympics team. Actually, that is what she is planning to do at the meet for States. Unfortunately at her last meet, she gets dizzy and passes out. This leads her to discover that she has HCM and has to take beta blockers. The beta blockers impact her swimming due to her heart rate. And so, her life just completely changes. A Matter Of Heart is about how Abby deals with those changes and comes to term with her HCM. There’s also a little bit of romance too.

When the book starts, Abby is dating this guy on her team, Connor who is a hot shot. However, there’s a new guy on the team who is kind of neck and neck with Connor, Alec. Abby teaches swim class at the same time that Alec gives private lessons. The two kind of feel animosity towards each other at first, mainly because of Connor, but that feeling changes. On the whole, the romance is a nice additional layer to the book, but not the whole point.

A Matter Of Heart is a wicked quick read. The chapters are super short. Competitive swimming plays a huge role and adds this interesting dimension. Plus, Abby’s best friend Jen is wonderful to read about too. I’d certainly say give this book a shot if you just can’t get enough of athletics in YA.