Someone Dies, Someone Lives

One Last Wish #4

by Lurlene McDaniel

You don't know me, nut I know about you. . . . I  can't make you live longer, I can't stop you from  hurting. But I can give you one wish, as someone  did for me.



Katie O'Roark feels  miserable, even though she knows she's incredibly  lucky to have received an anonymous gift. Still, the  money can't but her a new heart or bring her back  to her track-star days. When a donor is found with  a compatible heart, Katie undergoes transplant  surgery. While recuperating, she meets Josh Martel and  senses an immediate connection. When Katie decides  to start training to attain her dream of running  again, Josh helps her meet the difficult  challenge.



Will Katie find the strength  physically and emotionally to live to become a winner  again?

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Teen

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1992

About the author

Lurlene McDaniel (born c. 1948) is an author who has written over 50 young adult books. She is well known for writing about characters struggling with chronic and terminal illnesses, such as cancer, diabetes, and organ failure.


Other places to find her are...
https://www.facebook.com/lurlenemcdan...
http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/aut...
http://www.youtube.com/user/LurleneMc

Reviews

[Ale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katie a perfectaly healthy teenager who loves running finds out she has a dieses that is making her heart weak. She has to quit track and get stuck in the hospital katie need a donor fast. finding a donor is not easy. they need to find someone perfectaly healthy, around her age, and the person must have the same blood type. Katie is put on the long waiting list to recieve her organ.
Josh a teenager who lives with his grandpa and brother ( a college football player ). When his older brother is warming up for a big game Josh sees his brother drop to the floor. Soon his brother is sorounded by mass of people. They take him to a hospital. There Josh and his grandpa find out that Joshe's older brother had a nerve in his brain that exploded or something. I dont remember an well I read this last year. Josh's older brother is brain dead. josh and his Grandpa plan to donate the organs because thats what they think Josh's brother wanted.
Katies beaper goes off. They found a new heart for her.
josh tries to find the person that recieved his brothers heart. This is when Katie's and Josh's world collides.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first of the One Last Wish books I read years ago. Rereading them now, as an adult, I find more bits of trouble and incredulity in them than I once did. But they'll still hold a special place in my heart, always.

[Alycia_Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Spoiler Alert Ahead* I thought that this was a very sweet book. I couldn't help but fall in love with Kattie and Josh as they fell in love. I had to give this book three stars because, even though I loved the two of them together and their story, I thought that this book was a bit predictable. Everything that happened, I saw coming, Kattie getting Aaron's heart, the two of them falling in love, Kattie getting her way and going to the Transplant Olympics. However, even though I saw them falling in love, it still seemed like it came out of nowhere, and not in a good way. It just seemed like they met, talked a couple of times, then out of nowhere they were saying "I love you". Everything about their relationship just feels a bit forced and out of place. Also, the ending drives me crazy. Even though I know that Katie returns in a few more books, I could not stand the ending of this one. I thought it was so abrupt and, honestly, a little weird. I wish we could have at least had a little bit of closure. At least wake her up for goodness sake!

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! Katie is a healthy 16 year old track star...until she gets really sick and finds out she needs a heart transplant. The miracle comes when the UofM kicker unexpectedly drops during his first game. Katie gets a new heart and a new boyfriend and a new life! She is determined to be healthy enough to run again and then does...breaking a ton of records. I really liked her falling for Josh who only sought her out to see where his brother's heart ended up but loving the girl to whom the heart now belonged. The cliffhanger ending would have been annoying had I not known already Katie survives and is the key character in upcoming volumes of the series.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading through this series, I know it would have been right up my alley as a 10 year old, but as an adult they're stilted. This one had a more interesting plotline than some of the others, but I do think the medical information about transplant patients and the level of illness required to be eligible for an organ was glossed over quite a lot. The love story was kind of syrupy, reminiscent of that Christian Slater movie about the guy with the baboon heart, and the coincidences required were barely plausible, but it also kind of worked? If the ending has been less vague, I might have given 3 stars, but I hated how the book just stopped.

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is part of the One Last Wish series and focuses on high school track star Katie. Katie is in need of a heart transplant but has yet to find a compatible donor. Josh, a boy at Katie's school, suddenly looses his older brother and with his grandfather must make a decision about what to do with his brother's organs. Katie receives her transplant in a way that allows her to become closer to Josh. Katie is determined to becoming the star athlete she once was now that she has been given a second chance at living.

[Tori Strother · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this series in middle school. You do not have to start any particular book from this series as they are all different stories. This one was a good read with an interesting and tragic tale. If you are wanting a good cry and to finish reading and look at your life in a whole new appreciative perspective this series is for you. I would say this story was by far my favorite one from the series.

[Tara - tarareads517 on Storygraph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nostalgic reread for me.

[Rebecca Soto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the one last wish series. Lurlene McDaniel takes real-life problems and sheds light on them. These books will make you cry, though.

[Felicia Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book! ❤️♥️

[Jodi Vogel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read Someone Dies, Someone Lives back in middle school, and it’s one of those books that has stayed with me ever since. This is where Katie O’Roark’s story begins—before the camp, before the heart transplant. Here, she’s just a regular teen until her world changes with one devastating word: cancer.

Reading about Katie’s diagnosis and how it upended her life was both heartbreaking and inspiring. I loved how Lurlene McDaniel showed Katie’s strength and fear side by side—it made her feel real. At the hospital, she meets Josh, another patient, and their connection is instant and heartfelt. Even though they’re both fighting their own battles, they find comfort, friendship, and eventually love in each other.

Back then, I was drawn to stories with romance, but this one also taught me about the reality of illness, how quickly life can change, and how important it is to hold on to the moments and people who make you feel alive. It’s a short read, but it left a lasting mark on me—both for its love story and its reminder to appreciate every single day.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Actual Rating: 3.0

UGHH that ending! I hate that.. no resolution. Open to interpretation.

This book was a little different than the ones before it because there was more hope that the main character would live. I enjoyed learning about the whole transplant process and how rare organ donation is. I liked that this book switched back in forth in perspective and really made you see it from both sides of the spectrum; the family member of the donor who's organ is now keeping someone else alive and the person who is alive because of the stranger who died. It's a very deep issue and it was great for both Katie & Josh that they got to meet.

The reason for 3 stars is because I found this book a bit predictable and again, the ending was left open to interpretation and that drives me crazy!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was about Katie O'Roark who was diagnose with a heart failure and is on the waiting to list to get a new heart. Later on, she receive a valuable gift from someone who can help her live longer; a new heart. It was also this moment when she met Josh. Katie was in hope to run again and Josh had help her to accomplish her goal after surgery during the stage of recovering.
In this book, I learned that many people are not as fortunate because it is not easy to find an organ that work for the patient. Not only the blood type have to match but also the size of the organ and the health stage of donor. This book taught me a valuable lesson about life and death and ways I can help me who do need help.

[Coryn N · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book, so I gave it 5 stars. Katie didn’t realize at first how big of a difference Aaron had made in her life and meeting Josh made her realize and become very grateful. There are many risks to the operation that Katie underwent, but she survived and was strong. She also won the Senior Race at The Transplant Games. Katie was a very lucky girl, and this was a great book! I recommend it to anyone!

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one isn't my favorite of McDaniel's books, but it wasn't bad. It's hard to continue to write reviews about her books when I generally want the review to say the same thing. Her books are tearjerkers, though this on wasn't as much as some of the others. She does a fabulous job of getting the reader to learn about what it's like for people suffering from severe illnesses as well as their families.

[Tiffany Sosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story Someone Dies Someone Lives,is about when Katie O'Roark is getting a heart transplant because her heart is failing and Josh Martel is part of the Donors family because his brother died in a football field when he was about to kick the ball to the other person but he scooted back fell and then died.I like this book because it is talking about a love story and how this teen girl got a heart transplant.

[Carrie Garza · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is a little different, and written to educate on organ donation. It is the story of a young girl who receives a heart transplant. Katie meets the donor family and does very well with her new heart. But she still jas complications with rejection and illness.

[Catalina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me look at life and medicine at a different angle, like the book says someone dies so someone else can live. I also cried a bit (I am an emotional person when it comes to books and movies) This book was so good I reread it 3 or 4 times

[Emily Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Matters of the heart... in all possible meanings of the phrase.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Lurlene. Classic story of twisted transplant drama and teenage romance... and death.

[~ ! ♥ I rp therefore I am Awesome ♥ ! ~]

good series

[Carina · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a really good book.

[Ms. Graves · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first Lurlene McDaniel book. I plan on reading more.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing and cool and about friendship and hope and love and all that stuff. After reading this book I wanted to find me someone as sweet as Josh and I know it won't happen butbican wish

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really enjoyed how the beginning of this book started off with two different people who didn't know each other and through a course of tragic events got to know each other. its a lovely story.

[Melenia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

[Ashley Humiston]

i thought is was great. it was amazing how she found a heart but she also got to meet the person who is brothers with the heart donor. i was glad they got to know eachother

[Mary Bronson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book. I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved the plot and characters of the story. Its very touching and heartwarming. Great "One Last Wish" book.

[Dalesha R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book but why did it end like it did

[Gracie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

when I started to read this book I thought that it was ok. The plot is very predictable, but nothing that I have read before. The book is also a clif hangger