Pig Heart Boy is a children's novel by Malorie Blackman

Malorie Blackman

Malorie Blackman OBE is an author of literature and television drama for children and young adults. She has used science fiction to explore social and ethical issues. Her critically and popularly acclaimed Noughts & Crosses series uses the setting of a fictional dystopia to explore racism...

 which was first published in 1997. It was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal

Carnegie Medal

The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...

. The novel was adapted into a television series, which was broadcast by the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

in 1999.

Plot introduction

Cameron is thirteen and desperately in need of a heart transplant when a pioneering doctor approaches his family with a startling proposal. He can give Cameron a new heart—but not one from a human, one from a pig. It's never been done before. It's experimental, risky and very controversial. But Cameron is fed up with just sitting on the side of life, always watching and never doing. He has to try—to become the world's first.

Television adaptation

Pig Heart Boy was a 1999 six-part BBC television adaption of the novel. It is about a 13 year old boy, Cameron, who desperately needs a heart transplant, and has to accept one from a pig because there are not enough human donors. Cameron has a friend who is shocked when he hears that Cameron is going to have a pig's heart.

The entire series was rerun in the summer of 2005. Pig Heart Boy is one of the few BBC dramas not to be released commercially.