Bibliographic Citation
Lord, C. (2010). Touch blue. New York: Scholastic Press.
Summary
Touch blue and your wish will come true is what eleven year old Tess thought. Her family lived on an island off the coast of Maine and a foster boy who was thirteen was coming to live with them. Many of the homes on the island were taking in foster children to save their island school. When Aaron arrives he has a hard time adjusting to life on the island. His ability to play the trumpet helps him to become accepted by the community and fit in.
Impressions
I enjoyed this book tremendously. It showed a strong family unit being able to take into their home a boy who had been bounced around from home to home. It was very well written and had strong characters developing the plot of helping Aaron adjust to this new family and life.
Suggestions For Use in a Library
1. Each chapter has a little saying that would be fun to tell each one to use in promoting the book. Different students could tell what it means and what they think might happen in that chapter as an introduction to this book.
2. The family often plays monopoly in this book and on the cover is depicted three of the tokens. What token have you played with in the game of monopoly and which characters do you think will be the ones on the cover and why did they choose that one. Just use this discussion as an introduction to this book.
Reviews
As she did in the Newbery Honor winning Rules, Lord introduces a plucky articulate girl from coastal Maine. When Tess’s best friend’s family moves away and there is no longer enough students to keep her island school open, her family is among those that offer to take in foster children to boost enrollment. Awaiting the arrival of Aaron, her teenage foster brother, Tess—an avid collector of good-luck talismans—is thrilled to find a piece of blue sea glass, since blue is especially lucky. “Touch blue and your wish will come true.” Lord, interlaces themes of loss, luck, superstition, family, and belonging, but at the heart of this tightly woven stories is Tess longing to help Aaron overcome his hurt and anger at having to make him feel like he’s part of her close-knit family. His mother’s unannounced appearance (at Tess’s bold, clandestine invitation) at a talent show in which Aaron plays the trumpet adds tension and pathos to the finale of this stirring novel. Ages 9-13
Touch blue. (2010). Publishers Weekly, 257(31), 53
G 4-7-Tess Brooks, 11, believes in luck, wishes, and superstitions. When the state of Maine threatens to close her Bethsaide Island School because there aren’t enough students, she and her family will be forced to move to the mainland, and Tess loves her island life. Reverend Beal comes up with an idea to expand the school population, and the Brooks family does its part by taking in a 13 year foster child. Tess doesn’t give up hope even though Aaron is unhappy on the island and longs to return to his mother. Tess grows significantly throughout the novel as she learns that things that they still have the capability of working out. Each chapter opens with a different saying that is used in the context of the story, which keeps readers guessing about its significance. They will have an enormous amount of hope as they read Tess and Aaron’s story. It delivers the message that everything happens for a reason, and that sometimes all you need to do is believe.
Webster, R. (2010). Touch blue. School Library Journal, 56(9), 157.
When the Hamiltons and their five children moved off Bethsaida Island, the state of Maine said the school had too few children to make it viable and gave the residents until summer to come up with a solution. Reverend Beal suggested a win/win proposition: Island families could take in foster children. Eleven-year-old Tess Brooks hopes her family's child will be like Anne of Green Gables…but, despite his red hair, 13-year-old Aaron is a sullen, quiet boy who misses the mother he was taken from seven years previously. Tess fears that if Aaron doesn't acclimate, her family--lobsterman dad, teacher mother and Monopoly-mad little sister--will have to move away from everything she loves. But will her secret plan to make Aaron feel at home backfire? Lord's sophomore effort about a Maine island girt with a big heart who pays a bit too much attention to her superstitions and doesn't always make the best decisions will not disappoint fans of her Newbery Honor--winning Rules. Realistic characters, humor and a charming setting make this a great choice for collections of all sizes. (Fiction. 9-12)
Touch blue. (2010). Kirkus Reviews, 78(13), 625.
No comments:
Post a Comment