Nothing But Blue

July 8, 2013
Jahn-Clough (Me, Penelope) offers a fresh take on the literary device of amnesia in this gripping novel about a teenage girl who embarks on a quest after a disaster. She chooses the name "Blue" for herself as she journeys to a remembered home. Jahn-Clough effectively infuses elements of magical realism into a narrative grounded in the psychology of trauma, as Blue meets a dog she names Shadow who speaks only to her. Flashbacks reveal her former low self-esteem, especially in her ill-considered relationship with a popular boy named Jake, who takes advantage of her naiveté; scenes with Blue's parents illustrate their disappointment at not having a popular, pretty daughter. Blue has moments of terror and desperation during her trek, while also forming brief but powerful connections to those under similar duress. Blue's reward for tackling the painful road to recovered memory is the formation of a triumphant new sense of self. Readers should find this resilient heroine's poetic observations about survival and identity as memorable as the details of her harrowing ordeal. Ages 14âup.

April 1, 2013
An insightful, if not entirely successful, exploration of the effects of trauma on memory and identity. In the powerful opening pages, readers meet a teenage girl who has obviously been through some kind of trauma involving an explosion. Unsure what has happened or even who she is, the girl (eventually going by Blue) feels compelled to just keep moving in the direction she thinks is home, and so she does, eating whatever scraps she can scrounge and sleeping wherever she can find a safe enough bit of space. The chapters that describe her journey are labeled "Now," and they are interspersed with chapters labeled "Before," in which readers gradually learn about Blue's story up until the moment of the explosion, including her foray into the world of dating and sex with the handsome, popular boy down the street and her parents' decision to move across the country. In a strange addition to an offering that seems to be striving for emotional and psychological rawness, Blue meets an apparently magical dog named Shadow who impels people to do Blue favors by mesmerizing them with his eyes. The before-and-after structure ultimately undercuts suspense, as the narrative loses momentum, and readers become weary of waiting for Blue to arrive at answers they've long known. Starts out strong, but ultimately fizzles out. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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May 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-A teenage girl survives an explosion, but her memories are sporadic, and the haunting words, "All dead. No one survived. All Dead" are stuck in her head. She begins walking, trying not to think about the past or the future. Along the road, she adopts the name Blue and a stray dog that refuses to leave her alone. Blue is convinced that she must avoid people. She finds food in Dumpsters and bathes in ponds and public restrooms. Snake, a damaged young man, is one of the few people she interacts with; like her, he is displaced and trying to escape a painful past. He assists Blue in reaching the house in which she grew up, and it is here that she must finally face the reality of her situation. Chapters alternate between Blue's present and what memories she has of her past. But like the rest of the book, the flashbacks are written in first person, a confusing choice considering Blue is supposed to be suffering from memory loss. This would be a minor complaint in an otherwise engaging story if the abrupt conclusion, so lacking in credibility, were not such a disappointment.-Cary Frostick, Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2013
Grades 9-12 A girl walks along a road at dusk, disoriented and confused, seeking a home she barely remembers. Calling herself Blue, she embarks on a harrowing journey, eating from dumpsters, dodging the law, and struggling to piece together who she is and where she came from. Along the way, she encounters people who help and people who hurt, and collects a protective, somehow communicative dog who watches over her, body and soul. The story unfolds in alternating narratives marked Now and Before, and as Blue makes her way back home, we discover the difficulty of her family relationships, the boy who used her and threw her away, and the tragic event that ripped her from her home. With clipped prose of intimate detail and keen insight, Jahn-Clough crafts an authentically adolescent first-person narrative. The reader accompanies Blue on her parallel paths, discovering the truth with her as she reconciles her past and her future. With tight pacing, motley characters, and touches of the spiritual, this is a furious, illuminating adventure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2013
Dissociative and partially amnesiac following an unknown trauma, Blue sets off cross-country to return to the coastal home she remembers. Drifting eastward between towns, she's joined by a stray dog with whom she develops an almost psychic connection. The narrative then begins to alternate between "Now" (Blue's dreamlike journey through the margins of society) and "Before" (flashbacks to the average teen drama that was her life pre-amnesia) -- and Blue repeatedly encounters a news story about a family recently dead in a horrific fire. This is more character study and atmospheric allegory for the grieving process than coherent narrative arc, though the contrast between love interests Jake (in "Before") and Snake (in "Now") makes for some interesting parallels in the dual plot lines. The disorientation of "Now" is palpable, while the shallowness of the "Before" segments, in which Blue rages against her parents' decision to move, is jarring. Readers in it for the amnesia mystery will be disappointed by the slow pace, but those interested in the psychological landscape will appreciate the moments of kindness from strangers, the sympathetic portraits of people who fit best in the margins, and the overall optimistic vision of human nature. claire e. gross

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2013
Dissociative and partially amnesiac following an unknown trauma, Blue sets off cross-country to return to the coastal home she remembers. Readers in it for the amnesia mystery will be disappointed by the slow pace, but those interested in the psychological landscape will appreciate the sympathetic portraits of people who fit best in the margins, and the overall optimistic vision of human nature.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)