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From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up–This lively novel thoughtfully examines friendships that cross magical boundaries and explores how love can strengthen and save us. On her first day of school in a new town, Imogene meets Maxine, an outcast, and is targeted by a group of popular bullies. The two become friends despite their polar personalities; Imogene is bold and brash where Maxine is mousy and quiet. When Imogene notices a pale boy watching her, she asks about him and learns the story of Ghost–actually Adrian–another outcast who was harassed by cliques, died under mysterious circumstances a few years earlier, and now haunts the school. His only companions are a handful of amoral fairies. He convinces them to show themselves to Imogene, but this draws the soul-sucking anamithim to her, endangering her life and the people she loves. Adrian, Imogene, and Maxine alternate as narrators. Tied together as victims of both the magical world and of everyday tyrants, they are sympathetic characters who speak with sharp, snappy dialogue. As in Nina Kiriki Hoffman's A Stir of Bones (Viking, 2003), the otherworldly threat skillfully mirrors and enhances real-world concerns. This complicated story is made more intricate by the now/then time shifts between chapters. The two popular bullies are stereotypically flat, but the remaining characters are well drawn and delightful. Imogene's brutal choices about where to draw the line between self-protection and becoming like her tormentors are clearly depicted.–Sarah Couri, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Gr. 8-11. Fifteen-year-old Imogene is new at Redding High School, and she's determined not to repeat the mistakes she made at her old school, especially after she meets Maxine, the good-girl friend she's always wanted--and needed. Then Imogene and Maxine encounter Ghost, the school's resident lost soul, and the girls embark on an adventure that moves back and forth between the dangers of the unforgiving high-school environment and a terrifyingly evil netherworld of fairies, supernatural creatures, and anamithim--soul-eaters who are attracted to Imogene's strong personality and who threaten her safety. De Lint's strong characters and riveting plot lines will work for even the most skeptical reader, and Imogene and Maxine are wonderful examples of strong young women faced with a variety of problems that appear to defy solutions--that is, until the girls realize that the simplest, yet most difficult, answer is within their control: bravery in the face of a friend's danger. Frances Bradburn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
It starts with this faint sound that pulls me out of sleep: a sort of calliope music played on an ensemble of toy instruments. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
It starts with this faint sound that pulls me out of sleep: a sort of calliope music played on an ensemble of toy instruments. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
great,
By
Ce commentaire est de: Blue Girl (Hardcover)
this was a really good book. i picked it up on a whim having heard good things about it, and it lived up to its expectations. i was kind of hesitant to get into it because it's about some street tough girl who has a run in with faeries, and i suppose there is a huge potential for this story line to destroy itself with cheesiness. but i was pleasantly surprised at how well it was put together.imogene's a bitingly clever, strong, mature heroine. the book starts with her family moving to a new town and her attending a new school. she was with a rough crowd in her old town and was raised by hippie parents who gave her space to live her life, so as a result she's seen enough of the world to be comfortable with who she is when we meet her and has a kind of inner calm, not getting too caught up with the appearance of things, like social status. so she befriends a solitary girl named maxine. i really enjoyed the beginning of the book, it was full of adventurous energy and i wouldn't have minded if it continued on without any supernatural interference. but she meets a ghost who unintentionally brings her to the attention of some unfriendly faeries. even though faeries are introduced to the story, the mood doesn't go all whimsical and light spirited. this is a great dark faerie tale for teens. imogene tackles all of her problems by herself, which i found refreshing. she didn't go running to her boyfriend or family or friends for help, though she recognizes that they are there for her and her friends don't let her go into trouble by herself, she doesn't cling to them and finds strength within herself. i've read many stories trying to achieve this character or this mood and they always fall short of success. this is one of the few teen books i would recommend to someone without commenting on what i found unsuccessful about it. it was just really well written. i recommend.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Move over Harry Potter,
By
Ce commentaire est de: The Blue Girl (Paperback)
Much more than just a wondrous tale of urban magic and fantasy gone wrong. Never preachy, using the fantastic as allusion and metaphor, the story explores very real themes of teenage angst , the power and beauty of friendship, parenting and self-discovery. All of this packed into a quick moving and pleasantly readable novel makes for a more than a few grins, nods of recognition, and smiles of satisfaction
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars (46 customer reviews) 17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A blue girl and "boo" boy in Newford,
By Tom Knapp "Rambles.NET editor" - Published on Amazon.com
Ce commentaire est de: Blue Girl (Hardcover)
When we meet 17-year-old Imogene, newly moved to Redding High School in Newford, she is not, in any sense of the word, blue. She's fiery, fiesty and free-spirited, a rebellious teen who finds herself shifting back to the tamer style of wild in her new surroundings. A key factor in her transformation is her new best friend, Maxine, whose prim and proper attitude conceals a spark of independence that needs only Imgene's gentle prodding to blossom.But "The Blue Girl," the latest urban fantasy novel by Charles de Lint, is not your average young-adult story of teen angst and the perils of fitting in with a new crowd. Like any new student, Imogene runs afoul of the "beautiful people" who consider themselves superior to the groundling students in their midst. Unlike most students, however, she also encounters a ghost. And that ghost -- Adrian, the miserable remnant of an unhappy student at her school several years before -- has fair-weather friends among the fairies ("when house brownies go bad"). So, when Imogene readily accepts the existence of ghosts but balks at believing in fairies, Adrian decides to prove it to her -- and that brings Imogene to the attention of more malevolent spiritual forces. "The Blue Girl" is a stand-alone story in de Lint's canon of Newford tales, although one recurring Newford character does make a few appearances and a handful of others are mentioned in passing. While the lead characters sometimes suffer from "Dawson's Creek" syndrome -- their vocabularies and mannerisms are a bit more mature than their supposed 17 years -- the book largely reads true. And, to be honest, the elevated maturity of the young protagonists makes the book far more readable to its adult audience while not pushing it past the ken of its younger target crowd. "The Blue Girl" is an excellent starting point for newcomers to Newford, and for long-time fans it's a welcome addition to the Newford mythology. While it's always a pleasure to read about the new adventures of Jilly, Geordie and other Newford regulars, it's a treat to be introduced to new, fully realized characters in this exciting, mystical city. 11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Great Story from Charles DeLint,
By Beth J. Freeman "---Beth---" - Published on Amazon.com
Ce commentaire est de: Blue Girl (Hardcover)
The Blue Girl is another of Charles DeLint's Newford stories. He makes you feel that Newford is a real place and that you would like to visit there, possibly even live there. The author is rather secretive about where Newford is. It could be in Canada or the U. S. I think that adds to the mythic quality of the story.The Blue Girl is about the new girl in town and her problems finding friends and getting harassed just for being different. There are many elements in the story that almost everyone can relate to, the cliques of kids in high school, the feeling of isolation because your different from the other students, and the happiness of finding that special friend who accepts you for who you are. Although many of the regular characters you come to associate with Newford don't appear in the story (Jilly Coppercorn is mentioned. I don't think Charles DeLint could write a Newford story without mentioning her, at least), Christy Riddell appears as that special adult, a person a teenager can confide in. Of course it takes a little while for Imogene, the title character to decide whether Christy is that special adult. Underneath all the universal truths and things we can identify with is that element of the supernatural and other world that permeates Charles DeLint's work. It's part of what makes his stories special. If you've read DeLint's other stories, you'll want to read this one as well, especially if you like the Newford stories. 13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unexpected pleasure!,
By Andi - Published on Amazon.com
Ce commentaire est de: Blue Girl (Hardcover)
I wasn't expecting too much from this, since it is a young adult book, but boy was I wrong! This can be for all ages! De Lint tells a wonderfully detailed and rich story set in his already established world of Newford, but not reliant on it. I'd never read any of his work before and I fell right into it. This is a book about two female high school students who encounter a ghost...who then opens the door to all kinds of things that children hope for, yet fear at the same time. Not exactly women, but not children either, I believe De Lint captures the feeling of being a high schooler very well- at least as I remember it. DeLint also does a very good job of writing the feelings of an overprotected girl- something I'm also very familiar with. Far from being full of sweetness and light, the world of Faerie is very gritty and real in 'The Blue Girl'. I am stoked to have found a new author who is so entertaining and socially relevant. To paraphrase one professional reviewer, "DeLint celebrates fantasy, and instead of using it as an escape, uses it as a vehicle to explore many issues that are relevant for everyday life." If you like books with strong female characters, ghosts, odd otherworldly happenings, and the Fae (not the modern tall ones, but the authentic 'Wee Folk'), this is for you. Heck, even if you don't like any of these things but just enjoy good fantasy- ditto!Go for this one! It's money well spent! (And I dont have alot to spend!) |
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