Touch Blue

Locations
Call Number: Y Fiction / Lord, Cynthia
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	Y Fiction / Lord, Cynthia	4-week checkout	On Shelf

When the state of Maine threatens to shut down their island's one-room schoolhouse because of dwindling enrollment, eleven-year-old Tess, a strong believer in luck, and her family take in a trumpet-playing foster child, to increase the school's population.

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Touching story (pun intended) submitted by klickitat on August 6, 2012, 9:32am Tess Brooks lives on a small island off the coast of Maine. She really hopes the island's school doesn't close due to low enrollment because her mom's the teacher and if the school closes Tess's family will have to move to the mainland. In an attempt to keep their school open, several island families, including the Brooks, take in foster children to increase the number of students. Aaron, Tess's new foster brother, is not at all what she expected. For one thing, he hates life on the island and is determined to leave as soon as possible, which would place Tess's future in jeopardy all over again.

This is a touching story about a family trying to navigate life's challenges the best they can. Although peace is achieved by the novel's end, no easy answers are provided. One of the book's strengths is Tess's voice. She's an appealing heroine who soon feels like an old friend. On the other hand, Lord's reliance on a one-dimensional, stock bully character as a plot catalyst mars the novel. Touch Blue's unique premise and brief page count should appeal to late elementary and early middle grade readers.

Ok submitted by Satvika on July 24, 2019, 8:09pm This is not Cynthia Lord's best book, but it is still really good.