Indigo Blue

by Cathy Cassidy

Overview

From the author of "Dizzy" comes a powerful, moving, and tender book about love, family, domestic violence, and feeling blue. With a little sister who's too small to understand, and a mom who's feeling desperate, Indigo's the one who's got to take charge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101006993
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	09/07/2006
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	436 KB
Age Range:	10 Years

About the Author

Cathy Cassidy has been writing ever since she can remember. She went to art school in Liverpool, England, before getting a job as fiction editor at a British teen mag–where she loved every minute of it! Later, she got married and had a big party with fireworks and a chocolate wedding cake, before switching careers to become an art teacher. Several years and two children later, a friend talked Cathy into finishing a children's novel she'd started... and this is the result!

Cathy lives in south-west Scotland with her husband Liam, two children, three cats, two rabbits, and a skinny, hairy dog named Kelpie, who was the model for Leggit in Dizzy. She still teaches art two days a week and writes the problem page for a British teen magazine. You can find out more about Cathy by checking out her website and watch out for her next book, Indigo Blue.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 4-7-Indigo, 11, is a super-responsible kid with a weak, unstable mother. She tries to take care of her toddler sister and to ignore the fights between Mum and her abusive, live-in boyfriend. She attempts to fit in with her more conventional classmates, cope with a strict teacher, and enjoy time with her friend Jo. Life is bearable until Max's bad temper turns physical and Mum flees with the children to a dilapidated basement flat with a dour and suspicious landlady. Things get even more complicated when Jo turns temperamental and tryouts for the school play add a competitive aspect to many of the kids' relationships. For a story filled with problems, this is a surprisingly bright book, with a sympathetic main character and an absorbing plot. The first-person, present-tense narration grounds events with a straightforward immediacy, as does the emphasis on physical details, from nail polish to foods to the smell of mold in the apartment. Yes, Indigo learns to face her feelings rather than hide from them. She also learns the meaning of true friendship. Cassidy seems more committed to telling Indigo's story than hitting readers over the head with a message. A British import with a refreshingly light touch.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Indigo, age 11, hides under the covers and turns the music up, but she can still hear the sounds of her sister Misti crying, her father Max shouting and her mother pleading. Despite Max's apologies, Indigo's mother is determined to leave. While Indigo is at school, she moves them from the cozy house that they called home for three years to a dank and dirty basement apartment across town. Shifting friendships, a lead in the class play and the attention of a cute boy are not enough to distract Indigo from the problems at home. Indigo's mother attempts to make a home for them, but the threat that Max may find them and the pressures of single motherhood are too much for her. As she slides into depression, eventually agreeing to see Max again, Indigo is forced to take care of all of them. Real characters, intelligent dialogue and an energetic plot come together in this engaging story. (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews