Bluish

Set in New York City, BLUISH is a story of friendship, coping with serious illness, and being different. Interactions between community and family portray Bluish, a fifth-grader returning to school after treatment for leukemia. Her classmates learn to accept her knitted hats, wheelchair, and frequent absences as they confront the reality of her challenges. Although useful in an instructional setting, the story has some heavy-handed messages about human differences and being a friend. Lisa Renee Pitts's fully voiced narration is well paced and generally successful at indicating the various ethnicities of the class. The voice of Bluish herself is high-pitched and trembling, to highlight her illness. L.H. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

Starred review from August 30, 1999
Integrating third-person narrative with entries from fifth-grader Dreenie's journal, Hamilton (Second Cousins) poignantly traces the evolution of an unusual friendship. When she starts a new school, Dreenie feels drawn to a frail classmate named Nathalie, whom everyone calls "Bluish" ("This girl is like moonlight. So pale you see the blue veins all over"). Sitting in her wheelchair, always wearing a cap ("like half a bowl") and carrying a puppy ("Nobody brings a dog to school!"), Bluish at first seems unapproachable, but Dreenie is determined to edge carefully closer. She succeeds at winning the girl's trust while helping to break down the barrier that separates Bluish from the other students. Spare prose expresses each stage of the girls' relationship, which sometimes appears as fragile as Bluish herself. Hamilton effectively weaves in details about Dreenie's Amsterdam Avenue neighborhood in New York, her school and her attention-hungry sidekick, Tulie, adding dimension and solidity to the story. The girl's nickname also introduces an understated exploration of what it means to be different. Readers will come to cherish Dreenie's openheartedness, just as Dreenie comes to cherish her new-found friend. Ages 9-14.

October 1, 2006
Gr 4-7 -Over the course of four weeks in December, three girls form a close, hard-won friendship in this novel by Virginia Hamilton (Blue Sky Press, 1999). Dreenie, a fifth grader in New York City, comes from a loving home with two parents. Tuli, a biracial girl who pretends to be Latina, needs lots of attention and support from Dreenie. And then theres Natalie. The kids in school call her Bluish because her chemotherapy treatments for leukemia have left her with skin so pale that it looks almost blue. Dreenie is cautious about Natalie at first, reacting to her wheelchair and her prickly dislike of being on the receiving end of anyones pity. As Dreenie begins to truly empathize with Bluish, the rest of the class begins to follow. The changes in point of view are somewhat confusing when reading the text, but the recording alleviates this problem. Actress Lisa Renee Pitts ably gives each character her own voice, helping to clarify changes in perspective. Tuli is exaggeratedly Latina, Bluish has a tiny and high voice, and Dreenie sounds like a New Yorker. A well-done audiobook dealing with the themes of differences, independence, friendship, and acceptance.B. Allison Gray, John Jermain Memorial Library, Sag Harbor, NY

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.