Blue Skye - Hardcover

Littke, Lael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0590434489 ISBN 13: 9780590434485

Publisher: Scholastic, 1991

Synopsis

Eleven-year-old Skye, who has spent most of her life on the road with her mother, finally discovers what it is like to have a real home and family when her mother marries and leaves Skye with her grandfather

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Reviews

Grade 4-7-- Skye is used to her mother's secrecy, for Reanna has kept things from her for years. When they end up at her grandfather's farm, Skye is intrigued, but years of being told that questions are "sass" keep her mouth shut, and she is the last to find out that they are there for a wedding--her mother's. Until her mother and her new stepfather drive away, she doesn't see that the nomadic life she has always known has come to an end. Skye is left with a grandfather who is cautious with his love and a hoard of mostly well-intentioned relatives. The irresponsible parent theme is becoming common, and, as usual, a more dependable adult steps in to take the place of the flighty one. Grandpa is an effective character; both his coolness and his warmth are fitting. The background characters are interesting and plausible as well. But Reanna's dishonesty is harder to swallow. Although references to her past shed some light, readers know too little about her life with Skye, and her new husband is but a shadow. Most disconcerting is Skye. Maturity and new understanding are to be expected as she is exposed to new people and new experiences, and security for the first time. But changes do not grow on Skye. Instead, they occur suddenly, jarringly, and are less than convincing. The story is full of emotion but suffers from gaps of both plausibility and momentum. Tallahassee Higgins (Clarion, 1987) by Mary Downing Hahn is a similar, but smoother, more memorable tale. --Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Eleven-year-old Skye and her mother Reanna had always been free spirits, traveling from one town to the next, never settling down, and Skye loved it. When Reanna decides to marry and leaves Skye with her Grandpa, the girl feels abandoned and chained down. Her new "family," consisting of myriad aunts and cousins, seems to think that she'll feel right at home in Idaho, but the only attachments Skye allows herself are to a litter of stray kittens and a tag-along named Jermer Golightly. But when Reanna finally returns, Skye is suddenly reluctant to give up her newfound sense of belonging for the "freedom" of the open road. Lettke's energetic and heartening story introduces dynamic, instantly recognizable characters and an easy, blues-rhythm writing style that envelops the reader during Skye's compelling journey from the strangely insular world of the open road to the expansive and improvisational circle of family life. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Still another book that hinges on a child's abandonment by a flighty mother. Like Mama in MacLachlan's Journey (p. 1013), Reanna indulges her wanderlust, leaving Skye, 11, with Grandpa on the Idaho farm where Reanna grew up. Skye has always traveled with her single mother as she moved from one pickup job to another, but now Reanna has married Bill and the two of them have gone off on motorcycles, ostensibly to research a book about odd place names, without admitting to Skye how long their absence will be. Skye plots to follow them in Reanna's old car, but the battery is dead; while she's contriving to replace it, she adopts a family of kittens, gets to know some great aunts, cousins, and a little boy next door--whose history is rougher than hers, but who now lives with a pleasant, earth-motherly friend--and begins to make an accommodation with her gruff but good-hearted grandfather. When she finally gets the car started, she runs over one of the kittens by mistake; the way everyone rallies round to comfort her helps her decide to stay with Grandpa when Reanna turns up and, ungraciously, agrees to take Skye with her. Skye's story doesn't have Journey's power or its elegant craft (few books do), but it's an accessible, warm-hearted tale about finding a home in an extended family of well-individualized characters. Thoughtful and solidly entertaining. (Fiction. 9-12) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0590434489
• ISBN 13: 9780590434485
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 184