Out of the Blue - Hardcover

Rottman, S. L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1561454990 ISBN 13: 9781561454990

Publisher: Peachtree Pub Co Inc, 2009

Synopsis

"As an Air Force brat, moves were second nature to me. This was my seventh move in fifteen years, and I knew the drill. Usually it was no big deal. But this one was different."
Stu and his mom are heading to Minot, North Dakota, where she will assume command of the Air Force base. But this time it will be just the two of them. His brother is away at college, and their father has abruptly decided to move to Nevada.
With his family now scattered and his mother preoccupied with military duties, Stu finds himself caught between a respect for the regimented life of the military and an aching desire for independence and freedom. As he struggles to find his way, he gets pulled into his neighbors’ dysfunctional family drama and becomes an unwitting participant. When tragedy finally strikes, Stu must come to terms with his own culpability.
Award-winning author S. L. Rottman has crafted an absorbing young adult novel that powerfully depicts the emotional turbulence of teenage life and the difficulty of negotiating complex human relationships.

About this title

About the Author

S. L. Rottman is a former teacher and the author of several young adult novels. A graduate of Colorado State University, Rottman lives in Montana.

Reviews

Grade 5–9—Stuart Ballentyne, 15, keeps everyone around him at a distance. His mother is in the Air Force, which keeps him moving around a lot. He doesn't have time to make friends or lasting connections with people outside of his family. Things are changing in the Ballentyne household, however. Stuart's older brother has gone off to college, and his father is in Nevada taking care of his ailing grandmother and taking a break from Stuart's mom. Since she is busy with her new duties, Stuart finds himself more alone than ever. Billy, an eight-year-old neighbor, does his best to befriend the newcomer. Although Stuart doesn't like the boy tagging along, he can't help but let Billy become part of his new life. As he gets to know the child and his mysterious older stepbrother, Stuart feels that something bad is going on across the street, but he doesn't act on his suspicions. When he finally realizes he should speak up, tragedy strikes. The story offers both a realistic interpretation of teenage life on an Air Force base and the teen's feeling of powerlessness upon witnessing child abuse—both physical and verbal—in action.—Ryan Donovan, New York Public Library END

Fifteen-year-old Stu has lived on several different military bases, but adjusting to Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, where his mom is the new commander, feels particularly difficult, partly because his dad has left the family and his brother is starting college. Things improve after Stu makes friends, but when his mom is unexpectedly deployed, he becomes increasingly entangled with his troubled neighbors, whose eight-year-old son bears the brunt of the family’s problems. Eventually, Stu faces ethical dilemmas and a dramatic situation that results in near-tragic consequences, but he emerges with a renewed sense of responsibility and compassion. Stu is a fully dimensional, sympathetically drawn character whose first-person, diary-style narrative describes the specifics of military-base life, from standard operations to its culture’s varied impact on families (military terms are defined both in context and in an appended glossary). With thought-provoking sensitivity, Rottman explores the universal challenges that come with facing hard choices and navigating relationships in all areas of life. Grades 8-11. --Shelle Rosenfeld

Edition details

• Publisher: Peachtree Pub Co Inc
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1561454990
• ISBN 13: 9781561454990
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 297