Hmmm...Looks Like I Gotta Move Sundays are for Blogging to Monday! The Blue Girl

Another late edition of Sundays are for Blogging! Maybe will have to rename it Manic Monday Rants and Raves...better idea...maybe I should have Manic Monday (so named after a classic 80's hit by The Bangles)--with mini-reviews of YA books.

I think I will go with Manic Monday Mini Reviews--reviews of books you may have missed these last few years.

I will get on back on Sunday with my Rant and Rave.

MANIC MONDAY MINI-REVIEW...The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint

Synopsis : Kirkus Reviews, September 2004

Readers always know what to expect in a de Lint fantasy: supple, sinuous writing in a contemporary setting laced with fantasy neatly hardwired in place. Set in de Lint's fictional locale of Newford, the first-person narration trades off among three protagonists: Imogene, Maxine, and Adrian. Imogene had been hoping for a fresh start at a new high school after a dangerous past that included sex, drugs, and gangs: she's smart, funny, and knows how to work the odds. Maxine, under her overprotective mother's thumb, follows the rules but longs for just a little freedom. She and Imogene bond right away when their school's head cheerleader marks them for persecution. Adrian is the nerdy ghost of a dork who died at school and can't quite leave yet. Fairies like the evil twins of the wee free men, Imogene's not so imaginary childhood friend Pelly, and a shadow world impinging on this one conjure up satisfying elements of Buffy the Vampire Slayer-there's even a helpful British librarian named Ms. Giles. And yes, the tattooed and pierced Imogene does turn spectacularly blue in one of the many page-turning plot points. (Fantasy. YA)

Quotes:

"Don't forget - no one else sees teh world the way you do, so no one else can tell the stories that you have to tell."

***

"Everybody has a soul." I turn to Pelly. "And that means you, too."

"I'm not so sure of that," he says. "What does it feel like?"

"Having a soul?" I look at Maxine, but she only shrugs. "I don't know," I tell Pelly. "I don't have anything to compare it to- you know, what not having a soul would feel like."

We fall into a kind of awkward silence. I don't know about the others, but I'm working on what a soul is and not coming up with a whole lot. I mean, I just always thought of it as me- what I feel like being me. But surely Pelly feels like himself, so that means he's got a soul right? But if that's not your soul, then what is?

It's weird and not something you really think about, is it?

What do I think...The cover intrigued me while at the same time put me off because I wasn't sure I wanted to read about a fairy that looked like the typical, slightly rebellious teen with a punk look going on. And, although the story caught my attention from the first page, most of the story was a let down. I found myself "fake reading" the rest of it, but nonethelss I know what happens and I was able to find a few things I really enjoyed. To me the best parts are the beginninng and the end. In the first couple pages, the narration captivates the reader through Imogene's description of the fairy tales of our past coming to life in the middle of the night . At the end, I love when Imogene escorts Adrian, the ghost, into the eternal resting place greeted by an elaborite, massive arch. It makes you consider what your celestial future will be.

So, why was it a let down. I'm not sure, but maybe it's because I wanted the rest of it to be as imaginative and lyrical as the beginning. But all in all I crown it 2 Thumbs Up...which means The Book that Begins Strong and Has Some Enticing Elements But Just Isn't My Cup of Hot Chocolate.