Dear Kim,
Ramona Blue is tall.
Ramona Blue is a sister.
Ramona Blue is a survivor.
Ramona Blue has blue hair.
Ramona Blue is questioning.
And maybe those details are enough to
summarize this story, but I loved it too much to stop...
Ramona Blue is Julie Murphy’s third novel to hit the shelves. Much like her Side Effects May Vary
and DUMPLIN’, Murphy inserts us into
the town of her main character.
We know the setting.
We know the friends.
And we intimately know our main character: Ramona Blue.
We know the setting.
We know the friends.
And we intimately know our main character: Ramona Blue.
The central relationship in
the book is between Ramona and her sister Hattie. Both girls dream of
leaving Eulogy, Mississippi after Ramona graduates from high
school. Then Hattie becomes pregnant and her Cinderella dreams are dashed.
While Ramona's own mother is inconsistent at being motherly, and barely contributing to the family, her father has many sweet moments in the
book that make Ramona’s situation feel very familiar to my own. I appreciate
the care Murphy took in bringing such an authentic view of family life to the
page. As she says in the book, “childhood ends and adult life begins the moment
you stop believing your parents can rescue you.”
💙💙💙
Murphy did play with my heart
a bit. The opening scene between Grace and Ramona gave me all the feels. I
wanted Ramona and Grace to step off the page and walk down the beach toward
wedded bliss. (I know I am a HOPELESS romantic.) But the heartbreak of a summer
romance hangs all over the page too.
Murphy had me believing that distance would be what keeps Ramona and Grace apart. (This is familiarity sneaking between my own head and the page. This is the “reading like she knows me” that gets a reader into trouble because Murphy doesn’t know me.) Murphy doesn’t care about my fool heart. She had surprises in store for me—the reader— and Ramona too.
Murphy had me believing that distance would be what keeps Ramona and Grace apart. (This is familiarity sneaking between my own head and the page. This is the “reading like she knows me” that gets a reader into trouble because Murphy doesn’t know me.) Murphy doesn’t care about my fool heart. She had surprises in store for me—the reader— and Ramona too.
I won’t write much about
Ramona and Freddie, several (read thousands) folks have already done so online. (A few to explore: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1844866135, http://meloukhia.net/2017/04/book_review_ramona_blue_by_julie_murphy/, http://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2017/05/26/ramona-blue-sweet-novel-sexual-fluidity/... still looking for a review from a teen of the book.)
Murphy gives Ramona’s experiences a voice, we see a
character explore her roles in an ever changing family. Murphy was successful in
showing that being trapped doesn't always make you scream: “I WANT OUT”. There's
nuance when your family is in need. It isn’t all about you. It is about eating,
and contributing, and the guilt of getting out. But it is also about YOU. The
need to be yourself no matter the outside pressures searing hot against your
neck. This book made me cry—happy tears and big, fat sorrow too.
I look forward to sharing
this book with teens, and to the story Julie Murphy gives us next.
Much love,
Alison
Comments
Post a Comment
Thanks for commenting!