A Solitary Blue

Wow, what a powerful story. Jeff is such a quiet, "make no trouble" kind of kid and this story is told in that same kind of quiet way. But the emotional impact of his story is huge. I keep thinking about how parents shape the emotional lives of their children and how very easy it is to completely mess it up when the motives of the adult are centered on themselves rather than on their kids. One of the most interesting things about this story came at the end when Jeff's story intersected with Dicey's and I realized who Jeff was. In Dicey's Song I saw Jeff as this regular boy who had the maturity to be patient with Dicey's volatile nature. Through his eyes I realize he is just as hurt in his way as she is in hers. Changes my perspective show more entirely. show less

A favorite from childhood that I just have to reread every once in a while. The characterization is amazingly deft without ever bogging the reader down in navel-gazing. Great coming-of-age stuff, and particularly good at portraying an emotionally troubled childhood which works out okay. I especially love the way the novel gives space for each of its characters to become and be exactly who they are meant to be.

One of those exemplary books that, after closing the last page, makes you just sit and think and feel what you just experienced.

It is a journey through a young boy's life learning to hope and love, getting heartbroken, and healing. It is an up and down journey that I was invested in from page one and with Jeff every second of the way. Voigt has a singular gift for showing Jeff's thought processes, internalizations, and motivations in a raw but completely believable, realistic manner that latches the reader into it so that they grow over the years along with the character. It is that gift that differentiates this book from other similarly themed books.

It is a book about the importance of communication (not just verbal, but knowing the show more styles of the people you're around, respecting them, interpreting them, and using your words when you aren't sure). The relationship between Jeff and his father is very understated, but there are moments of such momentous impact because of that that show, in the most incredibly meaningful way possible, what they mean to each other.

It is a book about a young boy learning what love and family mean despite not having the best role models for it. It is a book about him going through grief and pain and loss and lack of self-worth (I remind you, the reader is RIGHT THERE WITH HIM every step of the way) to ultimately find a balance and happiness within himself, and what those states even mean in a healthy way.

The writing in this book takes on the perfect tone and focus for Jeff as he grows up, maturing as he does, showing between the lines versus telling so that readers understand the dynamics between the adults in his life even if he's too young to understand them himself. The characters take on so many important roles, like what Jeff learns about family from the Tillermans, and like Jeff's mother being his foil, antagonist, a force that pulls him in and pushes him away, that he has to navigate sometimes at odds with his own desires, all at the same time until that final line of the book when we see how much he's grown and she hasn't.

This book is on par with Rilla of Ingleside as far as how phenomenal the journey and its deeply satisfying, hopeful, promising end are.

Although it's useful to have read the first two books in the series to fully understand the Tillerman family when they come into play later in the book, it's not necessary so you can definitely start with this book. I cannot recommend it strongly enough. show less

This is another of those books that I come back to as a "comfort food" every few years.

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“A Solitary Blue” is a companion novel to “Dicey’s Song,” Cynthia Voigt’s most well known work. It follows the childhood and coming of age of Jeff Greene, a young boy abandoned by his mother and left to live with his father, an emotionally distant professor.

Jeff is a somber, responsible young boy, and growing up without a mother, becomes only more so as he reaches adolescence and rarely interacts with his father. One day, his mother, Melody, contacts them and asks Jeff to come visit her for the summer. Over the course of the summer, Jeff falls in love with his mother, hoping and wishing that she will ask him to show more stay with her permanently, but at the end of the season, he is sent back home to his father. Over the next few years, Jeff begins to realize how Melody has manipulated them, and slowly begins to communicate and develop a relationship with his father.

As with many older books, the plot is somewhat slow but rich — Voigt captures Jeff’s introspective manner and thinking, and beautifully describes the places where he lives and passes through. Towards the end of the book, the events overlap with those of “Dicey’s Song,” so readers are introduced to Dicey and Mina from Jeff’s perspective. This book has a similar feel to some of Madeleline L’Engle’s works, though the settings and issues addressed are different. show less

This is actually my favorite book in the Tillerman story. It follows the story of Jeff, Dicey Tillerman's friend/boyfriend, from his childhood right up to about the time he meets the Tillermans. I liked Jeff from Dicey's Song, but seeing the story from his perspective was incredible. I felt so sorry for the sad little boy whose mother keeps breaking his heart. His journey tugs at my heart strings and elicits a satisfied sigh at the end.

Read for Newbery club. Took me awhile to get into it, until I got to know the characters better and realized that Melody is very much like my middle son's girlfriend, and that in some ways I am very much like the Professor.

I'm particularly disturbed by Melody's r'ship w/ Max, though. He responds to a friendly question from her with "Don't be any dumber than you can help" and is awful in so many other ways, and she claims to be a feminist. I know that there were women like this, but in 1983? It's not only the teacher who has an 'arrested emotional development' problem.

"It was when you got confident you got taken by surprise and really banged around."

I was disappointed in Voight for using 'soothe the savage beast' not only inaccurately show more (breast) but inappropriately. The Professor said it, and he would not have done so in that context.

I'm not sure just exactly how I feel about kids reading adult books, but I do know people who missed a lot of the value of children's lit because they were too ambitious. So I appreciate the Professor telling the kid "... there's more to it than just brains, or just being able to read the words. You have to be able to read the ideas, too."

Overall, very good book, glad I had the group push to read it. I would not have liked it when I was a teen, but I know a lot of people did. You might, too. And, btw, this definitely can stand alone. show less

Jeff's mother leaves him and his dad when he was a young boy. As Jeff grows up, he learns to be silent and invisible. He doesn't stay that way. As he learns about his parents, he learns about himself and how he is going to navigate life. I own most of the Newbery Award winners, and many of the Newbery Honor winners. Not all of the books compel me to read and reread and ponder after I'm done, but this one does. I liked a Solitary Blue even better than the Newbery Medal winning Dicey's Song. I suspect I liked Jeff from Dicey's Song, and my interest was piqued enough to be fascinated as Voigt tells his story. Voigt develops Jeff's character so well that the book is one of the few that leaves me feeling as though I really have gained an show more understanding of a real person. So, I have read it again and again, every time finishing with the same emotionally full response. show less