Touch Blue

Touch Blue
By Cynthia Lord
Scholastic Press, 2010. 192 pages. Juvenile realistic fiction

Eleven-year-old Tess loves her quaint island home. When the government threatens to close their school due to a small student body, Tess is terrified. This would mean having to move to the mainland for her mother to work and for her to attend school. If that happened, she would no longer be able to go lobstering with her father. The town hatches a brilliant plan to increase their school attendance - take in foster kids! Tess's family welcomes a sullen, red-haired musician into their family. Having read many novels dealing with foster kids and orphans, Tess feels relatively prepared for this change in her home. She quickly realizes that real life does not have a storybook ending. Her new foster sibling is not Anne of Green Gables nor is he Gilly Hopkins! A great book about kids having to adapt to changes in their lives whether they be large or small. I loved the literary references and all the good luck/bad luck information.