Thursday, May 5, 2011

Blue by Lou Aronica

I found Blue by looking at the top-selling fantasy ebooks on Amazon. When I started it, I thought it might have been miscategorized. It follows the story of Becky, a 14 year old survivor of childhood leukemia and her father, who struggles to re-bond with his daughter after her mother divorced him. However, it is definitely a fantasy. To help Becky deal with her illness, she and her father created a make-believe world called Tamarisk and spent the evenings making up stories about it. As Becky grew older, they stopped creating stories, but one night, Becky is transported to Tamarisk and realizes it isn't quite as make-believe as she thought.

This book was very emotional and I very nearly cried as I read it on an airplane (don't worry - I managed to hold back the tears and avoid a very awkward situation!). The story deeply resonated with me, as I'm sure it does with many others. It has an average of 4.3 stars on Amazon, and it's only $2.39 on the Kindle. I highly recommend it for daughters, fathers, and anyone with an imagination who has ever imagined another world.