Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Calkins Creek Books (2006), Hardcover, 197 pages
Description
When teenager Ann Fay takes over as "man of the house" for her absent soldier father, she struggles to keep the family and herself together in the face of personal tragedy and the 1940s polio epidemic in North Carolina.
User reviews
LibraryThing member BookishDame
"Blue" is a lovely, extraordinary small book that is both heart-warming and historical. Written about the Great Hickory, NC Polio Epidemic of 1944, during WWII, the story involves a sweet, naive family whose father has gone off to war and who are left to carry on in a harsh and inprotected
The eldest daughter, Ann Fay, is given a set of overalls and instructions by her dad to be the "man of the house" while he's away...a daunting task for any child. It is Ann Fay who takes on the burden of guilt when her baby brother is struck down with polio, and when she is also taken with polio and removed from her family responsibilities.
Blue" has won a bushelful of impressive awards for children's literature. It is a very special book. However, its beauty makes it a most worthy read for adults and those who enjoy YA fiction, as well.
Having a mother who was a polio patient in Hickory, NC, during this same epidemic in 1944, made me especially interested in this book! Although it's a fiction novel, Ms Hostetter recounts the particulars of the disease, the hospital-like facilities, and the therapies as my own mother recalls them. So, there is much truth to her fiction.
The book is also a moral tale. So much of the simple values and morality of a common way of living in the South are protrayed in "Blue." The faith that uplifts all of her friends and relatives in Ann Fay's community are deeply moving. These values and the quiet, simple ways of living still linger in this region of NC, today.
I recommend this book without reservation to those who love a historic novel, YA fiction, and all readers of medical history.
Show More
environment for which they are ill-equipped. They are a little band made up of a young mother, a 13 yr. old, twin elementary school aged little girls and a pre-school aged boy. All of this little family live mostly on the land, have very little meat, and they can wild berries and their own garden vegetables for the winter. The eldest daughter, Ann Fay, is given a set of overalls and instructions by her dad to be the "man of the house" while he's away...a daunting task for any child. It is Ann Fay who takes on the burden of guilt when her baby brother is struck down with polio, and when she is also taken with polio and removed from her family responsibilities.
Blue" has won a bushelful of impressive awards for children's literature. It is a very special book. However, its beauty makes it a most worthy read for adults and those who enjoy YA fiction, as well.
Having a mother who was a polio patient in Hickory, NC, during this same epidemic in 1944, made me especially interested in this book! Although it's a fiction novel, Ms Hostetter recounts the particulars of the disease, the hospital-like facilities, and the therapies as my own mother recalls them. So, there is much truth to her fiction.
The book is also a moral tale. So much of the simple values and morality of a common way of living in the South are protrayed in "Blue." The faith that uplifts all of her friends and relatives in Ann Fay's community are deeply moving. These values and the quiet, simple ways of living still linger in this region of NC, today.
I recommend this book without reservation to those who love a historic novel, YA fiction, and all readers of medical history.
Show Less
LibraryThing member fingerpost
Ann Fay is left to be the "man of the house" when her father goes off to fight in World War II. She lives just outside of Hickory, N.C., and during the summer, a dreadful polio epidemic hits the western portion of the state, with Hickory as it's focal point. The book rather smoothly covers a wide
*The Miracle of Hickory is the hospital setting of large portions of the book, and is real. When the epidemic hit, the people of Hickory came together and in three days built a temporary hospital which at it's peak had over 200 patients.
Show More
variety of issues... war, polio epidemic, and racial relations of the era being the main three. First Ann Fay's little brother comes down with polio and is taken off to the temporary hospital set up in Hickory*. Later Ann Fay herself comes down with the disease, and ends up meeting the first black girl she's ever encountered personally as a fellow patient in the contagious ward of the hospital. *The Miracle of Hickory is the hospital setting of large portions of the book, and is real. When the epidemic hit, the people of Hickory came together and in three days built a temporary hospital which at it's peak had over 200 patients.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jothebookgirl
This is an absolutely wonderful book. I fell in love with
Awards
Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award (Nominee — 2009)
NCSLMA Battle of the Books (Elementary — 2018)
Virginia Readers' Choice (Nominee — Middle School — 2009)
North Carolina Book Awards (Winner — Youth Literature — 2006)
South Carolina Book Awards (Nominee — Junior Book Award — 2009)
Great Reads from Great Places (North Carolina — 2007)
Original publication date
2006
Physical description
197 p.; 8.62 inches
ISBN
1590783891 / 9781590783894