Ramona Blue

Reviewed by: Elizabeth Andersen - Westbrook High School, Portland, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: July 18, 2017

Review

When Ramona was five, Hurricane Katrina destroyed her family’s home and broke the family apart. Her mother left to start a new life, while Ramona, her father, and her sister remained in the trailer that was supposed to be a temporary home. Now a teenager, Ramona holds down two jobs while going to school. She is saving up for her future, a future which she has little time or ability to contemplate. When a friend from her past, Freddie, returns, he introduces Ramona to swimming, a sport that might make college a possibility, but Freddie also begins to stir up confusing feelings in Ramona, who thought she liked girls. Murphy does an expert job of giving voice to Ramona’s inner world; she takes the reader along on Ramona’s rollercoaster ride of adolescence in a way that instantly makes her feel like an old friend. Murphy does not finish the story with a nice, neat ending. As Ramona and Freddie get ready to leave for college, Ramona’s confusion about her sexual identity is left open which feels true to her character. Fans of Eleanor and Park will enjoy this complex, romantic read, as will fans of Murphy’s earlier novels.

Overall Book Score: excellent