Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord

2010/192 pgs.

About the Book: In order to save their island schoolhouse, families on Bethsaida Island decide to take in foster children. Tess couldn't be more excited-she's hoping her new foster brother will be like Anne of Green Gables and love the island and her family and want to go out on the fishing boat with her. But when Aaron arrives the only thing he has in common with Anne is red hair. Aaron doesn't like the island, he knows nothing about fishing boats, and most days he just wants to be left alone.

But Tess knows a lot about wishing and maybe with more wishing things will turn out the way Tess had hoped.

Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: I was a big fan of Cynthia Lord's debut novel, Rules, so I had high hopes for Touch Blue. While I don't think it's as good as Rules, I still really enjoyed it and I think Ms. Lord is a fantastic storyteller.

I felt like Ms. Lord had looked into my childhood and wrote this book. I was never as superstitious as Tess, but I did my fair share of wishing and coming up with my own ways to figure out if something would work out the way I wanted. Tess's hopes for her foster brother are exactly what I had hoped for as a child. It wasn't until I was older that my family actually started doing foster care, but we talked about it frequently and her hopes of how her new family would be echoed mine own at that age.

Tess has a great voice and she's a humorous and wise narrator. I listended to this one on audio and there are times I think middle grade books can be hard to listen to because the narrator sounds too old for the character. But Erin Moon does a great job bringing Tess to life and her voice is perfect.

At first I felt like things would be a little too perfect and while the story wraps up a little too nicely than I think might be realistic, it's still a great story of family, hope, and growing up.