Dear Blue Sky

Last updated
Dear Blue Sky
Dear Blue Sky Book Cover.jpg
First Edition
AuthorMary Sullivan
Cover artistKristin Smith, Shutterstock
Country United States
Language English
GenreChildren's Fiction
Set inThe United States, 2006-2007
Publisher Puffin Books, Nancy Paulsen Books
Publication date
2012
Media typePrint
Pages248
ISBN 978-0-14-242667-8

Dear Blue Sky is a 2012 American novel written by Mary Sullivan, the receiver of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award and a St. Botolph Club Foundation Award. The story is split into short chapters, and told in the perspective of Cassie, an American girl whose brother volunteered to fight in the Iraq War. This book is recommended for ages 10 and up.

Contents

Dear Blue Sky has been nominated for the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award. [1]

Plot

The story begins the Saturday before Cassie's brother, Sef, leaves for Iraq. [2]

After a party, Sef leaves the following day. The family falls apart: Cassie is lost in memories, their mother is severely frightened, Cassie's sister Van is drinking alcohol, and Cassie's little brother, Jack, misses Sef greatly. [3]

During a school project, Cassie coincidentally sees the blog of a 13-year-old Iraq girl nicknamed Blue Sky. Blue Sky describes life in Iraq during the war from her perspective. She explains the environment and the casualties and expresses her feelings and opinions. Cassie begins to question her own thoughts about the war. Cassie and Blue Sky become pen pals and write to each other via email, gradually learning more about life in another part of the world. [4]

One day, Jack gets beaten up by the neighbors' son, Ben. Ben threatens that if Jack says anything, Sef will not come home. Jack stops speaking to everyone. [5]

Cassie learns to be the courageous "Supergirl" Blue Sky is. [6] Unfortunately, Blue Sky has to leave home and move to another country: because her father works for the U.S as a translator, Blue Sky's whole family is in danger. [7]

Soon, the next time Sef calls, Jack starts talking again. [8] However, Sef explains to Cassie that he has to extend his term in Iraq in the next email. [9]

The story ends with Van, Jack, and Cassie playing happily at the beach. The fate of Sef is unknown. [10]

Reception

Critical reception was mostly positive. Dear Blue Sky has received reviews from the Horn Book , Publishers Weekly , Booklist , Kirkus Reviews , Great Kid Books, Linsworth Publishing Company Reviews, Bookpage, and The New York Times reviews. [11] Publishers Weekly wrote that "author Sullivan (Ship Sooner) effectively sketches Cassie's growing confusion as she learns more and cultivates a more balanced view of the war while making new friends and resolving her own conflicts. Sullivan doesn't sugarcoat how hard things are for Cassie's family on the home front, yet captures the resilience and hope that keep them going." [12] Two reviews from the Horn Book stated "Sullivan gets it right". [13] Kirkus commented "Cassie's first-person narration effectively captures the messiness of life in a loving family when outside-world events intervene." [14] Linsworth Publishing Company Reviews recommended this book to "readers who are interested in family dynamics and who understand what it's like to send a loved one to war". The reviewer at Great Kid Books said she is "definitely looking forward to sharing Dear Blue Sky with my students this fall". [15] Bookpage praised "Award-winning author Mary Sullivan has written a novel for young readers that is both timely and timeless". [16] Booklist praised that Sullivan's fully dimensional characters brought de

pth to the story, but also complained about "the lack of resolution". [17]

The novel has also been reviewed by various authors, including Vanessa Diffenbaugh, David Mamet, Leah Hager Cohen, Julianna Baggott, Laura Harrington, and Danica Novgorodoff. David Mamet, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, praised "Ms Sullivan's book is bold and lovingly written. Writing for those who are both young and adult, she has come down on the gratifying side of the balance." Leah Cohen stated that "Mary Sullivan takes complex subjects—war, loyalty, bullying, friendship—and honors their complexity in lucid, fast-paced, effortless-seeming prose." Julianna Baggott said "Dear Blue Sky is a poignantly realistic look at the effects of war". [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meg Tilly</span> American-Canadian actress, writer (born 1960)

Meg Tilly is a Canadian-American actress and writer.

Mary Engelbreit is an artist whose illustrations have been printed in books, cards and calendars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T. V. Padma</span> American writer

Padma Tiruponithura Venkatraman, also known as T. V. Padma, is an Indian-American author and scientist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Lyga</span> American writer

Barry Lyga is an American young adult novelist and short story writer. He lives in New York. Lyga majored in English at Yale receiving his BA in 1993. He then spent ten years working at Diamond Comic Distributors after having spent his teenage years immersed in comic books. During this period, Lyga had seen his short stories published. His book Archvillain was released in October 2013. and I Hunt Killers was released in March 2012.

Elizabeth Winthrop is an American writer, the author of more than sixty published books, primarily children's fiction.

Daisy Whitney is an American young adult fiction author and multimedia reporter. Her novels include The Mockingbirds, The Rivals, When You Were Here, Starry Nights, and The Fire Artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson Pearce</span> American author (born 1984)

Jackson Pearce is an American author. She writes young adult fiction and also publishes as J. Nelle Patrick.

Lynn Joseph is an author of children's books and an American lawyer. Her novella The Color of My Words won an Américas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature and a Jane Addams Children's Book Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julianna Baggott</span> American poet

Julianna Baggott is a novelist, essayist, and poet who also writes under the pen names Bridget Asher and N.E. Bode. She is an associate professor at Florida State University's College of Motion Picture Arts. She is a 2013 recipient of the Alex Awards.

Hannah Moskowitz is an American author of young adult and middle grade novels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christina Lauren</span> American writing duo

Christina Lauren, the combined pen name of Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, is an American author duo of contemporary fiction, teen fiction and romance novels.

<i>The History of Us</i>

The History of Us is a 2013 novel by Leah Stewart. The book released on January 8, 2013, through Touchstone Books and concerns three siblings who must review both their past and their relationship with each other after their aunt plans to sell their childhood home. Stewart began writing the book due to an interest in the "dynamic between coming to see what’s good about the place where you are living and continuing to feel like you’ve been displaced from where you should be".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirstin Cronn-Mills</span> American author of childrens books

Kirstin Cronn-Mills is an American author of children's books including the Minnesota Book Award finalist The Sky Always Hears Me And the Hills Don't Mind (2009) and Beautiful Music for Ugly Children (2012) which was a Stonewall Book Award winner and a Lambda Literary Award finalist. Her third novel, Original Fake (2016), was a Minnesota Book Award finalist in 2017, along with her third nonfiction volume for high school libraries, LGBTQ+ Athletes Claim the Field. Her fourth novel, Wreck, will be published in 2019.

Darcy S. Pattison is an American writer of fiction and nonfiction children’s literature, a blogger, writing teacher, and indie publisher. Her books have been translated into nine languages. Although she is best known for her work in children’s literature, she is also a writing teacher traveling across the nation presenting her Novel Revision Retreat. She has been featured as a writer and writing teacher in prestigious publications such as Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies, and 2012 Writer's Market. Pattison is also an independent publisher of ebooks for adults in the educational market.

Elvira Woodruff is an American children's writer known for books that include elements of fantasy and history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Holland (author)</span> British writer and broadcaster

James Holland is an English historian, author and broadcaster, who specialises in the history of the Second World War.

<i>Weedflower</i> 2006 childrens novel by Cynthia Kadohata

Weedflower is a 2006 American children's historical novel by Cynthia Kadohata, the author of the award-winning Kira-Kira. The cover photography of the first edition is by Kamil Vojnar. The story is set in the United States during World War II and told from the perspective of 12-year-old Japanese-American Sumiko. A 6.5-hour-long audiobook version of Weedflower, read by Kimberly Farr, has been published.

Brandy Colbert is an American author of young adult fiction and nonfiction.

Susan Meissner is an American author, columnist, and the former editor of a weekly newspaper.

<i>Courage Has No Color</i> 2013 nonfiction book by Tanya Lee Stone

Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers is a nonfiction book geared toward children, written by Tanya Lee Stone and published January 22, 2013 by Candlewick Press. The book tells the story of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, nicknamed The Triple Nickles, an all-Black airborne unit of the United States Army during World War II.

References

  1. ↑ "Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award". www.dollygrayaward.com. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
  2. ↑ Sullivan, Mary (2013). Dear Blue Sky. Puffin Books. p. 1. ISBN   978-0-14-242667-8.
  3. ↑ Sullivan, Mary (2013). Dear Blue Sky. Puffin Books. pp. 2–61. ISBN   978-0-14-242667-8.
  4. ↑ Sullivan, Mary (2013). Dear Blue Sky. Puffin Books. pp. 63–116. ISBN   978-0-14-242667-8.
  5. ↑ Sullivan, Mary (2013). "21.Purple Heart". Dear Blue Sky. Puffin Books. pp. 117–120. ISBN   978-0-14-242667-8.
  6. ↑ Sullivan, Mary (2013). "28.Supergirl". Dear Blue Sky. Puffin Books. pp. 147–150. ISBN   978-0-14-242667-8.
  7. ↑ Sullivan, Mary (2013). Dear Blue Sky. Puffin Books. pp. 160–222. ISBN   978-0-14-242667-8.
  8. ↑ Sullivan, Mary (2013). "43.The Letting Go". Dear Blue Sky. Puffin Books. pp. 223–226. ISBN   978-0-14-242667-8.
  9. ↑ Sullivan, Mary (2013). "46.Ghosts". Dear Blue Sky. Puffin Books. pp. 237–238. ISBN   978-0-14-242667-8.
  10. ↑ Sullivan, Mary (2013). "48.Every Last Thing". Dear Blue Sky. Puffin Books. pp. 245–248. ISBN   978-0-14-242667-8.
  11. ↑ "The New York Times Review: The Second Life of Abigail Walker, Dear Blue Sky". Maria Russo, 2012 The New York Times Company. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "Publishers Weekly review: Dear Blue Sky". PWxyz, LLC. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  13. ↑ "Dear Blue Sky (reviews)". Robin l. Smith, Media Source Book Verdict 2012. 1 July 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "Kirkus Review: Dear Blue Sky". 30 May 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  15. ↑ "Great Kid Books Review: Dear Blue Sky by Mary Sullivan". 2012 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books. 9 September 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  16. ↑ "Bookpage review: Dear Blue Sky-when a brother goes to war". Jennifer Bruer Kitchel, 1996-2014 Bookpage and ProMotion, Inc. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  17. ↑ Booklist Online: Dear Blue Sky. 2014 Booklist Publications. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  18. ↑ "Dear Blue Sky Official Page". 2012, Mary Sullivan. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.