A Solitary Blue

By: Cynthia Voigt

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

A Newbery Honor-winning installment of Cynthia Voigt’s classic Tillerman series.

Jeff Greene was only seven when he came home from school to find a note from his mother. She felt that the world needed her more than her “grown up” son did.

For someone who believed she could see the world’s problems so clearly, she was blind to the heartache and difficulties she pushed upon her son, leaving him with his reserved, undemonstrative father.

So when, years later, she invites Jeff to spend summers with her in Charleston, Jeff is captivated by her free spirit and warmth, and a happiness he’s been missing fills him. But Jeff's second visit ends with a devastating betrayal and an aching feeling of loneliness. In life, there can be emotional pits so deep that seemingly nothing will grow—but if he digs a little deeper, Jeff might just come out on the other side.

ALA Newbery Honor Book • ALA Notable Children's Books • ILA Teachers' Choices • ALA Best Books For Young Adults • Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults • ILA Young Adults' Choices • Phoenix Award Honor Book • CBC/NCSS • Notable Children's Book in Social Studies • ALA Best of the Best Books for Young Adults • Boston Globe/Horn Book Award Honor Book

©1983 Cynthia Voigt (P)1998 Recorded Books,LLC

Yes!

Wonderful book for young people, she writes for young people with an adult book level of art and emotional complexity but delivers it in a way that is precious to young people. I with I'd read this as a young adult, however Dicey's song which proceeds this was one of the 3 best books of my childhood.

Also this book should be required reading for parents and people who work with children because she really gets at the way that child abuse can play out nonviolently, through neglect; the devastating effect this had on a child, and also how adults can be doing this without realizing that they are.

I enjoy Cynthia Voigt novels because I feel embody the main character in each story

man. it felt like I was reliving my formative years listening to this story. I felt to bad for Jeffy the entire way through like his own isolation was my own

Captivating story

Would you listen to A Solitary Blue again? Why?

Perhaps, but I don't usually reread or re-listen to books.

What other book might you compare A Solitary Blue to and why?

I love how the Tillerman family gets worked into this story as well.

Which scene was your favorite?

When he realized he's chosen some friends, good friends.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The hidden, real story about Jeff Green.

Any additional comments?

Insightful, powerful, yet steady in how a person grows and understands the world around him/her.

Still one of my favorites

Cynthia Voigt does such a beautiful job of capturing the nuances of personalities and tensions in relationship, the difficulty in interpreting deeply felt emotions, the joy of meaningful friendship. The whole series is well worth exploring

Good Book

This was a good book to listen to! I wish they would do audiobooks for the other books in the series!!!