Bluefish

August 1, 2011

A young teen loner gradually learns to accept the friendship of an outspoken girl in this problem novel filled with likable, idiosyncratic characters.

Travis is filled with sullen resentment toward his recovering alcoholic grandfather, who moved them away from their old house despite Travis's devastation having to leave behind his lost dog, Rosco. At his new school, Travis is surprised to land on the radar of confident, kind Velveeta, and he increasingly looks forward to her friendly overtures each day, even as he worries that she might discover a secret of which he's deeply ashamed. In the meantime, Velveeta struggles with family trouble of her own and with the loss of a dear friend. A cast of richly developed characters peoples this work of contemporary fiction, told in the third person from Travis' point of view, with first-person vignettes from Velveeta's perspective peppered throughout. An ongoing reference to Markus Zusak's The Book Thief (2006) serves the themes of this novel well. Both teens have adults outside of their families whom they are able to trust, but at times these adults feel a little too heart-of-gold idealized--sadly, it's somehow hard to picture a public librarian actually giving a key to the building to a kid whose home isn't a safe place. Fortunately, these clichéd moments are brief.

A story rife with unusual honesty and hope. (Fiction. 12-16)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2012
Eighth-graders Travis and Vida ("Velveeta") are hurting from losses in their lives: Travis's beloved dog has disappeared and his alcoholic grandfather has summarily moved them from their old house; Velveeta's friend and mentor has just died. Schmatz eloquently brings two ordinary young people to life on the page. The book is powerful: unique and original, believable and poignant.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from November 1, 2011
"Stupid bluefish" Travis Roberts finds "lowlife trailer-trash loser" Vida "Velveeta" Wojciehowski in a lovely, understated book that celebrates the possibility of a kind and humane friendship between an eighth-grade girl and boy. Travis and Velveeta meet while both are hurting from losses in their lives: Travis's beloved dog has disappeared and his alcoholic grandfather has summarily moved them from their old house; Velveeta's friend and mentor Calvin, who introduced her to the world of books and old movies and offered her sanctuary from her unhappy home life, has just died. They both have weighty secrets to protect. Like two lonely planets in a tentative gravitational pull, they spiral toward each other. Travis's story is told in third person, each chapter followed by a first-person narrative by Velveeta, and it's a testament to Schmatz's craft that she so eloquently brings two ordinary young people to life on the page, rooting the novel in subtleties that make all the difference -- Travis's pretty eyes "full of words," his "shadow smile," the gestures of a boy and a girl discovering ways to be themselves in the world. With allusions to To Kill a Mockingbird and Marcus Zusak's The Book Thief, this novel is also an ode to the significance of reading in the lives of young people and to a teacher who knows the power literature can wield. Unique and original, believable and poignant, this is a book with power of its own. dean schneider

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2011
"Stupid bluefish" Travis Roberts finds "lowlife trailer-trash loser" Vida "Velveeta" Wojciehowski in a lovely, understated book that celebrates the possibility of a kind and humane friendship between an eighth-grade girl and boy. Travis and Velveeta meet while both are hurting from losses in their lives: Travis's beloved dog has disappeared and his alcoholic grandfather has summarily moved them from their old house; Velveeta's friend and mentor Calvin, who introduced her to the world of books and old movies and offered her sanctuary from her unhappy home life, has just died. They both have weighty secrets to protect. Like two lonely planets in a tentative gravitational pull, they spiral toward each other. Travis's story is told in third person, each chapter followed by a first-person narrative by Velveeta, and it's a testament to Schmatz's craft that she so eloquently brings two ordinary young people to life on the page, rooting the novel in subtleties that make all the difference -- Travis's pretty eyes "full of words," his "shadow smile," the gestures of a boy and a girl discovering ways to be themselves in the world. With allusions to To Kill a Mockingbird and Marcus Zusak's The Book Thief, this novel is also an ode to the significance of reading in the lives of young people and to a teacher who knows the power literature can wield. Unique and original, believable and poignant, this is a book with power of its own. dean schneider

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

August 1, 2011

A young teen loner gradually learns to accept the friendship of an outspoken girl in this problem novel filled with likable, idiosyncratic characters.

Travis is filled with sullen resentment toward his recovering alcoholic grandfather, who moved them away from their old house despite Travis's devastation having to leave behind his lost dog, Rosco. At his new school, Travis is surprised to land on the radar of confident, kind Velveeta, and he increasingly looks forward to her friendly overtures each day, even as he worries that she might discover a secret of which he's deeply ashamed. In the meantime, Velveeta struggles with family trouble of her own and with the loss of a dear friend. A cast of richly developed characters peoples this work of contemporary fiction, told in the third person from Travis' point of view, with first-person vignettes from Velveeta's perspective peppered throughout. An ongoing reference to Markus Zusak's The Book Thief (2006) serves the themes of this novel well. Both teens have adults outside of their families whom they are able to trust, but at times these adults feel a little too heart-of-gold idealized--sadly, it's somehow hard to picture a public librarian actually giving a key to the building to a kid whose home isn't a safe place. Fortunately, these clich�d moments are brief.

A story rife with unusual honesty and hope. (Fiction. 12-16)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from December 1, 2011

Gr 7-9-Eighth-grader Travis, tall and quiet, is beginning his first year in a new school. When he helps out a student being bullied, this rare act of middle-school kindness impresses an unusual, witty, and talkative girl named Vida-or Velveeta, as she prefers to be called. She befriends the strong-but-silent newcomer and tries to plumb his mysterious depths-and maybe grub a free dessert or two during lunch. Velveeta and Travis have the same reading class, where compassionate Mr. McQueen quickly recognizes that Travis has a serious reading deficit and suggests that he visit him for extra tutoring. Velveeta soon guesses what Travis is doing in these early-morning sessions and offers to help him. Eventually, he reluctantly agrees. But Travis's reading problem is only one of the deeper secrets that this unlikely pair will gradually begin to share. Despite the weighty problems the characters face-grief, alcoholism, and bullying among them-Bluefish is a lively, often-humorous, and ultimately hopeful page-turner. It has all the hallmarks of a classic contemporary young adult issues novel. It's packed with memorable and believable characters and powered by the prospect of redemption and just a hint of romance.-Jeffrey Hastings, Highlander Way Middle School, Howell, MI

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.