Blue by Lou Aronica -- Review and Contest!

From the back cover:

Chris Astor is a man in his early forties who is going through the toughest stretch of his life.


Becky is Chris's fourteen-year-old daughter, a girl who overcame enormous challenges to become a vibrant, vital young woman -- and now faces her greatest obstacle yet.


Miea is the young queen of a fantasy land that Becky and Chris created when Becky was little, a fantasy land that has developed a life of its own and now finds itself in terrible, maybe fatal, trouble.


Together, Chris, Becky, and Miea need to uncover a secret.  The secret to why their worlds have joined at this moment.  The secret to their purpose.  The secret to the future.   It is a secret that, when discovered, will redefine imagination for all of them.

Tamarisk is the imaginary world that Chris and Becky began imagining during a difficult time in her life.  When Chris and Polly (Becky's mother) divorced, Tamarisk was abandoned.  Becky begins to feel drawn back to Tamarisk and as she and Chris learn more about the blight affecting the crops there, they also, with Miea's help, begin to suspect that there is a way to save both Becky and Tamarisk at the same time.  So much to say about the way Aronica develops this story, but I don't want to give too much away!

Blue is making the rounds of other book blogs right now and I am interested to see what others have to say.  I wasn't sure what to make about one part of the storyline -- it might take a re-read for me to see more of the connections between Chris and Becky's world, Miea's world, and the observer (and perhaps orchestrator?) we read about in a few sparse sections of the book. 

A few random thoughts:

When Becky and her dad were instant-messaging I felt like Aronica did an excellent job of showing the subtle differences between the way a fourteen-year-old uses IM and the way her father uses the same technology -- it added to the believability/authenticity of the conversation.

I read Blue about four months after separating from my husband and so that part of the book felt especially poignant.  The reader learns a lot about Becky's feelings regarding her parents' divorce and also hears quite a bit from Chris's point of view. We don't hear as much from Polly, Becky's mother, and I think that it was good for me to have a chance to think more about the father's viewpoint.

Chris is thinking about Becky growing up -- such a bittersweet description:

When your child is born, each of her accomplishments seem to supersede the one before, and each makes you feel increasingly connected to her.  Simple biological need gives way to interaction, which gives way to meaningful conversation, and so on.  The relationship deepens with each stage.  At some point, though, you reach the top of the curve.  Your child continues to grow, to become a fuller and more substantial human being, but your association with these events become more distant.  She has meaningful conversations with her friends instead of you.  She learns critical life lessons away from the house.  She interacts more fully with the world and considerably less with you.  She looks to her future and sees a place where you are something just slightly more elevated than a number on her speed dial. Of course, if you are divorced from her mother . . . you descend the downside of the curve even faster.  (page 179)

All in all, a unique fantasy plot that includes so much real life as well.

CONTEST!!!

How often do you hear about something that sounds too good to be true? Well, I am here to offer 10 lucky winners the opportunity of a lifetime.

New York Times bestselling co-author, novelist, and former Publisher of Avon Books and Berkley Books, Lou Aronica has created a unique and exciting offer to anyone that is going to follow his upcoming book tour with Pump Up Your Book. His extensive experience in the publishing and editing fields has given him insight into an industry that continues to grow and change daily. Once again, that insight has led him to offer a contest that is truly special in so many ways. Lou will be accepting story pitches from followers of his blog tour. These story pitches must be for short stories pertaining to the fantasy world of his novel, “Blue.” This contest will allow 10 lucky people the opportunity of a lifetime, the chance to have their story published in an upcoming companion anthology to “Blue.” Lou will hand pick the winners, edit their stories, include them in the anthology and give them a pro-rated share of the royalties. How can you pass up an opportunity like this?

Now for the details:

The pitch should include a synopsis of the proposed story and a sample of the submitting author’s fiction writing. Specify the expected length of the story.

The pitch needs to be submitted by April 16, 2011
 
Please email your submission to Lou at laronica@fictionstudio.com

All winners will be notified by email by May 27, 2011.