Touch Blue

Tess lives on an island off the coast of Maine, and she can't imagine any other life than hers, going to the one room schoolhouse where her mother teacher and fishing lobster with her father. But year-round islanders have been moving to the mainland, leaving fewer and fewer kids on the island. To

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keep their school from closing, a few families decide to take in foster kids, keeping the numbers up enough to satisfy the state. Aaron comes to live with Tess, her sister Libby, and their parents. Tess and Libby imagine what it might be like to have Aaron live with him, but neither of them expect what actually happens that summer.

I read Newbery Honor-winning Rules by the same author a few years ago, so I was really excited to see a new book out by Cynthia Lord. This is the sort of story that I enjoyed reading as a child when, much like Tess, I was reading The Great Gilly Hopkins and Anne of Green Gables. Tess narrates the story, sharing her fears about moving to the mainland, her nervousness about friends, and her attempts at finding good luck. When she misunderstood some of Aaron's actions, I cringed with sympathy for both, understanding (as an adult, especially) where they were coming from. A sweet story I would recommend to readers who enjoy character-driven realistic fiction.

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Tess lives on an island off the coast of Maine where the State is threatening to close their school if they don’t get more children on the island for the school year. That means that Tess’ family would have to move since they rely on her mother’s salary as the school teacher. So the island

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community decides to welcome some foster children to bring up the numbers, and Tess’ family gets an older boy named Aaron. Tess had certain ideas about how their relationship would be, and of course most of those ideas are wrong. Tess is superstitious, and always wants things to work out. She has to learn how to work with things that are not just as they should be, including Aaron and his feelings and life off the island. This is a pretty simple story with an interesting background – the island community is entertaining and fully developed. Tess and her family are understandable too, and the story doesn’t promise more than it delivers. Pretty good story on friendship and island life.

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A very sweet, touching story. It's age-appropriate (9 to 12, I should think), but it truly shows the anguish and loss foster children go through as a regular part of their lives. Tess sounds like a very recognizable, real eleven-year-old girl, and the author integrated the rural island setting very

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well into the story. The ending was great, too -- it was conclusive and hopeful, not all neatly-wrapped-up-live-happily-ever-after, but more like how real life would be. I think 9-to-12s, particularly foster children or children from families who take in foster children, will really enjoy this book and benefit from it.

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When the state of Maine threatens to shut down their island's one-room schoolhouse because of dwindling enrollment, eleven-year-old Tess, a strong believer in luck, and her family take in a trumpet-playing foster child, to increase the school's population.

This is a wonderful story about a small island off the coast of Maine that is in danger of losing their only school due to not enough children on the island. The islanders came up with a plan to have willing families take in foster children to make up the difference. The main character, 11 year old

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Tess, will have one of the new foster kids living with her family. Aaron is a 13 year old, redheaded, trumpet playing boy, with a lot of issues to deal with: being removed form his mother's care at 5, living the next 6 years with his grandmother until she dies, and two more foster homes after that. Aaron doesn't really want to bond with his now family, but Tess is desperate for this plan to work, because she doesn't want to lose her home on the island. She tries so hard to get Aaron to open up, that she drives him into running away. The book is great for kids learning about challenging family dynamics and how different people handle life-issues differently. The book is filled with little quips of superstition and old sayings, like “Touch blue and your wish will come true,” and “A rainbow mean change is coming.” Each chapter begins with the saying as the title, then the narrative is built around the saying. I loved how the author used this strategy to tell Tess's story and make the book interesting and enjoyable. I think this would be a great book for a Tween that is either a foster child, or has/will have a foster child living their family. Grade 4 – 7.

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I like this new book by Cynthia Lord. In this book a small island town faces loosing its school due to dropping enrollment numbers. There solution is to take in foster kids. The book centers on one family who takes in a boy who has been shuffled from family to family while his mom deals with

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addiction problems. It is a good story of acceptance and learning to function as a family when the family gains a new member. And how to adapt when you've lost everything you've known - family, home, friends and school.

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Eleven year-old Tess faces the possibility of having to move from the small island that has always been her family's home. In an effort to populate the island with enough school age children to keep the school open, several families become foster families. Tess is excited about having a brother who

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is close in age, but she is disappointed when she realizes that her foster brother Aaron resents his relocation to the island. The relationship that forms between Tess, Aaron, and the rest of the family is heartwarming and encouraging.

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Tess and her family live on a small island in Maine. After a few of the islanders move to the mainland, the state considers closing down the one and only school on the island. This would really affect Tess' family because her mom is the only teacher at the school and the family really depends on

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her income and health insurance. The Reverend on the island comes up with an idea for a few families to serve as foster parents to children to increase the population and keep the school open. Tess' family agrees to it and gets a red head boy named, Aaron. The family goes through battles with him, but in the end they have a happy ending and they are all happy to be family. This book is so uplifting and inspirational. This is a book that I'd read to my class to show them that not everyone is as lucky as most to have loving, caring, steady families. It also has a good plot line with many characters, conflict, and climax. This is an all around fabulous book!

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A quick, sweet read about Tess Brooks and her family who live in an island community off the coast of Maine. In order to keep their school open, the island needs more children and the decision is made to have several families take in foster children. Aaron comes to stay with the Brooks family. The

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adjustment is rough. Aaron is a talented musician. Tess and Aaron come up with a scheme to invite his long-absent mother to see him in the community talent show. A touching story that deals with themes of belonging, family, luck, and change.

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There is always so much debate about Newbery contenders being "too literary" and not appealling enough to kids. I think Touch Blue is a great book that is well written and deals with some major issues - but it is also accessible, fun and enjoyable. The island setting is really interesting; it would

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be a great read for some landlocked Colorado kids (or adults)

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Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord falls in the category as contemporay realistic fiction. Lord discuuses real issues like the school system, foster care, and a parent addicted to drugs/alcohol. I think children in the foster care system can relate to Aaron's character.

Tess and her family live on an island whose community is so small that all the kids attend a one-room school. When the state of Maine threatens to close the school down because the number of children has dropped below a certain point, Reverend Beal suggests that some of the families consider

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becoming foster families. If all goes according to plan, everybody will benefit: several foster children will be welcomed into strong families, and the island families won't have to move back to the mainland to attend school. But of course, life is messier than the "planned" version-- Aaron resists any emotional closeness to Tess's family, not all of the islanders see the new kids as positive additions, and even Tess's myriad good luck charms don't seem to be turning things around. Lord has once again written a beautiful story with well-rounded characters and unexpected twists and turns that will keep readers engaged to the end.

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The state of Maine plans to shut down her island's schoolhouse, which would force Tess's family to move to the mainland—and Tess to leave the only home she has ever known. Fortunately, the islanders have a plan too: increase the numbers of students by having several families take in foster

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children. So now Tess and her family are taking a chance on Aaron, a thirteen-year-old trumpet player who has been bounced from home to home. And Tess needs a plan of her own—and all the luck she can muster.

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Great for using to teach children about different kinds of families, including foster families. Interesting because it takes place on an island, making the setting as engaging as the plot.

It is the best book!

Touchblue is about a girl name Tess and her family who live on an island in Maine. The school is in danger of closing, so they would have to move off the island. They come up with a plan which involves fostering children to keep the school open.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was fast paced and I

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wanted to see what would happen with Tess and Aaron the foster child they took in. I enjoyed how it explains all about lobster trapping. There is a conflict in the story that escalates in the middle of the book. Aaron discovers that he is being fostered in order to keep the school open. It is told from Tess’s point of view. Tess and Aaron’s charters grow and learn from each throughout this story.

Have students write down what superstition they know or have heard of? Do they practice or believe in them? Ask students if they would like to live on an island and make a chart of their answers. Also have them draw a picture of the character they can relate in the story.

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Tess is a young girl who loves to fish for lobster with her dad. Her family lives on an island in Maine that Tess adores. The problem in the story is that the only school on the island is going to close if enrollment does not increase. So the townspeople decide to take in foster kids to make up the

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shortfall of students. Tess' family takes in a teenage boy who misses his mom and doesn't understand why he just can't go back and live with her. The story is very heart-warming and cute. I can see having discussions with students about social issues such as whether they think how the townspeople chose to solve their problem was good or bad or somewhere in between.

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This is such an excellent chapter book about the concept of foster care from a child's perspective. Though the book isn't from the perspective of the foster child himself, it's from the perspective of his foster sister, which I think is also a neat perspective to look at. This may be one of those

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books that would only really be interesting for children in either of these situations, but I think it's important to have specific books like this available for those specific children. 3-7 grade.

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I was impressed with this book. An issue that's often left unheard in children's literature: both sides of the story. I love how the author brings about to the conclusion of the story by allowing people to be human. The characters were allowed to be a little bit selfish, allowed to be fragile, and

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allowed to be giving. Her ending was actually a new beginning. It was a great story of adoption fostering the whole welfare system from a different point of view. In most young adult literature today the welfare system is portrayed as evil or just plain inept and uncaring. The author was able to bring about closure for some subjects and left an opening for others that's the way life truly is and that's the way children see things as never finished.

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I loved Rules by Cynthia Lord and am trying to compare the two books but really can't. They are both sweet, sweet stories.
This one is about a 13 year old foster boy named Aaron who moves to an island to live with a family. Tess the older daughter in the family takes him "under her wing" but in

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doing so gets really hurt by him but then as they spend time and secrets together, they begin to become close kind of like a brother and sister. The book is bitter sweet as all Aaron wants is his mama and that is the one thing he cannot have.

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