Wednesday, November 20, 2013

A Different Blue by Amy Harmon


"Once upon a time there was a little blackbird who was pushed out of the nest, unwanted. Discarded. Blue Echohawk is a young girl who was abandoned by her mother when she was just 2 years old to an old drifter, Jimmy Echohawk. She has no sense in what her real name is, where she was born, who her parents are and why she was unwanted. Discarded.

Then a Hawk found her and swooped her up and carried her away, giving her a home in his nest, teaching her to fly. But one day the Hawk didn't come home, and the bird was alone again, unwanted.

Her name, Blue, was given to her by Jimmy beacause the only thing that she could say when she was little was...Blue. They traveled from place to place and he would tell her these amazing and beautiful Native American lores. He taught her the fine art of wood carving and that it requires looking beyond what is obvious to what is possible. Something happens to where she is sent to go live with her aunt, who is Jimmy's step sister. Jimmy's teaching helps mold Blue into who she is today and who she will become as an adult.

"You all have a story. It's been written up to this point, to this very second. And I want to know that story."

Blue is a senior in high school and when she walks into her history class she is greeted by the new British history teacher Mr. Wilson.

"You must be Blue Echohawk..." His voice trailed off a little and his expression was one of surprise. The name tends to throw people. I have dark hair, but my eyes are very blue. I don't really look like an Indian.

"And you must be Mr. Wilson." I retorted


Darcy Wilson helps Blue along her journey of self descovery with his writting assignments and history lessons. He is curious as to what her story is and she is curious as to why she is curious about him. There is a moment, a scene that brings these two characters closer and makes their bond that much stronger.

The tragedy that strikes her neighbors and friends, Manny and Graciela is heart wrenching. When Manny does what he does, I kept saying "No!!!" over and over in my head. Graciela...well I wanted to slap and kick her. Yes, she is young but her actions, her foolish actions brings chaos and destruction to so many. And Blue being Blue, feels responsible for what happens and she is done. She wants to change. To be a better person.

"God? I'm ugly inside. And it's not my fault. You know it's not. I'll take responsibility for some of it, but you've gotta own up to your part too. Nobody saved me. Nobody gave a shit. Nobody came to my rescue."...."So I'm asking you now. Can you take it away? Can you take away the ugliness?"..."God? If you love me...take it away. Please. I'm asking you to take it away. I don't want to feel this way anymore."

Life moves on and when Blue comes to the realization towards the end of her senior year that her life will be forever changed, Darcy is there to help pick her up. His sister Tiffa is such a delight and she helps Blue in so many ways as well. *My favorite scene of all of them together has to be the New Years Eve party. Can you say FUN!!!! OMG!! I want to either throw a party like that or go to one.*

I wish I could say that Darcy is perfect but he isn't. He has his flaws and boy does he fucks up big time. When Blue felt gutted due to the nastiness that spews out of his mouth towards her, I felt gutted right along with her. What he told her was hurtful, mean and unforgivable. Does he redeems himself? Can he redeem himself? Will Blue ever find out about where she comes from?

I love how there was no instant love between B & D. No teacher/student taboo relationship. There was snogging but only towards the end of the book. There is no hank panky, slap my wanky action between them too. Would I have enjoyed the story a lot more if there was? Sure. Who doesn't love to read about a good romp but that is what made me LOVE the story even more. This wasn't about two people finding each other and falling madly in love and going at it like rabbits on crack. No. This is a story about a young girls journey and self discovery.

It's simply amazing and such a breath of fresh air to come across an indie author who has true talent. She is someone I can see going all the way, to bigger and better things. You can sense that her words, her stories, the way she creates her characters and what they go through comes from deep within herself. That this is truly her passion and love. This is her craft. Amy and Blue are one in the same. Both create such beauty from something that requires looking beyond what is obvious to what is possible .

Carve away Amy. Carve away. I will be standing in line with the rest of your fans, waiting patiently to get my hands on your next masterpiece

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