Blue Skies, a sweet take on a young girl dealing with hope and loss

If Blue Skies were a home it would be a bungalow that was built in the 1930s. It has 12’ ceilings, a covered front porch with a screen door that leads you into its shotgun style abode. There are four fireplaces with decorative tile, a mantle that surrounds each of them and heart of pine wood throughout. Blue Skies is a down home kind of novel that knows its audience and takes its time in drawing out the story.

This is upper elementary through middle grade reading that will appeal to girls slightly more than boys due to its main character and central theme. It’s not that middle school aren’t capable of loving, it’s just that a book on love, patience and small town late 1940s living won’t be on their short list.

Even from the main character’s name, Glory Bea, readers will infer things about the book. It mostly likely takes place in the south and judging by their name the story is at least a couple generations old. You’d be partially correct. Blue Skies takes place in Texas, just after the end of WW II. Glory’s dad never came back from Europe and her mom often tells tales of his heroism on Omaha Beach.

She’s convinced that he’s alive though. She’s holding out hope and pinning her hopes on that fact he’ll make a grand reappearance when the town has a festival. One person who did make it back home is Randall Horton; he was a friend of her dad in the war and had written several letters to her family after he was killed in battle. He’s also been kind enough to visit their small town to meet the family.

Of course Glory doesn’t see it that way. She’s jealous that he came back and that her dad isn’t right now. Through some of her friends she copes with things the best as she can, but she’s also a young teen and doesn’t have the best judgment. But a young girl can still hold out hope for a miracle, can’t she?

Blue Skies isn’t a sad book. However, it’s based in the reality of post WW II and it looks at the impact of one man, his family and the circumstances around his death. As much as the book is about Glory’s hope, it’s also about her growing up and moving on. Nobody expects her to forget or to change who she is, but it’s a new reality, even though the small town machinations haven’t changed since her father was there.

The book is very well paced with chapters between 2 and 6 pages long. Grades 3-7 who can handle a character driven book that shows the emotions and struggles that a tween is going through will enjoy the book. It’s homespun and you can all but smell the apple pie as you read it. But there are also family relations and dynamics that extend beyond the time period that the book takes place in.

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