Synopsis

Blue Echohawk doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know her real name or when she was born. Abandoned at two and raised by a drifter, she didn’t attend school until she was ten years old. At nineteen, when most kids her age are attending college or moving on with life, she is just a senior in high school. With no mother, no father, no faith, and no future, Blue Echohawk is a difficult student, to say the least. Tough, hard and overtly sexy, she is the complete opposite of the young British teacher who decides he is up for the challenge, and takes the troublemaker under his wing.

This is the story of a nobody who becomes somebody. It is the story of an unlikely friendship, where hope fosters healing and redemption becomes love. But falling in love can be hard when you don’t know who you are. Falling in love with someone who knows exactly who they are and exactly why they can’t love you back might be impossible.

*A New York Times Bestseller Book*

Véleményem a könyvről

Ez egy gyönyörű, lassan épülő, nagyon egyedülálló és különleges történet volt. A legendák, a történelem, az irodalom és a Pawnee történetek valami egészen másfajta mélységet adtak a könyvnek. Amikor elkezdtem ezt a könyvet féltem, hogy ez a történet is csak egy tanár-diák tiltott viszonyról fog szólni, de ettől nem is tévedhettem volna nagyobbat. Habár Blue és Wilson története igazán gyönyörű, úgy gondolom, hogy ennek a kötetnek nem igazán a szerelmi szál adta a gerincét, hanem a jellemfejlődés és az utazás, amelyet eközben Blue Echohawk megtesz. A történet ilyen szempontból rendkívüli módon inspiráló, hiszen arra ösztönöz minket, hogy engedjük el a múltunkat, a skatulyákat, a címkéket és bármi történik is, koncentráljunk a jövőnkre és lépjünk tovább.

Blue Echohawk nem tudja, hogy ki ő, mi az igazi neve, kik lehettek a szülei vagy, hogy hány éves pontosan. Blue-t nagyjából kétéves korában hagyták magára egy idegen, Jimmy Echohawk autójában. Mikor Jimmy megtalálta a kislányt, olyan kétéves körülinek saccolta, és mivel a kislány folyton csak annyit mondogatott, hogy „blue, blue, blue”, elnevezte Blue-nak. Talán ehhez hozzájárult az is, hogy bár látszott, hogy a baba egyértelműen félig indián származású, gyönyörű kék szeme volt. Eközben Blue anyukáját holtan találták egy motelszobában és a rendőrség elkezdett utána kérdezősködni a környéken. Jimmy megijedt, hogyha megtalálják nála a kislányt, valami olyannal fogják vádolni, amit nem követett el, ezért fogta a cókmókját és Blue-t, és folytatta az utazását.

Jimmy Echohawk mindig is vándor életet élt. Lakókocsival járta az államokat (főleg Utah, Nevada és Idaho környékét), és így árulta a faragásait. Blue-t teljes szívvel-lélekkel szerette, nevelte és közben tanítgatta a fafaragás rejtelmeire. Mikor Blue tíz éves körüli volt, Jimmy egyszer elment szokásos fagyűjtő körútjára magára hagyva a lányt a lakókocsiban, azonban Jimmy soha többé nem tért vissza. Blue-t végül megtalálta a rendőrség, mikor segítségért indult, és végül Jimmy féltestvére, Cheryl nevelte fel a lányt. Jimmy eltűnése után Blue számára teljesen új élet kezdődött. Kapott okmányokat, és iskolába íratták. A fafaragást soha nem hagyta abba, és gyakorlatilag ebből tartotta fenn magát, de az út amit a társadalmi életének választott eléggé megkérdőjelezhető.

Igazából a könyv elején Blue nem igazán szimpatikus szereplő. Érezzük, hogy nagyon mérges a világra és bár az teljes mértékben kiderül az oldalakról, hogy amúgy okos lány, de a fő fegyvere mégis a cinizmus és a szarkazmus. Ekkor tűnik fel az új fiatal, brit származású történelemtanár, aki teljesen új perspektívákat és inspirációkat mutat a lánynak. A kapcsolatuk nem kezdődik el a gimnáziumi évek alatt, így ez a történet nem egy tiltott viszonyról szól, de a barátság és a köztük lévő kapocs már ekkor kialakul. Wilson segít Blue-nak kitárni a szárnyait, és új utat választani magának. Nagyon tetszett, ahogyan a végén összefutnak a szálak és ahogy végül Blue valóban megtalálja a „négy R”-t: Redemption, Resolution, Revelation, és Relevance. (megváltás, elhatározás, kinyilatkoztatás, jelentőség)

Összefoglalva nagyon tetszett ez a könyv. Lassú folyású történet, de hihetetlen sok mondanivalója van. A legjobban talán az tetszett, ahogy az írónő leírja Blue faragásait és az azokhoz vezető inspirációkat. Valami eszméletlenül szép volt, ahogy az írónő megmutatta, hogy egy nehéz, görcsös farönkből, hogyan válik a kezei által mestermű. Ez szintén azt fejezte ki számomra, hogy lássunk túl azokon a nyilvánvaló dolgokon, amelyeket a szemünk lát, és vegyük észre a lehetőségeket a csodára, amit véghez tudunk vinni, ha hiszünk benne.

My Review in English

It was a beautiful, slow-building, unique story. The legends, the history, the literature and the Pawnee stories gave this book a really special deepness. When I started this book I was a little afraid that it will be just another “student-teacher” romance story, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Although the love story of Blue and Wilson is truly beautiful, I think the main spine of the story hasn’t been given by the romance thread but the character development and Blue Echohawk’s journey during this time. This book is truly inspiring because it encourages us to let go our pasts, the labels and anything happens we have to concentrate to the future and moving on.

Blue Echohawk doesn’t know who she is, what her real name is, who her parents are, or how old she is. Blue has been left in a stranger’s old pickup truck, when she was about two years old. When Jimmy Echohawk found the little girl, she always just repeated the words “blue, blue, blue” so he named her Blue. In addition to this, he saw that the baby girl is half Indian but she had beautiful blue eyes. Meanwhile Blue’s mom has been found dead in a motel room and the police started asking questions in the area. Jimmy was afraid that if they found the little girl with him, he will be accused with the murder so he packed his things and leaved Reno with Blue.

Jimmy Echohawk always lived his life as a wanderer. He travel across the States with his trail (mostly the area of Utah, Nevada and Idaho) while he sold his carvings. He loved Blue with his whole heart, he raised her and he taught her all the secrets of carving. When Blue was about 10 years old one day Jimmy left her in the camp trailer when he went to searching wood for his cravings as usual. But Jimmy never returned from this trip. Finally, the police found Blue when she left for help, and at the end they placed Blue to Jimmy’s half-sister, Cheryl who raised her after that. After Jimmy’s disappearance a new life has begun for Blue. She got documents and she has been attended to school. She never gave up carving and she made a pretty good money from that, but the road what she chose for her life-style was really questionable.

To tell the truth in the beginning of the story, Blue is not a very likeable character. We feel that she is very angry at the world and it is obvious that she is very smart, and her biggest weapon is her sarcasm and cynicism. But one day a young, British History teacher arrives who shows new perspectives and inspirations to the girl. Their relationship haven’t start during school period so this novel is not about a forbidden love, but the friendship and the connection between them is already develops at this time. Wilson helps Blue to spread her wings and to choose another road for herself. I really loved how the threads connected at the end and how Blue found the “four R” at the end: Redemption, Resolution, Revelation and Relevance.

Overall I truly loved this book. It is a slow-moving but gripping story, with a lot of messages.  Maybe what I loved the most, was the way how Amy Harmon tells us Blue’s carvings and the inspirations to them. It was amazingly beautiful when the author showed us how a heavy, gnarled piece of wood becomes a masterpiece under Blue’s hands. I think the meaning behind this is that we have to look beyond the obvious things what our eyes shows us and we have to see the possibilities of the amazing wonders what we can do if we believe in it.

My Favorite Quotes From the Book

“And the music he was making wasn’t frightening. It was achingly lovely. It was piercing, yet sweet. Powerful, yet simple. (…)
But I didn’t move. And I didn’t speak. I just listened. For how long, I don’t know. And as I continued to listen, my heart began to ache with a feeling I had no name for. My heart felt swollen in my chest. I lifted my hand to my chest as if I could make it stop.
But with each note Wilson played, the feeling grew. It wasn’t grief and it wasn’t pain. It wasn’t despair or even remorse. It felt more like . . . gratitude. It felt like love.”

“But there’s no way to avoid regret. Don’t let anybody tell you different. Regret is just life’s aftertaste. No matter what you choose, you’re gonna wonder if you shoulda done things different. I didn’t necessarily choose wrong. I just chose. And I lived with my choice, aftertaste and all.

I didn’t know what grace was, but maybe it sounded like the music. Maybe that was what I was feeling. How sweet the sound. And it was sweet, impossibly so. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.”

“Sometimes the things we want to be rescued from can save us.”

“Why don’t you focus more on what makes you brilliant and less on what makes you angry? You are missing a key element to the story. Maybe the moral of the legend is that we are all carved, created, and formed by a master hand. Maybe we are all works of art.”

“I keep wishing you had had a better life . . . a different life. But a different life would have made you a different Blue.” He looked at me then. “And that would be the biggest tragedy of all.” With a little quirk of a smile he raised my hand to his lips – Mr. Darcy to the very end – and then he turned and walked up the stairs.”

“I was scarred but I was not broken. Beneath my wounds I was still whole. Beneath my insecurities, beneath my pain, beneath my struggle, beneath it all, I was still whole.”

“But there’s no way to avoid regret. Don’t let anybody tell you different. Regret is just life’s aftertaste. No matter what you choose, you’re gonna wonder if you shoulda done things different. I didn’t necessarily choose wrong. I just chose. And I lived with my choice, aftertaste and all.”

“Someone told me once that to create true art you must be willing to bleed and let others watch.”

5- Little blackbird -Stars

About the Author

Amy Harmon is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and New York Times Bestselling author. Amy knew at an early age that writing was something she wanted to do, and she divided her time between writing songs and stories as she grew. Having grown up in the middle of wheat fields without a television, with only her books and her siblings to entertain her, she developed a strong sense of what made a good story. Her books are now being published in several countries, truly a dream come true for a little country girl from Levan, Utah.

Amy Harmon has written eight novels – the USA Today Bestsellers, Making Faces and Running Barefoot, as well as The Law of Moses, Infinity + One, Slow Dance in Purgatory, Prom Night in Purgatory, and the New York Times Bestseller, A Different Blue. Her latest novel, The Song of David, was released on June 13, 2015.

Find Amy online:

Website: www.authoramyharmon.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoramyharmon
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aharmon_author
Instagram: https://instagram.com/amy.harmon2/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Amy-Harmon/e/B007V3HXUY
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5829056.Amy_Harmon
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authoramyharmon/

New York Times Bestseller A Different Blue

I really loved this post! These were the thoughts of Amy Harmon when A Different Blue hit the New York Times Bestseller list! 🙂

6/5/2013

“I made the New York Times Bestsellers List. #6. I did it. I don’t know how. I don’t know why. But I’m absolutely overcome right now, and have just been sitting on the news for the last couple of hours, crying a little, laughing a lot. I called my husband and then my parents and my younger brother Joey because he has been my biggest cheerleader. I told my kids and they proceeded to ask me if we could finally buy a house (ha ha). I told my daughter Claire, who is nine, that I felt like throwing up but was deliriously happy at the same time. She said, “So you feel like puking rainbows, right?” Yep. That pretty much sums it up. Puking rainbows.

Thanks to all who believed in me and believed in A Different Blue. Thank you for reading and encouraging me. I have a list too long to name, and would hate to leave someone out. But mostly right now, I’m just grateful for the readers and the bloggers and the wonderful friends I’ve made all across the world on this adventure. And I’m grateful to a loving God who has always made his presence known in my life. So overcome right now.”

♪ A könyvhöz kapcsolódik a legutóbbi Zene a könyvben #13 bejegyzésem. ♪

♫ Related to this book my last Music in The Book #13 post. ♫