The Truth According to Blue

by Eve Yohalem

Overview

A heartfelt middle grade adventure about one girl's search for sunken treasure, friendship, and her place in the world.

Thirteen-year-old Blue Broen is on the hunt for a legendary ship of gold, lost centuries ago when her ancestors sailed to New York. Blue knows her overprotective parents won't approve of her mission to find their family's long-lost fortune, so she keeps it a secret from everyone except her constant companion, Otis, an 80-pound diabetic alert dog. But it's hard to keep things quiet with rival treasure hunters on the loose, and with Blue's reputation as the local poster child for a type 1 diabetes fundraiser.

Blue's quest gets even harder when she's forced to befriend Jules, the brainy but bratty daughter of a vacationing movie star who arrives on the scene and won't leave Blue alone. While Blue initially resents getting stuck with this spoiled seventh grade stranger, Jules soon proves Blue's not the only one who knows about secrets — and adventure.

Will Blue unravel a three hundred year-old family mystery, learn to stand up for herself, and find the missing treasure? Or is she destined to be nothing more than "diabetes girl" forever?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316424370
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/12/2020
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

After training as an opera singer, Eve Yohalem moved into the literary world first as an editorial assistant, then as the publisher of a website, then as an author of two books for young readers. She lives in New York with her husband, their two children, and pets.

Editorial Reviews

04/01/2020

Gr 4–7—Thirteen-year-old Blue is on a quest to find the treasure rumored to have gone down with the ship that brought her ancestors to New York several hundred years ago. With her best friend away at camp, Blue's summer is already off to a rocky start. She has resigned herself to lazy days of treasure hunting alone with just her diabetic alert dog for company. Then her mother pairs her with Jules. Jules is the spoiled daughter of a movie star who is heading up a Cure Juvenile Diabetes benefit, for which Blue is the literal poster child. Blue is tired of being known as "Diabetes Girl," but with her alert dog, insulin pump, dietary restrictions, and her face on the benefit poster, she wonders if anyone will ever see her as anything else. If only she could find that treasure! When professional treasure hunters show up intent on finding Blue's downed ship, she reluctantly brings Jules into her hunt. As the race to find the treasure gets more intense, Blue and Jules begin to bond, each realizing that there is more to the other than what appears on the surface. Blue is a likable character still mourning the loss of her grandfather who shared her love of the hunt. She is also learning to manage her diabetes herself so her overprotective parents will allow her more freedom. Making a new friend, gaining independence, and maybe even finding treasure—Blue's lazy summer has become more exciting that she ever imagined. VERDICT With enough action to keep reluctant readers engaged, this is a solid addition to contemporary fiction collections.—Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA

School Library Journal

2020-01-21
If 13-year-old Blue can find treasure that went down in a ship centuries ago, maybe she can expand her identity.

Family lore says Blue’s “great-times-twelve grandparents” arrived in America as 12-year-olds—one from Amsterdam, one from Java (their story is related in Cast Off, 2015)—and left treasure underwater when their ship sank off Long Island. Blue can’t wait to find it. But in Sag Harbor, “regular families” like Blue’s face wealthy summer vacationers—including a movie star who insists that Blue entertain his rude, spoiled daughter. He dangles a $500,000 diabetes research donation that Blue, “the poster child (literally)” of a diabetes organization, can’t ignore. Luckily, the girls slowly make friends and undertake a grumpy, terrifying, thrilling treasure hunt employing methods hazardous and illegal. Blue’s first-person voice is funny and immediate in her desperation to find the treasure, which connects her to her beloved late grandfather and which, she hopes, will distinguish her from being merely “Diabetes Girl.” Copious nitty-gritty details of blood-sugar management—testing, counting, taking insulin—accurately show diabetes as a frustrating, dangerous, ongoing challenge. Readers will swoon for Blue’s cherished service dog, Otis, who helps keep her safe. Unfortunately, the breezy portrayal of people feeding and touching Otis without permission misleads about (critical) service-dog etiquette. White-presenting Blue’s mixed white and (extremely attenuated) Javanese identity is acknowledged only through the ethnicity of her older relatives.

Exciting treasure hunt, refreshingly unromanticized chronic illness—a good combo. (Fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews

Praise for The Truth According to Blue:

* "An unlikely friendship...an exciting treasure hunt, and a loving portrayal of the special bond between a girl and her diabetic alert dog: Yohalem skillfully weaves these compelling elements together into a story with wide appeal. ...Very engaging."—Booklist, starred review

* "Fast-paced...Plot twists add suspense and keep the reader guessing what will happen next....Heartwarming."—School Library Connection, starred review

"Making a new friend, gaining independence, and maybe even finding treasure-Blue's lazy summer has become more exciting that she ever imagined. With enough action to keep reluctant readers engaged, this is a solid addition to contemporary fiction collections."—School Library Journal

"Blue's first-person voice is funny and immediate...Exciting treasure hunt, refreshingly unromanticized chronic illness—a good combo."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Narrator Ariana Cordero introduces Sag Harbor, New York, and the Broens, whose family has lived in the same house for 350 years. Thirteen-year-old Blue and her dog, Otis, both of whom are diabetic, are the stars of a fundraiser hosted by Hollywood legend Edward Buttersby. Listeners will be sympathetic towards Blue, who copes with her condition and works to befriend Jules, Buttersby’s spoiled daughter. Cordero deftly contrasts the girls as they use a dinghy to search for the shipwrecked gold that Blue and her late grandfather sought until his death. Chapters begin with enthusiastically rendered “true facts” according to Blue. Fascinating facts about diabetes, being the child of a celebrity, and diving are peppered throughout. Young listeners will enjoy the search for treasure and the blossoming of an unlikely friendship. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2020 - AudioFile

Narrator Ariana Cordero introduces Sag Harbor, New York, and the Broens, whose family has lived in the same house for 350 years. Thirteen-year-old Blue and her dog, Otis, both of whom are diabetic, are the stars of a fundraiser hosted by Hollywood legend Edward Buttersby. Listeners will be sympathetic towards Blue, who copes with her condition and works to befriend Jules, Buttersby’s spoiled daughter. Cordero deftly contrasts the girls as they use a dinghy to search for the shipwrecked gold that Blue and her late grandfather sought until his death. Chapters begin with enthusiastically rendered “true facts” according to Blue. Fascinating facts about diabetes, being the child of a celebrity, and diving are peppered throughout. Young listeners will enjoy the search for treasure and the blossoming of an unlikely friendship. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2020 - AudioFile