Beautiful Blue World, Suzanne LaFleur
Beautiful Blue World, Suzanne LaFleur
List: $18.00 | Sale: $12.60
Club: $9.00

Beautiful Blue World

Author: Suzanne LaFleur

Narrator: Christy Carlson Romano

Unabridged: 5 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/13/2016


Synopsis

Beautiful Blue World is a thrilling and moving story of children who become the key to winning a war.
 
Sofarende is at war. For twelve-year-old Mathilde, it means food shortages, feuding neighbors, and bombings. Even so, as long as she and her best friend, Megs, are together, they’ll be all right.
 
But the army is recruiting children, and paying families well for their service. If Megs takes the test, Mathilde knows she will pass. Megs hopes the army is the way to save her family. Mathilde fears it might separate them forever.
 
This touching and suspenseful novel is a brilliant reimagining of war, where even kindness can be a weapon, and children have the power to see what adults cannot.

Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, Outstanding Merit
ILA-CBC Choices Reading Lists, Teacher’s Choice
Junior Library Guild Selection
Nominated for multiple state awards

About The Author

Suzanne LaFleur is the author of Love, Aubrey; Eight Keys; and Listening for Lucca. She lives in New York City, where she decorates her walls with the handprints of children she loves. Visit her online at suzannelafleur.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kate on May 13, 2019

2019 Re-read I re-read this as a buddy read with Mikayla and was reminded again just how much I love this book. So many good themes. <3 It was a little emotionally hard to read since I know what the sequel holds, but it was definitely worth it. ;) Original Review I have been looking for this book for f......more

Goodreads review by Libby on March 12, 2018

What do I think of this book? Umm.. well Suzanne create Mathilde very well. She's good at that. I couldn't quite grasp the genre. At first I thought it was like WWII era? But then it wasn't. The setting of the story being completely made up reeeeally threw me off because I didn't know if it was a di......more

Goodreads review by Tonyalee on October 08, 2016

Why did I pick it up? Something in the synopsis caught my eye, "children have the power to see what adults cannot." I had to know what it was - plus, anything with strong relationships, especially friendships, tugs at the heartstrings and I must read it. Describe the book in 5 words Heart Warming. Sad.......more


Quotes

Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Master List

“Mathilde is timid and strong, childlike and complex, vividly narrating her story in great detail, encompassing myriad characters and events, all without censoring her fears and confusion about the nature of war and a world turned upside down, while somehow still managing to believe something better is possible. Deeply emotional, compelling, and brilliant.”—Kirkus Reviews starred review

"LaFleur (Listening for Lucca) creates a warm boarding-school setting peopled with kind adults and children alike. Readers will be drawn in by the underlying belief that kids’ work is important and powerful, and eager for the promised sequel."—Publishers Weekly starred review 

"Writing in the first person, LaFleur crafts a protagonist who is compassionate and resourceful, in a war-ravaged world in which children are, by turns, exploited and empowered. The tension is high and danger ever present."— School Library Journal starred review


Awards

  • Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award
  • Indiana Young Hoosier Master List
  • South Carolina Junior Book Master List