Ramona Blue

April 3, 2017
There are two things Ramona knows: she likes girls, and she’s the responsible one in her family, especially now that her sister, Hattie, is pregnant. The girls’ mother left their coastal Mississippi town after Hurricane Katrina, they live in a trailer, and Ramona is juggling multiple jobs. As the book opens, Ramona is starting her senior year; with Grace, the tourist she has been dating, leaving, there isn’t much to look forward to. Then Ramona’s childhood friend Freddie moves back to town, and his grandmother adds Ramona to their YMCA membership. It turns out that Ramona has potential as a swimmer—as well as unexpected feelings for Freddie. In Eulogy, Miss., Murphy (Dumplin’) creates a place that feels deeply real, a Gulf Coast vacation town that’s racially and economically diverse: Ramona is white and poor, Freddie is black and middle class, and the biggest divide might be between the year-round residents and the summer visitors. It’s a great setting for a coming-of-age story, as Ramona realizes that she’s capable of more than she imagined and that some categories are more fluid than she’d thought. Ages 13–up. Agent: Molly Jaffa, Folio Literary Management.

Starred review from April 1, 2017
In Murphy's (Dumplin', 2015, etc.) third novel, a teenage girl navigates the complexities of romance and identity.Ramona "Blue" Leroux--6 foot 3, white, blue-haired, and gay--has always known who she is and where she is (or isn't) going. Living in a trailer in post-Katrina Eulogy, Mississippi, Ramona does her best to save and provide for her dad, older sister, Hattie, and soon-to-be niece. One of only three queer kids in town, she's always been sure she's attracted to women, and Ramona feels lucky that her coming-out experience was nothing more than "a blip." But this year, everything is changing. She's losing her sister to the coming baby and to Hattie's irresponsible, irritating baby-daddy, who has squeezed into their trailer. Her summer fling with closeted, white out-of-towner Grace may not withstand distance. And then Ramona's black childhood best friend, Freddie, unexpectedly moves back to Eulogy, and, as they reconnect through their shared history and a passion for swimming, she is surprised to find her desires and feelings for Freddie growing deeper. Ramona's first-person narration is tender and compelling, and the love she feels for the diverse cast of secondary characters is palpable. Murphy beautifully incorporates conversations about identity and diversity--including the policing of Freddie's black body, heteronormative expectations, and diverse sexualities (Ramona's white friend Ruth identifies herself explicitly as homoromantic demisexual)--with nuance and care. An exquisite, thoughtful exploration of the ties that bind and the fluidity of relationships, sexuality, and life. (Fiction. 14-adult)

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March 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Seventeen-year-old Ramona Blue stands out in her tiny town of Eulogy, MS, not only because of her height (6'3") and her hair color (blue). She is also just one of two out lesbians in town. Comfortable in her own skin, Ramona does not question her sexuality-despite attempts from her absentee mother to set her "straight"-until her old childhood friend Freddie moves back to town. Unexpectedly drawn to Freddie, Ramona starts to rethink her identity. Is she gay? Bisexual? What she learns eventually is that labels are not important and that she is OK with figuring things out as she goes along. This atmospheric story unfolds slowly like the hot and humid days of the Deep South. Ramona is an immensely likable narrator; she's selfless, responsible, and earnest. When the possibility of a swimming scholarship to a community college arises, Ramona rejects the idea initially, as she plans to remain in her dilapidated trailer park home and waitress full-time in order to support her pregnant, unwed older sister. The well-drawn secondary characters who populate Ramona's world could have been cliched and stereotypical but are instead given three-dimensional lives through believable dialogue and actions. VERDICT A must-have work that will resonate with teens, especially those questioning their sexual identities.-Melissa Kazan, Horace Mann School, NY

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Julie Murphy (Dumplin', 2015) knows a thing or two about navigating the worlds of girls on the brink of self-discovery. In Ramona Blue, that girl is Ramona Leroux, over six feet tall and sporting blue hair. She's also one of only two out lesbians in her little town of Eulogy, Mississippi, where she lives with her father and sister in the FEMA trailer they never left after Hurricane Katrina. Her sister, Hattie, recently pregnant, jokes that Ramona can do whatever she wants with her future, but Ramona has no such illusions. My sport she thinks, the special skill I've developed my whole lifeis surviving. Because of this pragmatism, Ramona has never doubted herself. It's not easy being gay in Eulogy, but it's a label she owns proudly, until her childhood friend Freddie moves back to town. Freddie's a straight guy, African American, and well off, but a love of swimming connects the two. Freddie talks Ramona into spending time at the pool, and as she falls more in love with the sport, she realizes she's falling in love with him, too, questioning everything she knows about herselfeverything she's fought to make her town and family accept. Murphy mines Ramona's inner workings with particular skill. Ramona's often-fraught relationships with her family are carefully, lovingly crafted, and her connection with Hattie is an especially important one. Her growing feelings for Freddie come slowly and organically, never feeling contrived. For many teens, Ramona will be a worthy companion as they undergo their own emotional journeys.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2017
Ramona Blue Leroux, nicknamed for her dyed-blue hair and love of the water (all kindsoceans, lakes, pools), stands out in Eulogy, Mississippi. At six foot three, she's too tall for the trailer she lives in with her dad and pregnant sister. She's also a lesbian, a fact that's accepted in Eulogy but one that limits her romantic options. Then her childhood friend Freddie moves back to town, and, to her surprise, Ramona discovers that she's attracted to him. Their ensuing relationship is passionate and unexpectedly natural: Kissing Freddie doesn't feel different because he's a boy, it feels different because he's Freddie. Ramona's subsequent refusal to label herself as gay, straight, or bisexual is refreshing, if unsubtly portayed, as is her frankness about sexuality: I think about sex. Girls think about sex. Sometimes a lot. I hate this ideas that boys are thinking about sex nonstop and girls are thinking aboutwhat? Stationery and garden gnomes? No. Like Murphy's heroine in Dumplin' (rev. 11/15), Ramona is unapologetically herself. Set against a postHurricane Katrina backdrop, the novel also effectively explores issues of race (Freddie is black, Ramona is white), social class, and family responsibility. Ramona dreams of leaving Eulogy, but is resigned to staying to support her family; the satisfying ending gives her the courage, and the means, to look forward to an uncertain but optimistic future. rachel l. smith

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)