Everywhere Blue by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz – Book Review
 |
Title: Everywhere Blue Author: Joanne Rossmassler Fritz Publisher: Holiday House Release Date: June 1, 2021  |
Madrigal, or Maddie, likes order. Likes even numbers. Likes to count to keep calm. When her beloved older brother, Strum, leaves his college campus without a word about where he intends to go, Maddie’s orderly and neat world turns upside down. With the family grieving even as they try to locate Strum, Maddie takes on an introspective, critical eye. Her examination of the family dynamics, past and present, and the clues Strum may have left behind lead her to several important and powerful revelations.
Everywhere Blue by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz blends music, climate change, a missing sibling, and lyrical verse to create a moving portrait of a family in crisis. The family assumes the White Default, and the many conflicts they confront create many opportunities to explore themes. Still, rather than probing a few select ones, Everywhere Blue merely skims the surface of them all. As a result, the narrative lacks depth the book’s potential possesses. All the story’s threads contribute to this feeling. They tie together in the end, but the conclusion reads more like a patchwork quilt instead of a beautiful, patterned family heirloom the book can truly be.
Educators may find a place for Everywhere Blue among the many other novels in verse in the middle grade genre. Teachers can selectively put this particular book in the hands of those that want to or need to read it. Its unique plot and the infusion of music could offer appeal, which is reason enough to keep a copy because it could fill a void for the right reader among the growing collection of novels in verse.
Thank you to Edelweiss+ and publisher, Holiday House, for an eARC of this book.
Classroom Applications
- Thematic Literature Circles – Use novel for small groups or choice reading for books in verse.
- Project – Collaborate with the music teacher! Assign the novel as part of a cross-curricular project.
- Book Club or Book Exchange – Share the novel with students that enjoy reading novels in verse.
Nonfiction Connections
The list below outlines topics that will enrich your students’ understanding of the novel.
- Climate Change
- Music
- Mental Health Awareness
Book Companions
The following are great books to pair with Everywhere Blue. In parenthesis are the specific aspects students could explore when synthesizing across the texts.
- Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson (Novel Structure, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
- The Canyon’s Edge by Dusti Bowling (Novel Structure, Themes, Nonfiction Connections)
- One Jar of Magic by Corey Ann Haydu (Themes, Character Connections)
*LIT Lessons participates in the Amazon Associate Program and earns a fee from qualifying purchases made on the Amazon.com site.
More Blog Posts
It’s time for the annual LIT Lessons Novel Study Giveaway! Year-over-year students grow and change, and those changes are often most pronounced when a new school year begins. It’s a fresh start and a restart. The message of Restart by Gordon Korman captures the spirit of new beginnings, evolving identity, and the universal experience of growing older.
Many ELA question stem resources provide vague sentence starters or surface level prompts to encourage students to engage with a text. Oftentimes, these resources lack true depth and rigor, which means students are not being adequately challenged to critically think about a text.
Middle grades historical fiction novels have come a long way from the books available ‘decades’ ago. In fact, this growing genre is now bursting with fantastic, inspiring, and insightful novels. It comes as no surprise that these books are finding their way into middle school ELA curricula…
