Fans of Alice Hoffman's first novella for children, Aquamarine, will be thrilled to discover Indigo, another watery tale that blends fantasy with reality in a surprising coming-of-age quest. Thirteen-year-old Martha and her best friends, brothers nicknamed Trout and Eel for their fishy tendencies and webbed fingers and toes, long to escape from their dull, dry town. Their ambivalent feelings about running away, though, are reinforced when a fierce storm interrupts their journey and helps them begin to answer their questions about who they are "at the deepest core"--and who they will become. Unfortunately, there's not enough time for Hoffman to develop her characters here, and an implausibly pat denouement may leave the reader wishing the book were longer--or shorter--but the elements of friendship, loss, and hope will come through for those who take it for the parable it is. (Ages 10 to 14) --Emilie Coulter


From Publishers Weekly
This slim offering finds Hoffman (Aquamarine) once again in mermaid mode. In landlocked Oak Grove where a flood years ago has made the townspeople so fearful of water that the local swimming pool stays drained 13-year-old Martha Glimmer mourns her mother's death and chafes under the disapproving ministrations of busybody neighbor Hildy Swoon. Martha's best friends Trevor and Eli McGill adopted brothers better known as Trout and Eel have problems of their own, including town gossip about their odd eating habits (salt water, raw tuna) and their webbed fingers and toes. After Hildy ruins Martha's prized possession, a shawl that had belonged to her mother, and the hydrophobic Mr. McGill repaints his sons' bedroom white (they preferred the "endless blue" of the sea), the three of them decide to run away. Broad clues point to the story's core secret, that Trout and Eel are the sons of a mermaid. An accomplished storyteller, Hoffman deftly interweaves themes of friendship, identity and the tension between family ties and freedom that adolescence inevitably brings ("I thought if you got too near to water, you would swim away," says Charlie McGill to his boys. They will, they assure him "But then we'll swim back"). However, the text has been stretched to fit the format of a novel, which may unfairly raise readers' expectations. Together with the sketchy characterizations and particularly the author's cool, dispassionate tone, the presentation may hamper readers' full pleasure in the tale. Ages 10-up. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8-In the manner of a fairy tale, this story begins with a town that seems to be under a curse. Fifteen years ago, a flood devastated Oak Grove, and its inhabitants dammed up the creek so that water would never flow through the town again. Everyone is terrified of water except for motherless Martha Glimmer, 13, and her two best friends, Trevor "Trout" and Eli "Eel" McGill. The adopted brothers love sardines and saltwater, and their webbed fingers and toes reveal early on that they are the offspring of a mermaid. The book encompasses a wide knowledge of fairy-tale archetypes, such as the heroine who sets out on a quest for identity, the widowed father distracted by grief, the scheming would-be "wicked step-mother," the dead mother's talisman (a yellow silk shawl), and the companions with magical gifts. When Oak Grove is once again threatened by flood, the three water-lovers will (of course) be the town's salvation. Unfortunately, the beautiful, poetic phrases juxtapose sharply with tired idioms, and the omniscient, sometimes jarring tone distances readers from the text. While the story is more developed than the author's Aquamarine (Scholastic, 2001), it is strictly an additional purchase.Farida S. Dowler, formerly at Bellevue Regional Library, WACopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Gr. 4-7. "Water's dangerous and that's always been true," says Charlie McGill. Everyone in small, dry, landlocked Oak Grove agrees except for McGill's sons, Trever and Eli (Trout and Eel), who have an unusual connection with water--and a preference for anchovy pie over ice cream and, most distinctively, webbed fingers and toes. Their best friend is 13-year-old Martha Glimmer, heartbroken over her mother's death, who, like the brothers, feels herself an outsider. Dreaming of escape, the three run away, but a flash flood upsets their plans and helps them discover important truths about who they are and what they want. Hoffman follows her first title for young readers, Aquamarine (2001), with another spare, water-soaked tale populated with mermaids and eccentric small-town characters. Here the messages are heavy-handed and the plot contrived, but readers who like fables will connect with the vivid writing and with the friends' restlessness and yearning for self-discovery and adventure. Moody, blue-tone photographs complete the stylish, compact design. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
year-old Martha Glimmer is convinced this is the worst time of her life. Her mother died, she grew 7 inches, and she has to put up with a woman who plys Martha's lonely father with food and opinions about how 13 year-old girls should behave. Martha longs to leave Oak Grove and travel. Martha's best friend Trevor and his brother Eli also want to leave Oak Grove. Nicknamed Trout and Eel because of the thin webbing between their fingers and toes, they long to see the ocean. Together, Martha, Trout, and Eel are going to find the true meaning of home -- in very unexpected places.



Card catalog description
When her mother dies, Martha is so unhappy living in the dried-up town of Oak Grove, that she convinces two unusual brothers who long to return to the ocean to run away with her.

ANNOTATION

When her mother dies, Martha is so unhappy living in the dried-up town of Oak Grove, that she convinces two unusual brothers who long to return to the ocean to run away with her.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

13 year-old Martha Glimmer is convinced this is the worst time of her life. Her mother died, she grew 7 inches, and she has to put up with a woman who plys Martha's lonely father with food and opinions about how 13 year-old girls should behave. Martha longs to leave Oak Grove and travel. Martha's best friend Trevor and his brother Eli also want to leave Oak Grove. Nicknamed Trout and Eel because of the thin webbing between their fingers and toes, they long to see the ocean. Together, Martha, Trout, and Eel are going to find the true meaning of home -- in very unexpected places.

SYNOPSIS

13 year-old Martha Glimmer is convinced this is the worst time of her life. Her mother died, she grew 7 inches, and she has to put up with a woman who plys Martha's lonely father with food and opinions about how 13 year-old girls should behave. Martha longs to leave Oak Grove and travel. Martha's best friend Trevor and his brother Eli also want to leave Oak Grove. Nicknamed Trout and Eel because of the thin webbing between their fingers and toes, they long to see the ocean. Together, Martha, Trout, and Eel are going to find the true meaning of home -- in very unexpected places.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Three teenagers run away from a town where a flood years ago has made the people so fearful of water that the local swimming pool stays drained. "An accomplished storyteller, Hoffman deftly interweaves themes of friendship, identity and the tension between family ties and freedom that adolescence inevitably brings," PW said. Ages 10-up. (June) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

For thirteen-year-old Martha Glimmer, Oak Grove is NOT the place to live. Away from the ocean and receiving little rain each year, the small community is probably the least desirable place, in Martha's view. In fact, for Martha, Oak Grove has little to offer at all. Having lost her mother at twelve, Martha feels that she doesn't fit with the people here, unless it is with her good friends, Trevor and Eli McGill, the adopted sons of Charlie and Kate McGill. There is something strange about the boys￯﾿ﾽtheir webbed feet and hands and their fixation with water￯﾿ﾽhave caused the townspeople to shun them and talk behind their backs, but to Martha they are just simply her friends. When the rains and flood come, however, it is Trevor and Eli who become the heroes. In this hauntingly quiet novella, Hoffman creates characters with feeling and depth that go beyond what is seen by the eye. Young adult readers will be drawn to the story and will follow the Martha and the McGills in their quest for love and acceptance.

VOYA - Deana Rutherford, Teen Reviewer

Indigo was less a book than a short story. Because of its length, there wasn't time to fully develop the characters and events. Some things seemed as though they were thrown in at the last minute, such as the rings from Trout and Eel's mother, who turned out to be a mermaid. (Surprise!) Still, the book was entertaining. It tells a story of finding yourself, but it tells it to a twelve-year-old audience. I'd recommend this book, but only to younger teens. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P M J (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2002, Scholastic, 96p,

KLIATT - Paula Rohrlick

Hoffman follows up her first novella for YAs, Aquamarine, with another short and water-related fantasy tale. Martha, age 13, lives in Oak Grove, where the memory of a terrible flood makes everyone fear anything watery￯﾿ﾽeveryone but Martha's best friends, brothers Trevor and Eli, who are nicknamed Trout and Eel for the webbing between their fingers and toes. They dream of the sea, but their adoptive parents fear they will lose them if they ever return to Ocean City, where they rescued the boys. Meanwhile, Martha's father is still grieving his wife's death, and a neighbor named Hildy Swoon, whom Martha detests, is trying to move into her father's life. The three children plan to run away to Ocean City, but just as they are leaving town a storm comes up, with drenching rain that creates another fearful flood. Trout and Eel, in their element at last, dive into the flood waters and save people in danger, clearing a wall so that the water can flow out of town. The boys retrieve long-lost memories of their mermaid mother, and their adoptive parents move with them to Ocean City. Hildy Swoon is scared out of town by the flood, and Martha's father comes back to his old self. Martha still dreams of going off to become a dancer someday, but she no longer feels the need to run away from Oak Grove. Illustrated with what looks likes indigo-tinted photos, this fairy tale is a dreamy, poignant story of friendship, love, loss, and recovery that will appeal to fantasy lovers. KLIATT Codes: J￯﾿ﾽRecommended for junior high school students. 2002, Scholastic, 84p. illus.,

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