Dark Blue: Color Me Lonely

Kara Hendricks and Jordan Ferguson have been best friends since kindergarten, but that all changes during sophomore year when Jordan becomes a cheerleader and dumps Kara for more popular friends. Feeling betrayed, all Kara can do is sulk, hoping Jordan will take her back, but after a few weeks Kara realizes that this will not be the case. Kara starts eating lunch with an outcast, a goody-two-shoe, and a goth, all who are art geeks, but still feels the pain of losing Jordan. Then, through this unlikely bunch, Kara is introduced to the one true friend who can fill the hole in her heart, God. Dark Blue: Color Me Lonely, by Melody Carlson, was an awesome book that I would recommend to all Christian teen girls. This wonderful page turner was enticing and a fast read. Because it was filled with so much drama, this book was never boring. Also, this book is made up of many short chapters, so each chapter leaves the reader at a place where they just can't stop reading. For example, towards the middle of the book, a chapter ends with Kara running into her room, sobbing, and wishing everything could just end. The beginning of the next chapter explains why she was crying in order to keep the reader hooked. Reading this book taught me a lot about my relationships with other people, as well as my relationship with God. I have learned to value my friendships more and make the most of everyday. Also, although Kara, the main character, only represents one way to live for Christ, I think she sets a good example. From her, I realized that I should pray all the time, not only when something's wrong. I think anyone who reads this book could learn something about relationships or God. I found the characters in this book easy to relate with. I think anyone who has lost a friend or felt lonely or betrayed can relate to Kara. Others, who have lost parents, may be able to relate to another character named Edgar. There are other characters too who have assorted issues, so no matter who the reader is, he or she will be able to relate to some character in someway. I think this make the book more meaningful, enjoyable, and interesting. Dark Blue, by Melody Carlson, is a five star book filled with life lessons. Also, it is a fast read and easy to relate to. Dark Blue is the first book in the Truecolor series, which now has eleven books. Each book in the series is about a different girl and touches on a different issue faced by teens today. I recommend that any teen girl read Dark Blue, as well as the other Truecolor books to learn how to deal with any problems they might have. S. Leser

Melody Carlson has really outdone herself with DARK BLUE: COLOR ME LONELY, book number one in the True Colors Series. Focusing in on real issues that teen girls face, this series is extremely down to earth and in your face with the topics discussed. Right from the start, Carlson creates completely believable characters and situations, with Kara being a somewhat shy teenager who is dumped by her best friend Jordan for the cheerleaders. As Kara finds herself going deeper and deeper into her own loneliness and despair, everything seems more and more hopeless. On the surface, the story feels pretty typical - almost even easy to guess what the ending will be. But that's when Carlson throws in completely unexpected plot twists to completely send this book reeling into "classic Christian fiction" status. Carlson takes some interesting writing approaches in her style for DARK BLUE. From the very beginning, we're sucked into the head of Kara and never leave, feeling every emotion and up and down she feels. Carlson has definitely captured something brilliant here.

Melody Carlson has created an emotional touchstone resource for female teen readers in her series titled True Colors. A prolific author of over seventy books, and mom to two grown sons, Carlson has taken a reminiscent look back at her own teen years to write this story. The result is terrific, and young adults will find Carlson's fiction closer to "true" life than they might anticipate. The story's primary message is based on the excruciatingly painful emotion of loneliness and how it can overwhelm, undermine, and skew the ability to function in a healthy way. Kara Hendricks is a quiet girl, but when outgoing Jordan Ferguson takes her hand (way back in kindergarten) and announces her loyalty, Kara and Jordan become best friends for the better part of eight years. Fast forward to high school: Jordan now announces to the still shy and reticent Kara that she's going to try out for the cheerleading squad. Kara is abhorrent but supportive. Shockingly, Jordan does not make the team, to Kara's clear relief. The following year Jordan will not be dissuaded and tries out a second time; she makes the team, to Kara's obvious discomfort. What follows is not so unusual in the basic fictional formula, where two former best friends take their separate paths --- one's heart is broken (the one left behind) and the other moves on to better and brighter things. This story aptly describes the day-to-day heartaches that Kara experiences as a friend no longer needed or wanted in Jordan's now-popular social set. While the book could read blandly and predictably, Carlson does some creative wordplay and continually draws readers smack-dab into Kara's volatile emotional journey, thus ensuring a lively, engaging read. Using such emotionally charged phrases as "...another part of me is dark blue, and I feel buried alive in a deep and bitter grief," and "I am lonely. Unspeakably lonely. And there is this dull empty ache inside of me. Sometimes I think it might actually kill me. But perhaps that would be a relief," Carlson successfully gets her readers' attention. DARK BLUE: COLOR ME LONELY follows Kara though the school year as she works to survive her emotional funk. She meets new people, slowly engages with them, and learns about true friendship. In the midst of her deepest feelings of despondency, Kara reaches out to God and makes a connection with Christ --- her now "best friend." The author explores Kara's newfound faith tenderly yet with a frank transparency that works well with the current tempo of the entire text. Young adults will not only appreciate the candor with which this topic is explored, they'll find themselves seeing social situations in a whole new (and enlightened) way. --- Reviewed by Michele Howe

As a high school teacher, I'm aware of what teenaged girls like to read. Melody Carlson has another winner of a series started here, and the girls in my school are fighting to check out this first book in this new series. I recommend you pick it up, read it fast, and then donate it to your local high school library.

Kara Hendricks feels like she's lost it all. Her world has collapsed. Her best friend has deserted her, and now she's stuck with the ever-geeky Edgar Peebles for a best friend. She gets picked on and wants to die, until she discovers a friend that will never, ever leave her. Carlson's newest book is a heartwarming novel that is shorter and aimed toward teenage girls. You can't not love it! Dark Blue is a really great book, and it keeps you waiting for the next one to come out (And it does, in April 2004!). This new series comes out faster, every three months, compared to the Diary of a Teenage Girl series. Read this super work of fiction and you will be hooked on the TrueColors series!