A Solitary Blue

Tillerman Cycle #3

by Cynthia Voigt

Jeff Greene was only seven when Melody, his mother, left him with his reserved, undemonstrative father, the Professor. So when she reenters his life years later with an invitation to spend the summer with her in Charleston, Jeff is captivated by her free spirit and warmth, and he eagerly looks forward to returning for another visit the following year.

But Jeff's second summer in Charleston ends with a devastating betrayal, and he returns to his father wounded almost beyond bearing. But out of Jeff's pain grows a deepening awareness of the unexpected and complicated ways of love and loss and of family and friendship -- and the strength to understand his father, his mother, and especially himself.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Coming Of Age, Teen

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1983

About the author

Cynthia Voigt is an American author of books for young adults dealing with various topics such as adventure, mystery, racism and child abuse.


Awards:
Angus and Sadie: the Sequoyah Book Award (given by readers in Oklahoma), 2008
The Katahdin Award, for lifetime achievement, 2003
The Anne V. Zarrow Award, for lifetime achievement, 2003
The Margaret Edwards Award, for a body of work, 1995
Jackaroo: Rattenfanger-Literatur Preis (ratcatcher prize, awarded by the town of Hamlin in Germany), 1990
Izzy, Willy-Nilly: the Young Reader Award (California), 1990
The Runner: Deutscher Jungenliteraturpreis (German young people's literature prize), 1988
Zilverengriffel (Silver Pen, a Dutch prize), 1988
Come a Stranger: the Judy Lopez Medal (given by readers in California), 1987
A Solitary Blue: a Newbery Honor Book, 1984
The Callender Papers: The Edgar (given by the Mystery Writers of America), 1984
Dicey's Song: the Newbery Medal, 1983

Reviews

[Charlotte May · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

Yes! The Tillerman Cycle is so bloody good! 😊

Book number 3 in this series moves us away from the Tillerman family, and we meet Jeff and his father. Jeff refers to his father as 'the Professor' and they aren't overly close, when Jeff's mother has finally had enough and leaves them behind, Jeff is lost. He quickly decides to just get on with things, that his mother's abandonment 'doesn't make any difference' to him.
But a few years later when his mother gets in touch to invite Jeff to visit her in her hometown for the Summer, Jeff jumps at the chance to leave behind his stuffy and unemotional father and be reunited with his mother.
He has a wonderful summer, meeting his peculiar great-grandmother, Gambo and his Aunts, exploring Charleston and discovering his family heritage. Jeff cannot wait to return the following year.
However, the second time around isn't half as magical as Jeff had hoped. His mother is never around, constantly off with a new boyfriend & regularly borrowing money from young Jeff. His Gambo has changed as well -negative and grumpy and not interested in Jeff at all.
The entire second trip serves as a wake up call for Jeff and we see how unhealthy his relationship with his mother is and how toxic she truly is for him.

It was refreshing to read a story in which the mother is the problem and the father is supportive and caring. Usually the father's are always portrayed as the bad guy. The characters were well written, with plenty of depth. Both the parents had flaws and weaknesses, as well as good traits, so there is no good guy/bad guy.
I also loved finding out how Jeff ties in with the Tillerman family. I got about half way through when it clicked for me and I remembered who he was.
Wonderful writing, wonderful characters, wonderful story. Onto book 4!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third installment in the Tillerman Cycle, A Solitary Blue, follows Jeff, who was a side character in the previous book in the series, Dicey's Song. We follow Jeff over the course of about ten years, starting at age seven up until around age 17. Jeff is left struggling to deal with the abandonment of his mother, Melody, and grapples with this event with his reserved professor father.

I loved Jeff’s character growth as an individual and also the transformation in the relationship with his father. I also enjoyed the emphasis of personal interests that are not necessarily academic, namely music, nature, and boats, in juxtaposition to Jeff’s father’s more academic interests.

Voigt is a master storyteller when it comes to portraying family dynamics and personal relationships. Additionally, the vivid nature descriptions and appearances by the Tillerman children from the first two books made A Solitary Blue a riveting continuation in the series.

[Lisa Findley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is possibly my favorite book of the Tillerman Cycle. As ever, Cynthia Voigt's story and language are beautifully interdependent. Jeff's growth from terrified little boy to self-assured young man is by no means easy or without twists and turns, and he reaches that point after heartache and several reevalutations of himself and the other people in his life -- so it's like real life, something Voigt writes about with assurance.

I also like A Solitary Blue because I first read it when I was just starting to want to be a hippie (back at age 12), and Melanie was a warning to me to focus on being a decent person first and an activist second, because if you can't love the people in your daily life, you can't be fully committed to the people you're trying to help in far-flung corners of the world.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was too bowled over by Dicey's Song to write much about it. I'm bowled over again, and I didn't think that was possible with a followup novel, so I'm going to try - probably unsuccessfully - to chronicle a little bit of Voigt's skill.

I suppose the place to start is the writing. It's spectacular because every single word is deliberate. When Voigt spends three paragraphs describing a room, it's not because she thinks she needs to elaborate on its setting. It's because she's allowing tension to build the way it might if you, too, were sitting in the room, and avoiding looking anywhere in particular by looking over a room's details. When she describes actions, it's because they're important: because someone is avoiding speaking, for example. Because there's a pause in which you might notice what's taking place. Nothing is simply "because that's what books do," or how she might be expected to write. Everything matters.

And because the story is so carefully told, everything is heightened: Jeff's horrific family situation - the way he's too young to figure it out initially - the way things become clear in retrospect - and the way he begins applying his hard-won knowledge to future situations. Voigt doesn't need to call this Jeff's coming-of-age. I watched it happen as I read. It's amazing stuff. Amazing.

And then there's the way it interplays with Dicey's Song, which took the novel from amazing to stratospheric. (I kept thinking, as I read this, about the Newbery committee, which had to consider this book on its own. Their loss.) There's not only the way Jeff shares a teacher with Dicey, a teacher immediately identifiable (Voigt must have known she had a great supporting character there; some of this series' most powerful moments happen in that English class). There's also the impression of Jeff I had from the previous book, of someone really decent and uncomplicated who'd balance Dicey out. Well, it's obvious from the start that Jeff isn't uncomplicated, but that impression stuck so strongly that I was sure he'd worked out his family situation by the time the Tillermans showed up. That he hadn't - that the story kept going when the Tillermans showed up - that Jeff managed to be the Jeff from Dicey's Song and the Jeff from A Solitary Blue with his family dynamics - is nothing short of spectacular.

I'm not doing this justice at all. Take Chappelle and his essay, where Jeff stays cool as a cucumber, as Phil puts it, despite what he calls his knowledge of how fragile he is - because he clearly identifies what's making Chappelle tick, just the way Melody does - I have no words. There is such skill here. Someone needs to write a thesis on coming-of-age and how teenagers make decisions: because they learned what to do from the adults in their lives, and because they learned what not to do. Because they remember mistaken impressions from when they were younger, and how those impressions changed when they got a little older. That's what this book is about.

Incidentally, Phil is great; his analysis of Chappelle as someone who should have outgrown his behavior is precisely the sort of flash of insight teenagers come out with all the time.

Jeff also finds out about his father over the course of the book, because his father is learning, too. Jeff's initial impressions of his father from the Jasons, who don't like his father's head-of-department role, being contradicted by the publication of his book -

I don't know how Voigt nails these details, but her books are emotional powerhouses as a result.

A couple of other guys, one from English, the other from science, struck him as more interesting than the rest. He couldn't have said why, precisely. Phil Milson, in English, was pretty funny, without being a clown about it. They were talking about stories by then, and Phil usually had some unusual angle on a story, which the teacher didn't appreciate. But Phil was funny in a subtle way, which Chappelle, the teacher, didn't always get, Jeff suspected, along with most of the rest of the class. Then Andy Barrows in science always had questions and questions and questions, why and how. Listening to his questions and the answers he got, Jeff learned a lot more than the book taught. He wondered how Andy figured out what questions to ask. He didn't talk to either of those two, they had their own friends, but they made his school day more interesting.

I don't know how she does it: she talks about Jeff just as much as his friends here, and she does it so subtly. Then there's the way she interweaves Dicey in (it's not just through the shared teacher, and it's not just through actual interaction):

Jeff took six classes, five academic courses and mechanical drawing. He hadn't wanted to take mechanical drawing, he'd wanted to take home economics - after all, the way they lived, that would have been really useful to him, cooking and sewing. But the guidance counselor told him he couldn't recommend home ec, not to a boy and new to the area, there was an unwritten policy.

I read that thinking, DICEY WAS RIGHT. And that paragraph has so much more impact if you know Dicey was refused a spot in mechanical drawing.

And then there's Jeff's mother. I've managed to go paragraphs without mentioning her, and the truth is I'll never be able to capture her as well as Voigt does. I'm not even going to try. But the way you, along with Jeff, realize the extent of her manipulation - I mean, by the time she tries to denigrate the Professor because he didn't notice Jeff was sick, she's so clearly so much worse than the Professor's neglect that the contrast is jarring. Back when Jeff got bronchial pneumonia, he hadn't even been to Charleston yet. And the way Voigt describes her lies in passing, through comments other people make - and the way they often go right over Jeff's head, first because he's too young to pick up on the nuances, and then because he's too hurt over them - but the way they're so clear to the reader, especially if you're looking for them -

The decision he makes in the end, to finally say goodbye, as it were, is bittersweet, which feels appropriate; after all, there are years and years of dashed hopes and elation and betrayals, and shutting the door shouldn't be simple (and isn't; he gives up a lot). But he's right, and it demonstrates the significance of the decision he makes: he knows what real treasure is. And he makes his choice.

One last thing: the way Voigt describes those solitary blue herons, those changing descriptions? Also spectacular. This book is a miracle of perfect construction.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

From my back door I can see a pond. Sometimes a solitary blue heron will visit the pond, a reclusive bird that stalks along the edge of the water. If you approach the heron, it immediately takes flight. I find the bird fascinating. Now I realize that one of the reasons I find blue herons so fascinating is that I read this book 20 years ago.

Jeff Green is like the solitary blue heron. He was deserted at age 7 by his immature and manipulative mother, and left alone by his emotionally distant professor father. When his mother returns to his life, he is torn between the two as he tries to grasp who each member of his family is (including himself!). How can you tell who loves you? How can you protect yourself from manipulation, and still show love?

Weighty matters for a child's book, but grim as the subject may be, I suspect it is not an unusual situation.

Voigt is an excellent author. The book can be a stand-alone (I didn't suspect it was part of series when I first read it). However, those who are fans of the Homecoming series will appreciate seeing the character Dicey again, and from an new point of view.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and sobering illustration of why isolation is so seductive in times of pain or brokenness; equally compelling in its call for healing through connections with others. This novel was probably the most genuine and nuanced piece of writing I read in my youth, and it taught me as much about character (both having it and lacking it) as any of the classics.

[Lars Guthrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third in the Tillerman Cycle and the third I've revisited in audio. It looks like there are no more in audio, which is disappointing.

It's the first in the Tillerman Cycle to turn its focus away from Dicey Tillerman and her family, and previews the way Voigt will interweave the different stories, for it is here we find the beginnings of a concrete 'Dicey's Song.'

That's not the only connection to the first two books, but this one is a far more stand-alone project. It tells Jeff Greene's story. He's a friend Dicey makes in her first year in school in Crisfield, Maryland. But Voigt takes us back long before then. Suffice it to say that Jeff has had as interesting a life as Dicey's, with as many obstacles.

So you don't have to know 'Homecoming' or "Dicey's Song,' to get swept up in 'A Solitary Blue,' but knowing them will enhance the book immeasurably, and made for some gasps of surprise and admiration on my part.

One of the marks of great fiction is characters who completely surprise you without going out of character. Another is sharp-eyed observation of just the right amount of detail to convey atmosphere. And language, evocative and lucid. Cynthia Voigt succeeds on all counts. Jeff, his family, and each person he meets, are recognizable but never stereotypical, and Voigt is a poet of shopping malls, and herons in flight. 'A Solitary Blue' will move you.

Highly recommended.

[Chy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a red “Scholastic” band at the bottom of the cover and a pretty silver coin that says “Newberry Honor Book” above that. You know what that means. Yes. Another young adult book. Kiss my ass; it��s what I wanted to read.

The book kicks off with Jeff’s mom, Melody, gone—having left a note to him about the work she has to do to save the world. Oh yes, hippy to the extreme. Then we meet Jeff’s dad and he was cold. I did not like him. Despite Melody’s abandonment, I wanted to meet her because she seemed full of the kind of love Jeff needed.

Then Jeff goes to spend a summer with her and it seems great. A couple of minor things happen that made me narrow my eyes at her, but she spent time with Jeff and that was the important part. I kept forgiving her for things that, in hindsight, should have slapped me in the face. I love that, because I think that’s pretty much how Jeff ends up feeling as well. It’s not until the next summer that we saw how crappy of a mom she really is, but in that time a friend of the Professor’s (Jeff’s dad) helps him become a better father.

After that, Jeff and his father move out beside the water, near the habitat of some blue herons like the ones Jeff was taken with during his second summer with his mom. Jeff really started his journey to self-discover that summer, when his mom and grandmother ignored him and left him to his own devices. He found himself an island—physically and figuratively—and it took his dad and a new life to bring him off it. Figuratively.


And I’ll tell you what I really think:

Scenery/Setting: The house Jeff and his father live in up until they move to the cabin is always dark. I don’t know that Voigt saw it that way, but that’s how she showed it to me. I really felt it. And I really felt Jeff’s great-grandmother’s mansion, where his mother lived.

Hell, I felt it all. Even the inner island that the physical island helped Jeff create. It wasn’t the richest of feelings, but it served its purpose. I can’t complain.

Characters: Yay! It’s not in first person! But it is a third person that’s limited to Jeff. Which was good. It let me see his mom and dad the way he did. And it let me see him grow up. Unlike Pelzer’s nonfiction, I never wondered how old Jeff was. I had an idea of it all the time. How silly is that? I guess it’s not silly at all when you take into stock that I’m a woman and this book is written by a woman. There must be subtle things at work there I’m not aware of. I’m comfortable with that. Sure. I am. Honest.

I really liked this kid. His reactions and everything are very believable, if not a leetle swayed by the feminine touch. But even that’s forgivable, because of the mom aspect.

Now, that mom is something else. I’ve known people just like her. She flits about, talking about saving the planet and the starving children of Zanzakanorbileansgoria, but she ignores the real people in her life. It’s a weird form of selfishness in the guise of selflessness and it makes my chest burn. Bleh. But the portrayal is fantastic.

My favorite character is Jeff’s dad. At first, I wanted to grab him and shake him because of the “it doesn’t make any difference” attitude he was teaching his son, especially when I had the two of them saying that all the time. I wanted to hurl the book across the room every time I felt that phrase coming on. But then, a strange thing happened—I start to see him the way he really is. He’s struggling and hurting and he really, really loves his son. It’s the best change of impression I’ve seen in a long time. And it contrasts so well with the opposite change of heart in Melody. Really good stuff.

There are a couple of others that are great, too. Brother Thomas’s presence is good for Jeff and the Professor. He shows them where they are blind and adds just the element of friendship the book needed. He’s good people.

Then, there’s Dicey. She doesn’t come until later and her situation and family is an inspiring story in and of itself. I find it hard to go into her because she’s such a rich character, she might actually take over the review. Upon looking up the ISBN number on Amazon for my WDC product review, I see that the other two books in this series are actually about Dicey, so I guess there’s a good excuse for her nearly stealing the show. This also explains why a lot of Jeff’s interaction with her family seems to be skipped over. I just found out I came in on the third book of Dicey’s trilogy. Wups!

Plot: This is one of those where the plot is about the characters growing. I feel like I’ve gone over all that, but not the progression of it.

I really enjoyed the aspects of this book, but so much was fast-forwarded I kept getting frustrated. Just as I was settling into some new view of Jeff’s life, it got ripped out from underneath me as we all got fast-forwarded into the future. I’d be looking forward to something that was going to happen, then Voigt would skip ahead and talk about how it had already happened and there was only a sentence’s worth of explanation about it.

The main one that ticked me off was the Professor’s book. I can’t for the life of me remember what the Professor was a professor of. It’s not important—the important thing is that I don’t know what his damn book was about. I was okay with this at first. Because the Professor told Jeff he could read it when he was “old enough.” Well, when the Professor gives Jeff a copy of the book for Christmas, I was all excited. Woo! I thought, I finally get to know this book that Voigt keeps bringing up is about.

Then, nothing. Jeff says he’s honored when he sees the book is dedicated to him and then he reads it. But nothing. It’s forgotten. I don’t get a hint about its subject and I certainly didn’t get to any reaction or thoughts from Jeff on it. It just gets dropped, after chapters of build-up.

The hell? I griped, scowling at the book. But no amount of complaining on my part changed the print—the reaction to the Professor’s book was still missing. This is what I obsessed over. This is what has stayed with me even now.

Overall: There were some really good things about this book that, from a writer’s standpoint, I really appreciated. If I were reading this as strictly a reader, I’d feel silly because it is geared toward younger readers.

I’m glad I read it, just for the change in perception of the mother and father. And the way Jeff grew page by page. That was good stuff, even if it was rushed and there were gaps here and there. I actually think it gets better the further away from it I get. If you catch my meaning.

[Josiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this book I came to the conclusion that Cynthia Voigt could do no wrong and she was, in all likelihood, a perfect author and perfect human.

Well, I nearly felt that way after reading through A Solitary Blue!

I never thought any book in The Tillerman Cycle could surpass Dicey's Song, and perhaps this one did not surpass it, but it did come shockingly close.

This is one of the fullest and most richly resonant novels about the power of feelings that has ever been written, by ANYONE. My heart broke a dozen times (and more) while reading this as I experienced the pain that Jeff felt from loving his mother and slowly coming to realize that her love for him was just not the same. This book will resound in the mind of anyone who has ever had their heart broken, or even been sad (so, everyone).

The storyline was almost unfathomably deep and fully realized, par for the course when it comes to books written by Cynthia Voigt. As is the case for Dicey's Song, A Solitary Blue truly ranks up there with the greatest books that I have read in my entire life. It is a special journey I urge everyone not to miss.

[Jenny Leiva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure going in how I would like this book since the story was no longer about the Tillermans, but it was such a strong story and Jeff and his dad were such interesting characters that it didn’t matter. Sometimes during the story I just wanted to shake Jeff (or the Professor or Melody) so they would change how they were acting, but since I couldn’t do that, I had to let them figure things out on their own. I was glad when the Tillermans came back into the story, but I was also glad that the story didn’t become about them; it was Jeff’s story the whole time. I’m starting to think that I’ll read the whole series now.

[Chantal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book number 3 in this series, I really did like this story. It was a really sad story, but a great addition to the book series. You know get a better idea of who he is. A beautiful and sobering illustration of why isolation is so helpfull in times of pain or brokennes.

[Daisy May Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I tweeted about reading this book, I said that Cynthia Voigt was increasingly proving to be all that I want from a writer. I'd written about my fairly recent discovery of her work , a journey which had made me fall in love with her crisp and clean writing, so full of clarity and heart and texture at every inch, and I had realised that I would read more of her work. And so I did, for some things are inevitable and Voigt's writing makes me ache with an absolute jealous and love for it is perfect. I don't quite understand how she can find the emotional nuance of a moment and exploit it, so acutely, without you even noticing what she's doing. It is magic, perfect stuff.

I've read much of the Tillerman saga out of order, picking them up from charity shops and libraries as and when circumstance allowed. I'm conscious that there is an order but I rather love this way of discovering her world, of discovering the echoes within it. A name pops up that's familiar or a circumstance and suddenly the book becomes a panopticon and I'm stood in the middle of a moment seeing it from a thousand different angles. On a practical level, I'm dazzled by Voigt's efficacy and memory, but on an emotional level, I'm in the scene and living every inch of it.

What's particularly remarkable about A Solitary Blue is that it's a story of becoming, told in a way that I don't think many other stories are. Jeff's mother leaves him when he is seven and a half years old. Melody leaves a shattered world behind her: a boy coming to terms with the trauma of her leaving and, as we soon learn, her husband engaged in very much a similar state of affairs. But that's what Melody does, she leaves shards behind her and they cut. Jeff deals with this by withdrawing so far that he might be nothing more than a dot, until the world and his father and life and Dicey Tillerman start to pull him back.

Voigt has an eye for adolescence and for rendering the complexities of life with such a subtle, sure hand. There are great stretches of quiet here, punctuated only by the briefest and most telling of detail, and it's beautiful. I read this after Sons from Afar and found some sharp commonalities between the two texts; though Sons From Afar is later, it still has that nuanced, soft, gentle understanding of life and the problems it can throw at you. Of young boys learning who and what they are and what they can be, even when the world works against them.

A Solitary Blue makes me envious and happy in almost equal measure, and this series reminds me how painterly writing can be. Every time I find one in a shop, it shines like gold.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really did like this story. After-the-fact, it turned out to be a re-read for me. This story starts out with a shock and breaks your heart with wave after wave of uNina Gina be happenings, for me at least. I could not believe a mother could do what she does to her son in this story.

The young man and his father in this story really wrapped themselves around my heart. It was so sad in the beginning. It took a long time, but the story unfolded so wonderfully, and the characters grew into such wonderful people that it was hard to let them go at the end.

Cynthia Voigt can create such beautiful settings for her stories, that you feel, hear, and smell everything right along with her characters.

[Katy Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is very hard to write a review for this book. It is like writing a review of a point in my life or of a person you have been. This is the first book I read that really mattered. Not an escapist book but a book that reached down and saw me where I was in life and said "you are not alone." I have been Jeff and Dicey and part of me will always be them.

[Ashlie aka The Cheerbrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

In One Word: Redemptive
Cannonball Read Bingo Square: Old Series

So far, Jeff is a boy at school, who plays guitar and sings and has begrudgingly caught Dicey's eye. This book takes us back in time in Jeff's story, and we learn how he and his father came to live in Crisfield. It was a really interesting take on the series, to focus on Jeff (who we just met in the second book, and has so far been of periphery interest to Dicey the main character) and make him the protagonist. The split in this book was about 80% Jeff and 20% the Tillerman family but because we already know the Tillerman's so well, their inclusion is seamless.

As for Jeff, he has earned his loner status fair and square, with a father who struggles to find his way and a mother who is the textbook definition of "piece of work" he does all he cans to make no waves. I challenge you to try to read about Jeff's manipulative, selfish, narcissistic mother without clenching your jaw. She does a number on him and then does it over and over AND OVER again. It's been a while since there was a fictional character I so thoroughly wanted to shake. Especially as a mother myself, it was hard to see him feel so discarded and question his own self-worth. But that's what I like about Voigt: she doesn't shy away from big feelings and hard topics and delivers impressive deep books that kids and adults alike can appreciate.

In Part Two of the book, once Jeff and his father move to Crisfield we see the Tillerman's from his point of view, as he moves from being a spectator of his own life to an active participant in the world around him. There was a neat moment of connection where we learn that Jeff really wanted to take home economics, not mechanical drawing (as we know from book 2 of Dicey's frustration with home economics because she wanted to take mechanical drawing) so Voight is already having these characters pull toward each other and sprinkle a bit of "opposites attract" foreshadowing in before they really have even met. In the end, we are back with the Tillerman's ready for them to be the focus of the next book, as both Jeff and Dicey learn to expand their circles and let others in.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading the other laudatory reviews for this book I feel a bit guilty for giving it only 3 stars. However, I just didn't find Melody to be a believable character. In the first half of the book I was very empathetic with Jeff, my heart aching for him, but the second summer in Charleston stretched my credulity too thin. I can't accept that Melody could spend two or three days with him in the entire summer and still conceive of herself as any kind of mother. Maybe I just have limited real-life experience with morally bankrupt people. I was also frustrated with Jeff's passivity, especially following Melody's visit to Crisfield, and how he lets everything in his life go until he processes his FEELINGS. I did appreciate how unusual his character is in YA novels, however, especially contrasted with Dicey. Overall I found the book beautifully written, compelling, but a bit too heavy-handed.

[Xan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reaches into my heart and holds. It always has, from the first time I read it, when I was quite young. It is the closest I have ever come to reading a character's POV and voice that matched who I was, and how I thought, and how I felt, as a child and I treasure it for that. I wouldn't call it my *favorite* book--it's too painful a read for that. But it is the book that reflects me the most, on the inside, as I was growing up, essential aspects of what my childhood was like and how I survived it.

Books like that are important and rare. I continually look for mirrors and visions of who I am and who I could be in books, and almost never find them. I'm glad to have read it again, the first book I finished in 2016.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not a book I read in childhood, but re-reading the first two in this series, which were childhood faves and are still really great, made me want to read this series all the way through.
Voigt is really good at writing about children and abandonment, and also about the complexities of family. I felt so sorry for Jeff, the narrator, but then felt really proud of him when he comes into his own by the end of the book. I was totally invested. And of course, even though it's pretty rare to find them, I always like re-reading the same scenes from the POV of different characters, so the repeats from Dicey's Song were enjoyable. Next!

[Elsa K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another 4.5 stars. I didn't think I would enjoy this one as much as it focuses on Jeff Greene, a friend of the Tillermans. But I got so sucked into his story I didn't even miss the other characters! Can I just say Jeff's mom gives me the creeps? I enjoyed getting to see the Tillermans more in the end, but thought the story stood alone well without them. These are powerful stories and themes for young adults (and grown-ups too)!

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is one of my favorite books of all time! I have read it over and over and never tire of it. I love the way Cynthia Voigt writes and enjoyed all the books in the Tillerman series!

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Solitary Blue is the 3rd book in Cynthia Voigt’s outstanding Tillerman Cycle. I was a little disappointed when I started the book because the focus is on Jeff Green instead of one of the Tillerman children. But I quickly became interested in Jeff’s sad life. His mother had deserted him and his father when he was only 7 years old. His mother moved back to her wealthy family in Charleston. Jeff’s father is a college professor in Baltimore. Jeff is cared for by part time help until he enters sixth grade when his father tells him he is old enough to take care of himself and the house. Jeff is a quiet, good kid who takes care of the household and cooking to keep his father happy. Two things happen to change Jeff’s life. His father’s friend, Brother Thomas, starts visiting and points out how lonely and neglected Jeff is. And then his mother writes and wants Jeff to come to Charleston and spend the summer with her. Jeff’s first summer with his mother was a golden time for him. His mother lives with her grandmother, Jeff’s great-grandmother. Jeff loves the beauty of their home and going out to explore Charleston on his own. Jeff is eager to return the following summer, but his second visit is disappointing. His great-grandmother has had a stroke and doesn’t want to have anything to do with him. His mother has a boyfriend and spends the entire summer traveling with him, leaving Jeff alone in Charleston. When Jeff returns home, he is unable to focus on school. His father and Brother Thomas make some changes to his life – which is where he meets the Tillerman children.
This is such a great series! The stories are complex and heartbreaking and it’s wonderful to see children overcoming obstacles and finding happiness in their lives.

[Amanda Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book of growing up, self-realization, growth and so much more.
The book starts with Jeff at age seven when his mom leaves him and his father. For most of his life, Jeff thought of how not to upset "The professor" (never his father) and just to skate through day by day. School didn't really intrigue him, he didn't do much else except what he thought would make the Professor happy. Until one summer when he was eleven. His mother wanted him to come visit. After an credible summer, Jeff thought things would be different-- maybe him and his mother could have a relationship, bond over guitar and other things. he was mistaken. As the book continues, Jeff realizes how his mother didn't understand what love was, didn't understand about family, responsibility or anything truly substantial. He grew to love her for who she was especially as he began to grow and realize what was important in life, what made him happy and how his life would be shaped. This was a really great message at the end of the book and it reminds me a bit of A Prayer for Owen Meaney.
This explores family dynamics well, how we grow to love our parents and how we see them. It explores friendships and solidarity and what it means to be yourself.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third book in the Tillerman family series kept me riveted! I loved "Dicey's Song" and "Homecoming" and had to read this next one also.

Jeff Greene has a dysfunctional family (in the years when the term was not widely used). His mother abandons him when he is only in the second grade, leaving him a note to find (that he can read himself), when he gets home from school. (If that shocks you, just wait... there is more). Jeff is left with a scarred, emotionally distant father and an upbringing that causes him to rely on his own resources.

Some of the novel challenges reality, to be honest, as this young boy seems to do most of the cooking and cleaning (?) Those paragraphs are short, and deservedly so, as the author herself must have found it difficult to describe what the intervening years are like for Jeff. Most of the book is the story of Jeff's mother coming back into the picture once he is older, and her attempts at re-forging relationships, motives, and the interplay of this broken family.

The author is very talented at getting into the heart of her characters! Dicey shows up once again in this story but this time we see her from Jeff's perspective. Jeff visits his mother's family during his summer vacations and has to make choices as he matures and begins to realize that everything is not as it seems.

Not just a coming-of-age story, this young-adult novel addresses so many issues; among them, what family is and is not, how we cope with emotional wounds, and how to find who we are when circumstances are less than perfect. Jeff finds solace and release as he is gifted a guitar and discovers he has a talent worth developing.

Loved it (even though I was so mad at Melody, Jeff's mother! : ) and can't wait to read the next one in the series.

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books from growing up. I just recently re-read it and it still holds the same power and depth I remember. The vibrancy and nuances of the characters are so well done I can imagine meeting them in real life. Voigt’s character development and plotting are wonderful, much better than many of the books I’ve read in the past two years (and I’ve read a lot of books). I recognize there are themes in the book that are close to my heart so that may also be why this story resonates so strongly with me. Regardless, I want to go back and re-experience the entire Tillerman series now.

[Yami · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book on a whim not knowing that I already own the first one in the trilogy,by the time I realised that ,I was already engrossed in the pages..I couldn't pause and pick the first one,and it didn't matter anyway, as for the novel I loved Jeffie , respected the professor,and hated Melody. and really liked brother Thomas
I liked how calm it felt, you can feel the solitary and solitude. and it feels calm enough and with a slow pace ,it is almost relaxing, but sometimes I felt so sorry for Jeffie ,his "sorrys" broke my heart esp in the beginning.
and it is funny how your prospective changes and the truth reveals.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars. Beautiful, poignant, and quietly powerful. This exploration of relationships within a family (mostly dysfunctional) caught my attention and I read it almost straight through. This is part of a series of books about the Tillerman family, and I intend to read the other books. Although, ironically, near the end there are references to the Tillerman family, and I thought that was the only clunky part of the book. Their inclusion seemed out of step with the rest of the story. But, the writing style was so engaging that I will definitely read the rest of the books in the series.

[Zainab · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book "A Solitary Blue" is about a kid named Jeff and how his life was progressing. This book talked about the Tillermans and how Jeff slowly started to meet them. "A Solitary Blue" is actually very amusing and it doesn't have to be read with the other books. It is a very good book in my opinion and if you are looking for something to read I would recommend this because if you find it enjoyable then you can continue with the other books that have some relation to this one.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am continuing my project of re-reading books I read as a kid during the summer vaca. A Solitary Blue is a solid entry in the Tillerman series, but I wished there had been more of Dicey and the Tillermans in it.

This books centers on Jeff Greene, Dicey's friend.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every time I finish a book in this series I feel like it’s my new favorite of the cycle. Jeff came alive in this telling. I want to go and sit on the dock and just visit with him and the professor. Melody, I’d like to push off the dock.

[Kimberly Lavoie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solitary Blue is quite possibly one of the saddest stories I have ever read. The writing is solid, and the characters evolve in such a way that the reader practically folds into themselves to keep up. It is really the story of human tenacity and resilience, and the fragility of love.