Born Blue
Despite her natural talent for singing, 6-year-old Janie knows deep in  her heart that if you really want to sing and feel the blues, you gotta be  black. Aren't the tapes of the "ladies"--Aretha, Etta, and Billie--that she  listens to every night in the stinking basement of her first foster home proof  enough of that? So the scrawny, blond-haired, blue-eyed child of a heroin addict  changes her name to Leshaya, decides that her unknown father was African  American, and shuts down all feeling; only allowing the sorrow of her hard life  to escape when she opens her mouth to sing. Raised by addicts and drug dealers,  Leshaya trusts no one and loves nothing except her music: "Didn't need nobody  else. I could make love to my own self with that sound ridin' the beat."  Finally, after surviving several foster homes, a harrowing heroin withdrawal,  and an unwanted pregnancy, 16-year-old Leshaya finds a band and ends up with a  single on the radio. But can even that be enough for a girl so hungry for love  that she looks everywhere for it except the one place she's sure to find  it--within herself?National Book Award recipient Han Nolan's fifth novel is an emotional stunner.  Like Brock Cole's equally hauntingThe Facts Speak for Themselves,Born Blueis an unflinching look at a girl forced to grow up too fast in  a callous world. Nolan's raw portrayal of Leshaya may hurt to read, but like a  recently healed broken heart, it's a good pain. (Ages 14 and older)--Jennifer Hubert--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.