Follow the Blue
Brigid Lowry

Allen & Unwin 2001

205p pbk $15.95

ISBN: 1-86508-400-X

Fifteen year old Bec is shocked when her mother Vera, a famous chef and her father Lewis, who has recently returned from hospital, announce they are off to see America. Leaving her and her intelligent, trivia-filled younger brother Josh and lively, animated little sister Bing with a housekeeper, Bec seems to be the only one stressing, and she’s more than a little worried.

But then it hits her. This is and opportunity! She decides that her days of being boring, predictable old Bec are over and it’s time for her to break out. With the help of her new post-box-red-haired friend Jaz and her more than attractive brother, Nick, it’s time for the party to start!

But on this journey of self-discovery, not everything goes according to plan. There’s Mrs D, the nosy housekeeper to worry about, Bec’s first party, Nick, and the small matter of growing up . . .  

Follow the Blue is Brigid Lowry’s fourth novel for teenagers, and is written with style, humour and an uncanny understanding of the minds of young adults. Blurring genres, and in the form of diary entries, postcards, lists, and memories – it is impossible not to love, hate, sympathise and identify with Brigid Lowry’s incredibly realistic, human characters.

A tapestry of summer colours, Follow the Blue is a sparkling energetic story, told with brilliant, descriptive style. Definitely worth a second, third or even fourth look (not to mention first).

Dirty Rotten Tricks by Simon Cheshire is a comic story about a boy who tricks a con man (who had stolen a million-dollar painting) into trading it for a dud.  The boy and his friends go to extraordinary lengths to retrieve the painting and they have a hilarious and devious journey.

Children of all ages would love to read this story because the storyline is absurdly fast and humorous, just what kids who are aged between 8 and 14 like. I liked this story because it is funny and because the characters go to extraordinary lengths to solve their problems.  If you read the book I hope you like it too.

Tomas, aged 13, Canberra, ACT

This book relates the events of a short time span in a teenage girl’s life. Her name is Bec, she’s fifteen and she and her friends are just discovering boys and love.  Bec falls for one of her friends’ brothers, but ends up kissing one of his friends and feeling very confused.  To make things worse her parents go on a book tour leaving her and her brother Josh, and sister Bing, with a housekeeper that Bec doesn’t particularly like. 

Follow the Blue is written in a style, which appeals to all ages from early teens to adult.  The romance genre tends to be popular with many readers, and teenagers in particular have to cope with many of the challenges dealt with in this story.

Overall Follow the Blue is easy to read and excellent for all ages.  Personally I think this book opens the area of love to the reader and is a must read story.

Life has many options; strings of all different colours are there to be followed and even though you have no way of knowing which one is correct, you must choose. The colours will tangle and entwine and merge, some strands will be easier to follow than others, but whichever you choose you will arrive eventually. Bec, the main character in the story, chooses blue.  Bec is a happy hard working and sensible teenager, but after her father suffers a breakdown, and her parents decide to go away, leaving her with a nanny, she wants to change her life. She gets rid of the old Bec and invents an entirely new exciting and wild version. She throws wild parties, gets involved with boys and discovers what life is really about.

Follow the Blue is a funny, interesting and moving novel. Brigid Lowry creates down to earth, amusing characters who are always willing to share their feelings with the reader in such a way that after reading the novel you feel a closeness to the characters as though you could easily know them. This book shows and deals with the everyday issues of teenage life. The characters face various problems and all have a unique way of dealing with then. Although not all of their methods are successful, this book shows young readers that it's okay to make mistakes.    I found this book to be a great read and would recommend it to anyone especially young adolescents.

The day Bec’s father came out of hospital was the day Begonia disappeared. Everything seemed to happen from then, that hazy summer, and now all that has melted into one, like an ice cream that some clumsy kid dropped in the heat . . . . . but now looking back, I can see everything happened just the way it was supposed to.

Follow The Blue tells the story of fifteen-year-old Bec. The past year has been hard; first, her father had his breakdown. Then her parents went away leaving a daggy housekeeper in their place. Bec gets sick of being sensible and good, she wants to be wild. So she dyes her hair, throws her first party, oh and then there’s the boy thing.

Follow The Blue is both a funny and touching story which explores many issues that teens face, I found some parts really easy to relate to and I’m sure most readers between 13 and 17 would. Overall I give this novel an 8 out of 10.