California Blue [Hardcover]

David Klass (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 199 pages
• Publisher: Demco Media (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0606087095
• ISBN-13: 978-0606087094
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,066,809 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Family Relationships, Ecology and Industry, October 26, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: California Blue (Paperback)

Young John Rodgers enjoys tramping through the forest of sequoias in his home town, Kiowa. This forest is home to the small town's lumber mill and home to a rare species of butterfly found by John. Should he fight with ecologists to preserve the forest and the rare species or should he stand by his family and the whole town of lumber workers? To further complicate John's decision, his father has leukemia. John and his father have always had a tumultuous relationship but can John turn his back on his family in such dire circumstances? _California Blue_ by David Klass, explores family relationships and ecology versus industry conflicts. The young adult novel has a compelling storyline that can hold an adult's interest as well as youth. This book also gave me a new perspective on ecology issues. At a town meeting, one question asked was, "What does it [the butterfly] do that's important? If it died out, who would miss it? What right does it have to exist?" Being from the city and not a scientist, I guess I never realized that when people are against saving a species, they are fighting for their livelihood, for a way of life they have known for years. Is the spotted owl more important than people's lives? This may seem an obvious question to some but _California Blue_ transformed this question to a reality for me. An excellent novel, not just for the young

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that makes you question . . ., November 28, 2000

By 

Reading teacher "jojomitty" (South Dakota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: California Blue (Paperback)

I teach this book in my upper-level Reading class. It is a marvelous book with a quiet voice that subtly makes you question your attitudes about animals, the environment, industry, realtionships, and nature. This is not an action-packed thriller, which is a turn-off for some kids--at first. I have found that once they get into the story and realize the questions it brings up, they really enjoy it.

I live in a community where hunting is a major pasttime. This book offers the hunters (and those who are against it) different perspectives on the issues of animal rights and the preservation of nature. This book leads to LIVELY discussions and arguments. I highly recommend it for young adults as well as those of us who are older.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Conservation Vs. Employment, June 9, 2007

By 

A. Luciano (Lowell, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: California Blue (Paperback)

While out running one day through the forest belonging to the local sawmill, John comes across a butterfly chrysalis like none he's ever seen. Being a good science student, he takes it home to let it hatch. When it does, a beautiful blue butterfly that doesn't match any category in his identification book emerges. It is possibly that there is an undiscovered species of butterfly living in this forest set to be destroyed by the loggers.

John shares the butterfly with his science teacher, who contacts an old college professor of hers who is an insect expert. When the man comes to town, suddenly things are stirred up. He wants to study the habitat of the butterfly and probably eventually declare it a protected species. Those who live in town, including John's father, make their living off of the sawmill. If they aren't allowed to cut down the trees where the butterfly was found, it is likely the mill will shut down and the entire town will die with it.

Death is weighing heavily on the minds of John and his family, anyway, as his aggressive and overbearing father has been diagnosed with leukemia. All of his life John has felt that he has never been able to do anything to make his father happy and proud, and he worries that his involvement in finding this butterfly will only make things worse in his family. Will he stand by his discovery, or will he side with those who think the sawmill ought to have the right to cut down all the trees they want?

I liked the complexity of the conflict in John's life, with his father being very sick and so tied to the mill while John felt pulled in the direction of science and wanting to help his butterfly. I also liked Dr. Eggleson's character--he seemed the perfect professor activist and I liked that he wasn't afraid of the people in John's town who were against him.

I thought that John having a crush on his teacher and her almost returning his feelings was a little creepy. It was sad to me that John never really made an effort to understand or really get to know his parents. At the end of the book he was just starting to figure out what made his father tick, and he was only barely thinking there must be something more to his mother than what was on the surface.