California Blue (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) [School & Library Binding]

David Klass (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1996

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. When 17-year-old John Rodgers discovers a new subspecies of butterfly which may necessitate closing the mill where his dying father works, they find themselves on opposite sides of the environmental conflict.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this beautifully rendered novel, Klass ( Wrestling with Honor ; A Different Season ) transforms an abstract environmental issue into a compelling story of a boy in transition from adolescence to adulthood. The book owes some of its success to how the author sidesteps dogmatism while still making clear his environmentalist point of view. The protagonist, John Rodgers, has to face three troubling facts. First, his father, with whom John has never really gotten along, has been diagnosed with leukemia and is likely to die soon. Second, John has discovered a new species of butterfly and wants to preserve it, but the butterfly lives on land owned by the local mill, and any governmental protection of the area will be bitterly resisted by the entire town, including John's parents. And finally, John has fallen in love with his high school biology teacher, who does not entirely rebuff his attentions. Klass handles these complex situations with grace and subtlety; an unusual and credible inclusion is Miss Merrill's honest acknowledgement to her student that she has strong feelings for him. The absorbing first-person narration rings true, projecting the credible voice of a teenager just beginning to break free from his emotional ties to home, family and friends. The fears, excitement, anger and energy of this awkward psychological time are movingly captured here. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8-12-John Rodgers, 17, feels alienated from his hard-nosed father and from much of his small, northern California community. Few people in Kiowa, which is totally dependent on the timber industry, share his love of nature, and his father, a former high school football star, preaches winning at all costs and cannot understand John's mediocrity in sports. A series of events-including the diagnosis of his father's cancer and John's discovery of a new species of butterfly-dramatically changes the young man's life. Eventually it is revealed to the community that John found the insect and alerted environmentalists. This makes him the target of the townspeople's fears and fury, forcing him to run away to San Francisco. At the novel's end, he returns to Kiowa. In a touching final scene, he has a quiet talk with his dying father. John knows, however, that he will have to leave again. This is the story of a young man caught up in some large and passionate issues before he is ready to cope with them. His anger, awkwardness, intelligence, and confusion are captured effectively through the first-person narrative. But this novel's strength does not lie simply in its willingness to tackle big issues. Small scenes, such as accounts of John's middle-distance races on the track team, are well done and add to the novel's texture and depth. A thoughtful and fair book that will strike a chord with many YAs.
Todd Morning, Schaumburg Township Public Library, IL
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• School & Library Binding: 208 pages
• Publisher: Turtleback (April 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 061300017X
• ISBN-13: 978-0613000178
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,556,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

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.