The Indigo Notebook (Indigo Notebook (Hardback)) [Hardcover]

Laura Resau (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Indigo Notebook (Hardback)

An exciting new series from the acclaimed author of Red Glass.

Zeeta's life with her free-spirited mother, Layla, is anything but normal. Every year Layla picks another country she wants to live in. This summer they’re in Ecuador, and Zeeta is determined to convince her mother to settle down. Zeeta makes friends with vendors at the town market and begs them to think of upstanding, “normal” men to set up with Layla. There, Zeeta meets Wendell. She learns that he was born nearby, but adopted by an American family. His one wish is to find his birth parents, and Zeeta agrees to help him. But when Wendell’s biological father turns out to be involved in something very dangerous, Zeeta wonders whether she’ll ever get the chance to tell her mom how she really feels—or to enjoy her deepening feelings for Wendell.

Praise for Red Glass:
*“A captivating read.”—School Library Journal, Starred

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–9—This is a family and friendship story turned adventure tale with a touch of romance and an even slighter hint of fantasy. Zeeta, 15, wishes most of all that her mother would settle down so that they could have a regular life, rather than moving her from country to country, quoting the Sufi poet Rumi at every opportunity, and getting involved with eccentric, irresponsible men. As they arrive at their latest destination, a small town in the mountains of Ecuador, Zeeta meets Wendell, an American boy in search of his birth parents. When she agrees to help him in his quest, she becomes involved in a mysterious and ultimately dangerous adventure. As the suspense heats up and becomes more intense, Zeeta's mother is engaged in her own adventure: a relationship with a man who wants her to settle down and become responsible. The change in Layla forces Zeeta to question what she values about her mother, and whether she really wants that suburban lifestyle after all. Well plotted, with a cast of likable and interesting secondary characters and a powerfully atmospheric setting that includes a cave of crystals and a waterfall supposed to have magical powers, this novel succeeds at creating a believable and touchingly gentle romance between Zeeta and Wendell. The fantastic element, Wendell's inherited gift of seeing into the future, is deftly handled. An entertaining and suspenseful read.—Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City
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From Booklist

After 15 countries in 15 years, roaming the world with her free-spirited mother, Zeeta regrets that it’s “too late now for a normal home, normal family, normal childhood.” At their new home in Ecuador, she agrees to help Wendell, an American boy who has come in search of his birth parents. Just when a near-death experience sends her mother reeling toward “normal,” Zeeta veers off in the opposite direction: she looks to her unconventional upbringing for wisdom and support as she and Wendell uncover old secrets and find themselves in mortal danger. Observant, aware, and occasionally wry, Zeeta’s first-person narration will attract readers and hold them. Not all will find the magical elements woven into the story satisfying, but some will find them enchanting. The romance starts almost imperceptibly and builds gradually, believably throughout the novel. Resau, the author of What the Moon Saw (2006) and Red Glass (2007), offers another absorbing novel with a Latin American setting. Grades 7-10. --Carolyn Phelan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (October 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385736525
• ISBN-13: 978-0385736527
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,279,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

With a background in cultural anthropology and ESL-teaching, Laura Resau has lived and traveled in Latin America and Europe - experiences that inspired her books for young people. Her latest novel, The Queen of Water (cowritten with María Virginia Farinango) was praised as "riveting tale... by turns heartbreaking, infuriating and ultimately inspiring " in a starred review by Kirkus.

Her previous novels - Star in the Forest, The Ruby Notebook, The Indigo Notebook, Red Glass, and What the Moon Saw - have garnered many starred reviews and awards, including the IRA YA Fiction Award, the Américas Award, and a spot on Oprah's Kids' Book List. Acclaimed for its sensitive treatment of immigration issues, Resau's writing has been called "vibrant, large-hearted" (Publishers' Weekly) and "powerful, magical" (Booklist).

Resau lives with her husband and young son in Colorado. She donates a portion of her royalties to indigenous rights organizations in Latin America.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You can't always get what you want..., October 21, 2009

By 

S. Jones "Book Gourmet" (Fort Collins, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Indigo Notebook (Indigo Notebook (Hardback)) (Hardcover)

To quote from one of my favorite Rolling Stones songs--..."You can't always get what you want; But if you try sometimes you might find...You get what you need."
Another well-known line captures another nuance--be careful what you wish for. These phrases encapsulate what's at the heart of one of the primary plot conflicts in "The Indigo Notebook." Zeeta is a girl who's been dragged all over the world by her flighty, hippie-like mother, Layla. If you're a person who values a traditional mother then the character of Layla may make you angry for her irresponsibility in thinking through what she exposes herself and her daughter to as well as her mystical poetry-spouting abilities that appear to be of somewhat marginal value to her long-suffering child. Layla is much more than a stereotype though. She is a woman with the courage to live out her convictions and to experience her life as a complex set of metaphysical--and physical--adventures. She doesn't take an easy route through her life and she does have some real flaws--one of them being that she is thoughtless about the effects her choices have on her daughter Zeeta. Zeeta craves her vision of normality. She has experienced this normality for short periods of time when she and her mother have visited her grandparents. She would like to put down roots and dreams about her mother getting involved with a regular guy who will instill a sense of security into their haphazard, moneyless existence. Zeeta gets her wish when her mother has a close brush with death. Her mother gets involved with a corporate type man that they met on the plane to Ecuador and he sets about organizing Layla and Zeeta's worlds. Zeeta finds that she has begun to miss the vitality and spontaneity of her mother's character. And then there's her complicated relationship with Wendell, a boy who is searching for his birth parents. He has his own life disenchantments to deal with.
As always, Laura Resau has an exquisite ear for dialogue and an inner eye that makes it possible for her readers to experience all of the sights and smells of the country that her characters inhabit.
I love all of Laura's books because after I finish one, I feel as though I've taken a bath in another culture and that I understand more than I did before.
I highly recommend this book to adult and teen readers who want to understand more about the world--and about themselves.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soulful story, soulfully written, January 26, 2010

By 

Victoria Hanley "Seize the Story" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Indigo Notebook (Indigo Notebook (Hardback)) (Hardcover)

When it comes to creating a sense of place, Laura Resau is gifted beyond any writer I've read. This time, we get to travel to Ecuador with her characters, and explore what it means to get fixated on wanting things to go one way, only to learn that life is much bigger, messier, and more challenging than any particular idea of how things should be. We also experience how love shows itself unexpectedly in different faces, and we see love's transcendant powers. As an adult, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will read it again.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For Teens, January 7, 2010

By 

Mom of 3 Boys "Mom of 3 Boys" (Plymouth, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Indigo Notebook (Indigo Notebook (Hardback)) (Hardcover)

I got this book for my boys since it is within both of their AR reading ranges for school. I pre-read it to make sure it is appropriate for them since they are only 8 and 10 and their reading range is a quite a bit higher. This book was hard for me to put down as it was very interesting but it was not appropriate for young children. There is some inappropriate language and some content better suited for teenagers (the girl in the story spends a lot of the story reflecting on boyfriend/girlfriend relationships and there are some scary parts).