Born Blue
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| Author | Han Nolan |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young adult novel |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |
Publication date | 2001 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 277 pp |
Born Blue is a young adult novel by award winning author Han Nolan in 2001.
Plot summary
This story is about the life of Janie, who later renames herself 'Leshaya'.
The book starts with Janie recalling a memory at toddler age, where she was drowning because of her mother's neglect to Janie's personal safety. Linda, Janie's mother, is a heroin addict, and because of the neglect that nearly led to Janie drowning, Janie was placed in foster care. Janie lived in a strict foster home for roughly 4 years with her foster brother Harmon, who soon gets adopted by Mr. and Mrs. James, leaving Janie alone until she is kidnapped by Linda, who then trades Janie to her dealer, Mitch, for heroin.
Janie lives for years with "Mama Shelly" and "Daddy Mitch" but then, while at a shopping trip she meets her former foster brother Harmon. She then moves in with Mr. and Mrs. James when her former foster parents get arrested for drug possession. Life with Mr. and Mrs. James was hard, because of her bad childhood she never could live with a good "normal" family. Instead Janie goes with a local jazz band and falls in love with the band's 18-year-old songwriter, Jaz. Under the influence of beer and cocaine, Leshaya (Janie) loses her virginity to an unknown man at the party, and gets impregnated. She soon after finds herself living with a woman named Joy Victoria, who fostered Janie during her pregnancy. 9 months later, 13-year-old Leshaya gave birth to a baby girl who she names Etta Harmony James, after one of "The Ladies" that she listened to as a small child.
She convinces herself and everyone else that Harmon is Etta's father, due to wanting to have had sex with him (So much so that she had left her panties in his bed before running off with Jaz), and smuggles Etta back to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to give her to Harmon, who is bewildered at how he could be the father. Harmon, in the end, takes Etta so that she could grow up like a normal child. She then lives with Paul, who is also a musician. She lives with Paul on good terms until she breaks a major rule that Paul had set for her, no drugs. And after he (Paul) found a dead man, Jed, in his bed from an overdose. (Jed was who Lashaya was with at the time). She is then forced to move out from Paul's place. She soon ends up at Mama Linda's beach house, who is dying of AIDS. Leshaya, seeing her mother in this state, stays with her for her final days, and while with her, looks at herself, and comes to peace with the past. The book ends when Leshaya travels back to Tuscaloosa to re-unite with Etta, but after seeing Etta living happily in a normal family life, Leshaya instead, leaves Etta with Harmon. Through this decision, Leshaya finds a new sense of personal identity, and sets out to meet her own future.
Characters
Janie (Leshaya) - The protaginist, aspires to be a famous singer, because as a child, she always listened to famous singers with her foster brother, Harmon. She is the daughter of a Heroin addict and soon tries drugs herself, which leads to her getting getting pregnant, and making negative decisions that impact her relationships with the other characters. As the story progresses, she tries to convince herself more and more that she is black, or had a black father, only to find out that Linda never slept with a black man. Janie has a daughter at the young age of 13, whom she names Etta James.
Harmon James - An African American boy who was Janie's foster brother. He was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. James and moved to Tuscaloosa. He introduces Janie to jazz, blues and "the ladies" early on in the book. When Janie sneaks into his bed he is appalled at her behavior, and becomes almost frozen in shock when she returns with baby Etta, claiming Etta to be his.
Mama Linda - Janie's mother who is a heroin addict and trades Janie for drugs. She does not seem to care more about her daughter than drugs until the end of the book. She eventually succumbs to AIDS in her beach house at the end of the book.
Mama Shelly - Janie's foster mother and Daddy Mitch's Wife. She and Janie become relatively close in their time together in the book.
Daddy Mitch - A drug dealer, foster father of Janie, and husband of Mama Shelly. He takes in Janie as trade for heroin to Linda.
Jaz - Janie's love interest whom almost gets arrested later in the book, due to Janie being incredibly underage.
Paul - A serious guitar player who briefly gives Janie shelter, food, and lessons in music theory, before kicking her out for violating his "no-drug" rule.