In the Blue

by Erin Hourigan (Author)

In the Blue
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

An emotional and tender award-winning picture book that accessibly explores depression within a family, through the use of color.

I've always been my dad's little sunspot.

But one day, his world was no longer bright and yellow--it was a deep, dark blue.

As one father embarks on an emotional journey, his daughter will navigate life lived in and around his depression. Most days the sun won't be able to peek through the clouds. But with each new wave of change, love will always bond them together.

This poignant and important story, with its use of color to indicate the ups and downs of one family's emotions, is an accessible way to discuss mental illness with young readers.

Select format:
Hardcover
$18.99

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 4--A small girl narrates against a rainbow background the joy of time spent with her father. Then the pages turn blue, as his posture and facial expressions become sad, and almost unreadable. Very little is explained, but the meaning is clear; her father cannot help the blue place he is in, and she has to wait for him to figure it out. She reacts with rage and frustration, while her mother quietly supports them both. There is a place her father goes for help, and the hint of a pharmacy, and slowly the pages grow brighter again, as her father becomes once more the man she knows. Like the seaside where the book opens, this book begins like the gentle lapping of waves and crescendos, emotionally, with the weight of the father's illness. Readers will feel the crush, and then the relief, as the family (who are all white) works together to go with the flow, without being overtaken by it. Back matter includes print and online resources and an author's note about her father's clinical depression. VERDICT An essential glimpse of the impact of one person's mental health issues on the entire family, and a lovingly crafted path to a realistic resolution--not a cure, but managing.--Kimberly Olson Fakih

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"An essential glimpse of the impact of one person's mental health issues on the entire family, and a lovingly crafted path to a realistic resolution—not a cure, but managing."—SLJ
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780316497626
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date
May 03, 2022
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
JUV013060 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Parents
JUV039240 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Depression & Mental Illness
Library of Congress categories
Picture books
Fathers and daughters
Depression, Mental
Mental illness
Schneider Family Book Award
Honor Book 2023 - 2023

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