It was gone, gone, gone.
I had promised to work for the Examiner for the whole of the war.
I'd run away twice.
And I had promised to be with Megs.
Like she'd promised to be with me.
But I'd run away from that too.
Beautiful Blue World is one of the most powerful 'children's' books I have ever read. Please begin here with my comments from just over one year ago. At that time I mentioned the sequel Threads of Blue. I have waited and waited for this to be released in paperback but finally I could wait no longer and so I bought myself the hardcover copy as a birthday present ($26.95).
In this second installment Mathilde is on the run. Bombs have been dropped on the school at Faetre where she and the other gifted children had been set to work for Sofarende decoding, making maps and predicting where bombs will land. Mathilde had been given a special assignment to befriend a captured enemy soldier but through weeks of talking with him she comes to see he is just as confused as she is and that to truly understand another person you have allow for a different point of view. When bombs start dropping and the school catches fire everyone evacuates. The plan is for all the children and a few adults to head north to the sea where they will catch boats to Eilean. Every child is given identity papers, a travel permission card and a bundle of important documents to carry. Mathilde is torn. She simply cannot leave the prisoner Rainer. He has become a person to her not the enemy. She leaves the group at the very last minute and runs back and sets him free. She is now a traitor. And worse her best friend Megs knows what she has done.
Mathilde heads north but she does not find the group. Eventually she reaches the coast. Her military pass means a fisherman has to take her across to Eilean. Continuing her journey she finds herself in a refugee camp. Sofarende has been captured and many children have been sent to Eilean to keep them safe. Mathilde has all her official papers but until her identity can be confirmed she must stay and work in the camp. She is desperate to know about her family, she is desperate to find her best friend Megs and explain her actions, she is desperate to find the group from Faetre so she can complete her assignment and deep inside she wonders if Rainer is still alive.
You can hear the first chapter here. Here is the author web site. These two books make for a gripping and powerful reading experience. The tension created by Suzanne LaFleur in both books and the way she describes and, through Mathilde, provides a commentary on the futility and impact of war mean these two books deserve a very wide readership. I highly recommend Beautiful Blue World and Threads of Blue for sensitive mature readers aged 10+.
I would follow these two books with The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett and Close to the Wind by Jon Walter. You could also look for Toby Alone by Timothee de Fombelle which has a similar tone of questioning the world and political decisions by adults.
Mathilde is unforgettable as she narrates her tale in an uncensored stream of consciousness, ever vulnerable, brave, headstrong, compassionate, confused, and always trying to hold on to the values she holds dear. There can be no happy ending, but there is a kind of heart-wrenching separate peace that readers will find comforting. Kirkus Star review
... a brilliant novel about the ravages of war, but it is also a story about holding on to who you really are even when it causes you trouble, and facing life with bravado, honesty, and hope in a world where none seems to exist. These are two books not to be missed. The Children's War
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