"The only reason I ever spoke to Salma Santiago was
because my dog ate her lunch."
The setting for this book is Maine. Lily's dog is blind. Lily lives near some areas where blueberries grow. Each summer itinerant workers arrive to pick the blueberries. People in the town do not interact with the workers and so Lily (full name Tigerlily) knows very little of their lives or working conditions. Here she describes Salma:
"She was probably from one of the migrant families that drive here for a few weeks every summer. They come in trucks, campers, and cars from Mexico and Florida and other far off places to rake the blueberries that grow wild in the barrens. I don't usually talk to those kids and they don't usually talk to me. They don't stay here long enough for us to be friends."
Lily's dog runs off and Lily is terrified Lucky will be hit by a car. Salma holds out a piece of her peanut butter sandwich. Lucky smells the treat and stops to meet Salma. Lucky is safe but Lily only gives a cursory thank you. When she gets home Lily describes how Lucky was nearly killed. Lily lives with her grandparents, her mum has died. Pepere and Memere tell Lily she must say thank you to the girl who saved her dog and take some food to the family who live in a workers cabin. From this meeting a special friendship begins.
During the summer Lily works in her grandparent's store painting bee boxes.
"When most people think of bees, they think of honeybees that live in hives, but mason bees don't live that way. Mason bees are little, native bees ... they're blue. Tiny blue bees that just fly about ... pollinating the blueberry barrens."
Salma joins Lily in her project. Lily needs to raise quite a lot of money so Lucky can have an eye operation. Lucky is Lily's main connection with her mother and the love of her dog adds a layer of poignancy to this story. Salma suggests they work together and paint lots of bee houses to sell at the annual Blueberry Festival which happens each year after the harvest.
Then Salma decides to enter the Blueberry Queen pageant which is part of this festival. Salma is not from the town, she is not white and blonde, she is an outsider. I desperately wanted Salma to win this contest but I knew she probably couldn't or the ending would be too contrived. Cynthia Lord sets up some wonderful tension in this story. Hannah, Lily's oldest friend, was the last Pageant Queen. She offers Salma her old dress and gives some valuable hints about the three part contest. I held my breath expecting Hannah to betray Salma and Lily - expecting things to turn nasty.
"I felt like when you're swimming and a big wave comes and just carries you along in a direction you don't want to go. A girl didn't just come into town and win the pagaent. Downeast Blueberry Queen was for than having your hair done and wearing a blue dress."
I adored this book. For me this is a five star book. I have enjoyed several other books by Cynthia Lord - Half a Chance and Rules. All three books tackle big issues but in a gentle and very personal way. Here is an interview with Cynthia Lord. Listen to an audio sample here. Read this review from Ms Yingling for more plot details.
When you read this book try to have a copy of Blueberries for Sal handy. There is a beautiful moment in this book when Lily describes little Sal and little Bear and the way they meet while picking blueberries.
I also learnt so much about blueberries - take a look at this film where Martha Stewart explains the process and the short season. In the story the contest girls have to answer questions about blueberries such as:
- Why do we employ blueberry rakers - why isn't the whole industry mechanized? (Rocks)
- Maine harvests what percentage of wild blueberries in the USA? (98%)
- What is Maine's state dessert? (Blueberry pie)
- How are blueberry bushes pruned? (burning)
- What is the top of a blueberry called? (the calyx)
- When was the first blueberry rake invented? (1910)
Here is a photo of the blueberry barrens in Maine.
This sensitive coming-of-age tale compassionately explores prejudice and multiculturalism. Kirkus
The novel includes a satisfying story arc, as Salma and Lily's friendship grows over the summer and culminates at the annual blueberry festival and pageant. And Lord recognizes and validates the complexity of her characters' situations, refusing to offer an artificially and unrealistically happy ending in favor of one that is both satisfying and bittersweet. KidsReads
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