Color Blind

Gr 8 Up—In this realistic novel, readers meet April, whose father has just died and whose mother is missing in action in the Middle East. She is sent to live with her aunt Kate, her mother's estranged sister and a New Orleans chef. The story takes a while to get started as readers meet some of the other characters, including a love interest. Teens also encounter a young girl named Angel and her mother, Simone, who live in the Ninth Ward and end up having family ties to April. The protagonist and her aunt don't get along, and both are thrown into a life together that they are unprepared for. The teen attempts to contact the spirit of her dead father through a local voodoo priestess. The climax involves April making very poor decisions concerning Angel, a goat, and a voodoo ceremony gone horribly wrong. This moment seems to come at an odd point in the plot, with the connection between April and Marie Laveau, a prominent historical figure of New Orleans and a voodoo priestess, acting as the catalyst for April to put the pieces of her new life together. The ending feels forced, and the writing is serviceable. The French Quarter setting, historical references to the rich history of New Orleans, and descriptions of Kate's cooking are the highlights of this work.