Ramona Blue

Ramona "Blue" Leroux, nicknamed for her dyed-blue hair and love of the water (all kinds--oceans, lakes, pools), stands out in Eulogy, Mississippi. At six foot three, she's too tall for the trailer she lives in with her dad and pregnant sister. She's also a lesbian, a fact that's accepted in Eulogy but one that limits her romantic options. Then her childhood friend Freddie moves back to town, and, to her surprise, Ramona discovers that she's attracted to him. Their ensuing relationship is passionate and unexpectedly natural: "Kissing Freddie doesn't feel different because he's a boy, it feels different because he's Freddie." Ramona's subsequent refusal to label herself as gay, straight, or bisexual is refreshing, if unsubtly portayed, as is her frankness about sexuality: "I think about sex. Girls think about sex. Sometimes a lot. I hate this ideas that boys are thinking about sex nonstop and girls are thinking about--what? Stationery and garden gnomes? No." Like Murphy's heroine in Dumplin' (rev. 11/15), Ramona is unapologetically herself. Set against a post-Hurricane Katrina backdrop, the novel also effectively explores issues of race (Freddie is black, Ramona is white), social class, and family responsibility. Ramona dreams of leaving Eulogy, but is resigned to staying to support her family; the satisfying ending gives her the courage, and the means, to look forward to an uncertain but optimistic future. rachel l. smith