Bluefish in Mock Newbery 2026

Dec 11, 2011 Donalyn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ncbla-committee-2012-books, ya-realistic-fiction, ncbla-2012-final-shortlist

An outstanding story about working through grief and supporting one another.

Travis and Velveeta are memorable characters-- the kind of kids you fall in love with and root for...

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Dec 14, 2011 Barbara rated it really liked it

Shelves: bullies, ncbla, strong-women, teachers, literacy

In many respects, this book is a tribute to teachers who refuse to give up on the kids who pass through their classrooms, no matter how difficult the challenges. McQueen is the caring teacher who realizes that thirteen-year-old Travis has a secret--he is able to read only the simplest words--and creates a tutorial program that helps him gain confidence and improve his reading skills. While McQueen is not the main character in the book, he is an important one, of course, and those teachers among ...more

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Oct 01, 2011 Monica Edinger added it

I agree with those who are calling this a "quiet" book. Because I can't figure out how, I'm not able to rate it and I'm not going to do plot here (you can find that in other reviews here, I'm sure). What I will do is mull a bit about it.

First of all one aspect of the book's quiet is due to the main character Travis who is incredibly silent on the surface though steaming underneath for many good reasons we learn as the book goes on. There are some lovely scenes through which we get to know Travis I agree with those who are calling this a "quiet" book. Because I can't figure out how, I'm not able to rate it and I'm not going to do plot here (you can find that in other reviews here, I'm sure). What I will do is mull a bit about it.

First of all one aspect of the book's quiet is due to the main character Travis who is incredibly silent on the surface though steaming underneath for many good reasons we learn as the book goes on. There are some lovely scenes through which we get to know Travis, say right at the beginning, his first day in a new school, when he subtly gets a shoe back to a bullied boy named Bradley. That incident causes another student, Velveeta, with her own problems to notice Travis and before long the three of them have connected. I definitely appreciate the author's elegant development of characters and plot. You are never hit over the face with the revelations, it is more they just come along, woven in naturally. Travis and Velveeta's separate situations of mourning (both have lost a dear and close friend) are elegantly done as is their connecting. The book is from two POVs, Velveeta's first person letters which alternate with chapters set from Travis's point of view. Both Travis and Velveeta interact with Bradley and there is a sense of them being a sort-of threesome, but since the POVs are Velveeta and Travis, Bradley feels a bit undeveloped. At least he did for me and I'm not sure how I feel about that as he has some qualities that felt, I have to say, stereotypic, designed I suppose to contrast with Travis and Velveeta.

Since I'm a teacher I tend to be particularly hard on fictional educators and have to say I was very pleased with the reading teacher, Mr. McQueen --- one of the best portrayals of a teacher in a kid's book of this sort that I've seen in some time. He stays rightly far off, moving in just here and there to subtly help Travis. Excellently done. At the same time, as a teacher myself, I can't help chaffing a bit at the kid-can't-read trope, one I get tired of (and is another reason I don't think it fair for me to rate this book). But that isn't the fault of the book and the author, it is mine.

Another thing I'm on the fence about is the referencing of other books. I always have very mixed feelings about this, especially if the books are relatively recent ones. That is, it is one thing to reference a book that is sort of in the culture (e.g. Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland) and another to reference books that are less so. There's something a little too didactic to me when I see this. That said, the two that Travis and Velveeta are reading (The Book Thief and Haunt Fox) and movingly woven into the plot as is the one referenced in the title.

So those are just a few random thoughts from me about Bluefish.

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Jun 20, 2012 Rebekah rated it really liked it

Shelves: middle-grade, ya

A book with three dimensional characters that I actually like. What a concept!

The descriptions were beautiful, the characters were believable, and the story was very sweet. The name comes about because from a young age Travis was put in the lowest reading group in his class - One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish - and he never learned to read. This is the story of him learning to read, learning to trust and forming great new relationships when he starts the year at a new school.

Mr. McQueen? ...more

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Nov 01, 2011 Wendy rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2011-award-possibilities

While this is most certainly Guidance Counselor Fiction (magical teacher, plus three misfits find friendship and fix problems), I loved Travis and his grandpa so much that in a way it didn't matter. Parts of it seemed overly throwbacky. Velveeta almost seemed like a time traveler from the early 60s, though maybe in rural Wisconsin there's still a poor-Polish-American-good-for-nothing stereotype. The three thuggy kids felt that way, too. And it was more than halfway through the book before I real ...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Mary rated it really liked it

A good well written book. Character development and setting are its strong points. Plot was not the greatest, but it did move along at an okay pace. Not my favorite, but it was well written and no flaws are jumping out at me.

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Jul 07, 2012 Jodi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, social-issues

Need time to process, but I loved this story, especially the characters, book and nature references. Narrated by the same person who narrated Pop by Gordon Korman. Excellent choice in narrators.

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