The Fortunes of Indigo Skye

by Deb Caletti

Indigo Skye is a high school senior with no big plans for the future. She loves her... read more

Indigo Skye is a high school senior with no big plans for the future. She loves her current job as a waitress at the local diner, the kind of place where the regulars are like family and newcomers garner lots of speculation. After Indigo spots a pack of cigarettes in the coat of quiet newcomer to the restaurant, her respect for his privacy dissolves in an anti-smoking diatribe. He responds by leaving her a thank you note and a $2.5 million tip. Deb Caletti has carefully set up what happens next by spending ample time early on grounding readers in the life of this smart, down-to-earth teenage girl and her family and friends, characters who feel authentic, with lives of dreams and regret, humor and heartbreak, and everyday struggles to pay the bills. As a result, the impact and uproar of the stranger’s act is all the more powerful. When her attempt to give the money back is refused, Indigo is suddenly rich, and sure money won’t change her. She’s seen enough of it among other kids at her high school to know it can’t buy things that really matter. But money seems to change the people around her, who suddenly want things that never mattered to them before. At first unable to see that she herself is not immune, Indigo’s sense of self slowly loses its focus in a novel that is an absolute pleasure to read. Caletti’s rich, descriptive writing offers many moments of contemplation and insight in a story that is nonetheless swiftly paced, and exceedingly satisfying. (Age 12 and older).

© Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2009

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