The story is about a young boy called JP whose life falls apart after his grandmther's death, but chaos really starts to heat up when they win an old farmhouse. Soon the house is ffilled with people he can not stant they are against all the morals he believees a person shold have. So at first JP defies his mother and ehr group of friends, then he tries to fit in but either way he cannot. Everything JP holds dear and dependalble unraveld withen the firdays at his new home so he is left with nothing but the bare threads of his once normal life. While this happened his mother and her group of lost friends are starting to weave the threads belonging in ther lives and to find themselves. The books strength is that the book grabs the floor benth you and there is no cushio to soften the fall on the hard really on the issues of love.

This book is really well written. It's mainly about a teenager named James-Patrick and the problems he faces in his everyday life after his grandmother, who held the family together, died. His father is mentally retarded. They move into a large house after his grandmother dies, and his mother invites "weird" people (according to JP) to come live with the family. JP can't stand the chaos in the house with all the people there. Especially since he's a really good student, and his goal is to be the Valdictorian of his high school class. Over time his relationships with these people improve. This book was really good. It touched on things that many teenagers face in everyday life. This kind of stuff happens to everyone, and not just when a relative or close friend dies. Personally, I've felt like this a lot in life, just because I want order, like JP. This book shows that just because people are different, we can't alienate them. They're people too, and they deserve respect. I'll definitely end up reading this book again.

When I was going to get a book to read at school I was in a hurry so I picked out any book I could find so I just took out this book. I thought it would be boring at first but when I got into the second chapter I was very interested. This book is about a teenage boy named James Patrick. When his grandmother Mary died his family fell apart. Especially his father who was mentally disabled but worst of all he didn't know what to do about this situation. His mother then goes out with Dr.Mike who James Patrick though his mother was having an affair with. If you want to know more you should really read this book.

I enjoyed this book very much. It started off slow in the beginning, but then after a while it started to pick up. You can learn a lot from books and this is one that really does make you think about you, your family, religion, townspeople, and even your preacher. It taught a lot of lessons. I thought a lot about this book after I got done reading it and there are several things that still throw me off, but that's the joy about books, making your own opinion and own feelings. I highly recommend this to anyone.

The whole point of the book, I guess, is that adults are fallible. That's the story: Charity realizing that. While I don't much like her father (he beats her) I guess I can see that Charity loves him, and he, her. As an atheist, I found it kind of amusing the way people prayed and flocked to the Jesus chair. Though the thing with Mad Joe and Vonnie and Velita was incredibly sad. While some of the characters seemed stereotyped -- Charity's dad the hell-raising Southern preacher, for instance -- I thought it was a really good book. Han Nolan's one of my favorite authors and I hope she keeps churning out works like this for decades to come.

I just finished this one. WOW! I couldn't put it down. Han Nolan is one of the best writers I have ever read. All her books are just as great as this one. I can't wait 'till she writes another!

The book Born Blue, written by Han Nolan, is an excellent book. Although it has some flaws, it is still very interesting. It's well written in most parts and you can get a feeling of what the main character is thinking at times. This book should have a strong connection with kids tat have been in a foster parent's care, even though the experience in the book isn't positive. I do not recommend this book to anyone under the age of twelve because of the content inside it.
Janie or Leshaya, as she is later called, was abandoned by her heroin-addict Mama Linda at the age of four. While Janie was swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, her Mama Linda is getting high and doesn't pay attention to Janie when she starts to drown. Janie get put into a hospital, and when she is released she get put into a foster home with Patsy and Pete in Alabama. In this house she meets another foster child named Harmon, an African-American who introduces Janie to "the ladies", whose music churns her sole. This music inspires Janie to sing, at times that's the only thing that she can think about. Harmon and Janie became good friends, being around Harmon made Janie think that she was an African-American and that she was just "light". Harmon's and Janie's social worker, Doris, is the only other that Janie talks to. When Harmon gets adopted and Doris's daughter, Leshaya, dies Janie is left all alone. In honor of Leshaya, Janie changes her name and decides to be Leshaya.
One day when Leshaya is coming home from school, Mama Linda appears and she takes her away. Leshaya knows that she is being kidnapped, but she doesn't care since she is with her mother. Little does she know that her mother actually sold her for heroin. She then goes to live with her new "parents" Daddy Mitch and Mama Shell, who later on get arrested for [illegal substance]. Leshaya takes some of the profits that Daddy Mitch made selling heroin and runs away before the police can come and put her back into Patsy's and Pete's house. She finds where Harmon lives and decides to invite herself to live with them for a while. Once she ruined her friendship with Harmon and his family, she runs away again and meets up with a band. This band is Leshaya's first big break, people actually get to hear her sing and this makes Leshaya gets into bigger things. During some turning with a band, Leshaya gets pregnant and when she gives birth to the baby she gives it to Harmon, even though he isn't the father. Leshaya becomes [an] addict at the age of fourteen and start not to care about life anymore. Leshaya has a lot to deal with in her life, but can she make the right decisions?
Noland uses a lot of literary elements in this book. She does a great job with the plot of this book. The story is well thought out and planed. The imagery in this book is really good, sometimes you can actually get the feeling that you are Leshaya and you're suffering as much as her. For example, you could really feel the pain Leshaya was going through when she had to give up her daughter. I think that this novel is just like the blues; it makes you feel sad and alone, but yet sympathetic for the character.
I really started enjoying this book at the end, the last two chapters to be exact, because the author finally got to the resolution of the book. The part that I didn't like about this book was the way the author portrayed the character. Leshaya was, at first, an admirable person, but hen she turned into a self-centered ... addict. Another thing I didn't enjoy was that the author made Leshaya use improper English and that made it confusing at times. Despite all the negative parts to the book, overall, it was very interesting. You can really get the feeling of what some kids are feeling. I would defiantly recommend this book to anyone, young or old. It has great ideas on what young foster children are going through.

"See, in a instant I grown up. In a instant I took hold of my life." These are the words of Leshaya. She only thinks that she has begun to take hold of her life, but at age seven she has no clue what life has in store for her.
This book is about the hardships of a young girl and how she tries to overcome them. The beginning of the book is mysterious because it does not start the way you'd think it would. Although there are many things that go on, it is an exceptionally easy book to follow and understand. It is an excellent teen book and it teaches you lessons about life in general. I think that Leshaya is a lot like many people today in our world and I think that Born Blue displays the reality excellently.
This book is superb. I have read Born Blue before and as a result fell in love with it the first time I read it. It is one of my favorite books of all time. I think that the uncertainty of the inside cover makes the curious reader so intrigued that they just plunge into the book and do not want to stop. I feel as though any book in which this happens is worth reading and that Born Blue is without doubt one of those extraordinary books that is just waiting for another person to experience the splendors of reading.

- Nikki Jamison

The title and author of the book I read, was "Born Blue" by Han Nolan.
I enjoyed reading this book because; it wasn't like most endings in books. Instead of the usual happy ending, it was a sad, depressing ending, with lots of mixed emotions. For example, the last few sentences in the book "were to much to give up that night, though. Harmon had Etta. He got the better deal. I stuffed the watch back in my pack and set out cross the lawn" (page 277). In the novel, Janie has one of the hardest lives, that I have ever herd of, and on top of it all, she's only a young girl. Janie's mother is a druggie, Janie gets kidnapped, by her mother's druggie friends, Janie gets pregnant, and so many other awful things happen to her.
The theme of the novel is, no matter what hard ships life gives you, keep working towards your goals. I think that's, that is a very good and respectable theme. I agree with the idea behind it. The theme sort-of relates to my life. I've had some hardships, like Janie, but not as many or as difficult to handle as her. I've had problems with my biological mother, just as Janie has. I've also been in situations, where I am not sure what I want to do, but I made a choice and I had to live with it. Like in the part where, Janie lived with Harmon. She met a band that was full of kids with bad reputations. She chose to hang with the band, because she was working towards her goal, singing. Janie figured if she hung out with the kids, then they might take her to where she wanted to go in the music business. Sadly, the plan didn't work out, and Janie was back to square one.
I would recommend this book to anyone in the world with issues, or someone who is sick of that usual "happy" ending. I even recommend this book to those people who want to see the good side of bad, and the bad side of good. This book is something worth experiencing. It gives awesome details to feeling that are unimaginable. This book is truly a work of art.

Han Nolan has a very gifted way in writing If i should die before i wake. Im not going to summarize this book because so many people have done that already but i will say this: this book is the greatest book i have read on this topic since daniels story. The author lets one live in Chana's shoes and she does it in such a unique way....As the mood of the book changes so does the readers point of veiw. after reading this novel for me it gave life a new meaning. Each breath i took meant more than ever before and every time i say "im hungry" i think of those who were starving during the holocaust(sp). The author of this book has let us remember what was of the past and taught us never ever to forget. If the young adults that read this book do not feel as i do it is ok. But atleast some1 has written a book to let us not to forget about this horrible time in our world! We must teach our kids and them teach theirs so that our world NEVER forgets. Nolan has let the reader hear the crys for help and reminded us that life could be worste. I was filled with sorrow after reading this book and questions with answers that might never be revealed such as why the jews? In the intro. the author dedicates the novel to family and then says " and to 6 million jews whose faces i never knew but whose voice i some how heard" i am greatful that she too has let us hear their voice. This book deserves every price to be given and the authors talent should not go unknown. This book doesn't deserve 5 stars it deserves the 6 million starts of david that died along with the people whom stood with pride and wore their star keeping faith and dieing as a result in the holocaust....WE MUST NEVER FORGET!

Han Nolan has written an amazing book on something that some people don't want to believe ever happened:the Holocaust.

16 year-old Hilary Burke-a Neo-Nazi- is injured terribly in a motorcycle accident. Her boyfriend, Brad, also a Neo-Nazi getting off with only a few scratches and bruises.

As she slips in and out of consciousness, she falls into the life of Chana, a jewish girl who is wrapped up in the times of the Holocaust. Her terrifying life as a young Jew helps her realize what she is doing(hanging Jews in trees and beating them up) is absolutely wrong.

When Hilary is telling the chapter, all she can see is a 'Grandmaw', the actual Chana. Chana helps her realize that what she is seeing is her life as a child. At the end of the book, Chana's only living relative, her sister Nadzia, comes to tell Hilary something that hurts them all...especially after what Hilary(Chana) has just been through in her dreams.

To find out more, I won't mess up this review and tell you what happens next. You have to read the book...

Recommended for: 13+

If I Should Die Before I Wake by Han Nolan is an excellent Holocaust book. It tells the story of an anti-Jew girl named Hilary, who, after being in an accident is placed in a Jewish hospital. With her Christian mother by her side, she struggles between life and death. Every once in a while she goes into a sleep where she dreams of being a Jewish girl named Chana living during the Holocaust. She endures the loss of her family and being sent to a concentration camp. When she wakes up, she realizes just how hard the Jews have it.
This book is written in a unique way of going back and forth between Hilary and Chana. It really is a great book and it deserves more than five stars.

This book is about a fascinating girl named Miracle. She was named Miracle because rumor was to believe that she was born from her mother, who was hit by an ambulance, and gave birth from a dead body. Her grandmother, Gigi, a psychic, taught her to believe in auras and mystical spirits. Then, out of nowhere, her father suddenly disappeared, or shall I say, "melted."
Miracle and Gigi moved to her Granddaddy Opal house because they weren't accepted among people. They thought they would melt if they trusted them.
Miracle then starts to find out what had happened to her father. She tries to figure out the pieces of information of what had happened. She once "burned" herself trying to figure it out. She landed in the hospital where a doctor tried to force her to learn more about the truth about her self. The more she tries, the more she loses herself into it. This book is a very sad but fun to read book. Its a book that will want you to read it over and over again.

Miracle McCloy was saved at birth from a womb of a dead woman. Her father a prodigy writer disappears from life about the age of ten. Her grandmother tells her he has melted away. She spends her next four years living with other adult family members that are constantly moving among family members' homes and argue over her. Raised by her clairvoyant grandmother, she is influenced into believing she can bring her father back and devotes all of her energies to doing so. Struggling with her feelings of self identity she vacillates on the edge of insanity and has a difficult time dealing with the real world. When she tries to literally melt herself by setting herself on fire, she finds herself in a hospital setting. There she meets a psychiatrist that helps her deal with her painful struggle to seek out the truth about her family and discover her true self worth and which family members are truly there for her. Together with the psychiatrist and her Aunt Casey, Miracle begins confront the truth about the family's secret. It's an inspirational story that allows the reader to delve into the mind of this emotionally disturbed teen-age girl and her struggle to take a stance in her recovery of dealing with reality and truth.

I believe that for many young adult readers, Dancing on the Edge makes a great motivating read into one's search for self identity no matter how painful. Seeking out help through caring family members or other professional counseling can help in taking charge of one's life.

Miricle is just that. Born from her dead mother, she lives with her grandmother, GiGi, and father, Dane. Gigi is a medium and is constantly contacting the dead and Dane is her prodigy writer son. One night, the first time that Miricle gets to participate in a seance, her father melts! Or at least that's what she is told and has believed for her whole life. She moves then with Gigi and her Grandaddy Opal because the family isn't welcome in the town anymore. Miricle is determined to get her mother and father back, even if it means danger. With her many moves and attempts the last one does the trick. Well, maybe not the one she thought of, but it turns out that she is better to know the truth.

This book really gets deep. From the first page you get hooked, I couldn't put it down. It starts out like it's going to be a happy wonderful book, but ends up a heartfelt and moving ending. Anyone who has a spare minute should read this. It deals with so many different aspects of a girls childhood. From being teased at school, moving and not being "loved",to the deaths of loved ones, to finding out that the one person you trusted was lieing all along. I really enjoyed it. Through it's serious message an underlying humor is still evident.