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BLUE JESUS: A NOVEL
This is the compelling story of two boys, one white and one blue, who live in a small town in the North Georgia mountains in 1963. Trouble starts when the boys find a dead baby whose body has been abandoned in the town garbage dump. As the narrator of the tale, the boy Buddy runs for help. His best friend, Early, a gentle boy with blue skin, who is descended from the Blue People of Troublesome Creek, takes that dead baby in his hands and conjures the infant back to life. This miracle ignites a firestorm of controversy and Early becomes known as Blue Jesus, the blue boy with the power to heal.
Colorful and honest, with humor, heartbreak, and ultimate redemption, Blue Jesus is the story of friendship, family, faith, and the power in a commonality of differences.
Colorful and honest, with humor, heartbreak, and ultimate redemption, Blue Jesus is the story of friendship, family, faith, and the power in a commonality of differences.
- GenresFiction
300 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
5 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 14, 2021
*loaned to me from one of my clients. "I think you will really like this!"*
I adored the foreward. So very much.
The first chapter was pretty good. And the second one, too, I think.
That must be all that the publisher read. Gradually, but also suddenly, the book became worse and worse and worse until star by star dropped and all I had left was but to hate the book.
Superfuciously, the book is full of every sort of grammatical, punctual, and typo errors, for the most part of the elementary sort. Unclosed quotation marks, "is" instead of "in", missing t's, and such. The dialogue felt pushed at times, as if the author didn't really know how to fake an accent, and was too lazy to research it.
Also, why were people always "cutting their eyes" at each other? I'll admit, the first time I thought it was clever and artistic. The author must have felt so, too. And so he used it for the rest of the book.
It's supposedly a book about racial prejudice. I think. It's really a subtle gay book. Quite disgusting for the audience. I mean, the kid is twelve years old. But always he's thinking about ridiculous, vulgar things. And then whole, "I'm not ever going to be scared again." Being scared is not an issue. Not acting because of that fear is an issue.
So what did the little boy replace his fear with? Hatred. Hatred that was never washed away by the pure love of Jesus. Oh, and Jesus was brought into the book a lot. So was faith. But neither were properly shown. Faith was just something you had and thus you were healed. Except some weren't, because they were meant to die so that others would know how to live. Not how that works.
Also, being a sissy is a gay trait, I guess? I don't see why, or how it should be. Like it's good to be soft and tender, for guys and girls. But being a sissy, a wimp, someone who is so selfishly consumed all they can think about is how they want everything delicately handled for them is not good.
And the obsession with getting pink eye from dirty handkerchiefs? This little boy was no country bumpkin despite his overalls and playing in the swamp. And even most city kids of the 60s wouldn't have been so silly. Handkerchiefs is what people used to blow their noses. It's what they had. Everyone.
As for the Nancy Drew books. My dad had all of them as a kid. Didn't make him gay. He also liked a lot of those same records and singers. Still didn't make him gay. To be honest, all the pop-culture references of the day were a saving grace of the book.
Early's name was also cute.
And I really liked learning about blue people. That's why the book gets two stars rather than one star.
Will add that the main accident was super anti-climatic. And the father's end was soooo wrong. There were just so many unacceptable behaviors promoted in this book, with no growth from the main character.
Basically, he decided he was better off without the people placed in his life, rather than learning how to be better placed in those lives so he could love and serve as God's light.
Ah, but the book had so much potential! So much!
I adored the foreward. So very much.
The first chapter was pretty good. And the second one, too, I think.
That must be all that the publisher read. Gradually, but also suddenly, the book became worse and worse and worse until star by star dropped and all I had left was but to hate the book.
Superfuciously, the book is full of every sort of grammatical, punctual, and typo errors, for the most part of the elementary sort. Unclosed quotation marks, "is" instead of "in", missing t's, and such. The dialogue felt pushed at times, as if the author didn't really know how to fake an accent, and was too lazy to research it.
Also, why were people always "cutting their eyes" at each other? I'll admit, the first time I thought it was clever and artistic. The author must have felt so, too. And so he used it for the rest of the book.
It's supposedly a book about racial prejudice. I think. It's really a subtle gay book. Quite disgusting for the audience. I mean, the kid is twelve years old. But always he's thinking about ridiculous, vulgar things. And then whole, "I'm not ever going to be scared again." Being scared is not an issue. Not acting because of that fear is an issue.
So what did the little boy replace his fear with? Hatred. Hatred that was never washed away by the pure love of Jesus. Oh, and Jesus was brought into the book a lot. So was faith. But neither were properly shown. Faith was just something you had and thus you were healed. Except some weren't, because they were meant to die so that others would know how to live. Not how that works.
Also, being a sissy is a gay trait, I guess? I don't see why, or how it should be. Like it's good to be soft and tender, for guys and girls. But being a sissy, a wimp, someone who is so selfishly consumed all they can think about is how they want everything delicately handled for them is not good.
And the obsession with getting pink eye from dirty handkerchiefs? This little boy was no country bumpkin despite his overalls and playing in the swamp. And even most city kids of the 60s wouldn't have been so silly. Handkerchiefs is what people used to blow their noses. It's what they had. Everyone.
As for the Nancy Drew books. My dad had all of them as a kid. Didn't make him gay. He also liked a lot of those same records and singers. Still didn't make him gay. To be honest, all the pop-culture references of the day were a saving grace of the book.
Early's name was also cute.
And I really liked learning about blue people. That's why the book gets two stars rather than one star.
Will add that the main accident was super anti-climatic. And the father's end was soooo wrong. There were just so many unacceptable behaviors promoted in this book, with no growth from the main character.
Basically, he decided he was better off without the people placed in his life, rather than learning how to be better placed in those lives so he could love and serve as God's light.
Ah, but the book had so much potential! So much!
March 13, 2011
I read this an advance for a book review. (Read the review here: http://outsmartmagazine.com/2009/06/b... ) I was not prepared for the voice of the narrator, a young man who is bullied at home and at school for being a sissy. His is not a victim's voice, but a determined voice, defiant and strong. When his friend, Early, becomes something of a carnival show, his worry for his friend pushes aside his fears and he works to become Early's protector and advocate. He is also a young boy who is interested in the movies and other pop culture of the era and he is easily distracted by the latest movie magazine at the drugstore. It's sad, funny, and overall beautiful. I don't know how many copies of this book I've given away as gifts. (I also got to interview the author. This link my not stay forever as OutSmart is changing formats on the web and this is still the old format, but it's not been converted to the new format, yet. http://outsmartmag.com/cms-this_issue... )
March 30, 2013
This book came highly recommended by people I trust but it didn't grab me totally. The characters didn't ring true to me. Early and Buddy didn't talk like age appropriate kids, grandma was way too forgiving of her dead daughters horrible husband, the bully had not one redeeming quality, dad was never presented in a good light. It might work as a young adult book, but it did not work for me as an adult book.
October 1, 2012
About being different. Very funny, but also tragic. Takes place in 1960's Georgia mountains. Title refers to a group of reclusive mountain people with a genetic disorder that makes their skin appear blue. Main character befriends a blue boy his age. Buddy also has a crush on Tony Dow (Wally on the TV show "Leave it ti Beaver").
May 31, 2013
Loved the story, adored the ending!!! but slightly draggy for about 100 pages. If you like "southern literature" definitely read it.
May 27, 2019
A sweet parable with some laugh-out-loud humor. I liked it better when I'd finished it and realized the author was inspired to write in part by the real life "blue people of Kentucky." A story of prejudice, and prejudice overcome -- inspires empathy as Edwards tells of two friends, each outcasts in different ways in their small southern town. The grandmother is a strong, wise woman full of unconditional love -- you wish for someone like her in everyone's life, but especially in the lives of those who are mistreated and misunderstood.
Edwards writes plainly but compellingly. A few examples:
"I found myself in a country of mystery, superstition, and miracles."
"...getting Early to talk about what happened was a good thing. But, I knew I did it for myself. I can be selfish that way, which is a big fault I’m working on. I wanted my Pa to see me as a hero, not just an embarrassment. Truth to tell, I sold out my best friend because I was afraid of my father. This was a decision I would regret the rest of my life."
Edwards writes plainly but compellingly. A few examples:
"I found myself in a country of mystery, superstition, and miracles."
"...getting Early to talk about what happened was a good thing. But, I knew I did it for myself. I can be selfish that way, which is a big fault I’m working on. I wanted my Pa to see me as a hero, not just an embarrassment. Truth to tell, I sold out my best friend because I was afraid of my father. This was a decision I would regret the rest of my life."
August 20, 2019
This is the kind of story I want to read. It is filled with action, humor, wisdom, religion, humorous religion, true miracles, true friendship, true enemies, great and terrible family, but mainly love love love. This book spoke to me in a way most don't.
March 10, 2026
Unusual Story Well Told
Great book with the story of blue people living far away from the medical help they would need to alleviate their problem. Well written.
Great book with the story of blue people living far away from the medical help they would need to alleviate their problem. Well written.
January 31, 2010
Not quite what I was expecting. The vision of a South populated by white, black, and blue people was intriguing, but the story itself got bogged down in the protagonist's struggle with his faith and lost track of the more interesting societal aspect. The bond between Early and Buddy seemed to be assumed rather than evident, which weakened the plot. At times the book got rather repetitive and I almost think it would have been better as a short story, giving us a glimpse of Buddy and Early's world without overexplaining.
Though structurally I thought it had some problems, I did love the language and dialogue in the book. It's extremely vivid and realistic without falling into the trap of condescending dialect writing.
Though structurally I thought it had some problems, I did love the language and dialogue in the book. It's extremely vivid and realistic without falling into the trap of condescending dialect writing.
November 28, 2012
I absolutely loved this book! It's a wonderful blend of humor and heartfelt emotion, all melded together in a unique Southern Gothic style. The characters are fabulous, and Edwards obviously knows what he's doing; all of the issues of race and family troubles are deftly handled, and the whole novel just flows. This was a brilliant read. Highly recommended!
December 5, 2012
I bought this book on a whim and had no expectations and I’ve been recommending it ever since.
This novel brings out the best in some of the usual themes. The characters are great and unique and stick with you and the setting feels a bit like “home.” I don’t know what more you could ask for from this humbling and charming book.
This novel brings out the best in some of the usual themes. The characters are great and unique and stick with you and the setting feels a bit like “home.” I don’t know what more you could ask for from this humbling and charming book.
November 14, 2024
This book is absolutely magical. It is captivating. It is thoughtful. The characters feel like your own family. This book has everything. It’s well written, charming and a page turner. The characters were well developed. I absolutely loved this book.
May 8, 2015
Awesome story. A must read for Appalachian fiction lover.
January 8, 2011
Loved it and had fun meeting the author at book club!
January 7, 2013
Such a sweet and wonderful commentary on how we treat one another in our society. Beautifully written!
June 16, 2015
loved the raw emotions and history of mountain people
May 31, 2016
Loved this book. The characters, the plot, the ease of the writing style. Enjoyable to the very end, which came too quickly.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews