A Girl Called Blue

by Marita Conlon-McKenna

Larch Hill is the only home Blue knows. She arrived there just a few days old, wrapped in a blue blanket. Her one hope is to find her mother or father and have a family of her own.

Fostered out several times, Blue finds it difficult to fit in. Is there no one out there who really wants her? No one who can really love her?

Blue must put up with the orphanage, with the distant and strict care of the nuns. She does have her friends, Mary and Jessie and Molly and Lil, but they’re not family. They’re not enough.

In her heart, Blue is desperate to find out who she really is. The closed file in stern Sister Regina’s office holds the secret of her identity. And that is forbidden territory. . . .

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Irish Literature, Ireland, Childrens, Young Adult, Historical

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2003

About the author

Born in Dublin in 1956 and brought up in Goatstown, Marita went to school at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Mount Anville, later working in the family business, the bank, and a travel agency. She has four children with her husband James, and they live in the Stillorgan area of Dublin.
Marita was always fascinated by the Famine period in Irish history and read everything available on the subject. When she heard a radio report of an unmarked children's grave from the Famine period being found under a hawthorn tree, she decided to write her first book, Under the Hawthorn Tree.

Published in May 1990, the book was an immediate success and become a classic. It has been translated into over a dozen languages, including Arabic, Bahasa, French, Dutch, German, Swedish, Italian, Japanese and Irish. The book has been read on RTÉ Radio and is very popular in schools, both with teachers and pupils. It has been made a supplementary curriculum reader in many schools and is also used by schools in Northern Ireland for EMU (Education through Mutual Understanding) projects. It was also filmed by Young Irish Film Makers, in association with RTÉ and Channel 4. This is available as a DVD.

Marita has written more books for children which were also very well received. The Blue Horse reached No. 1 on the Bestseller List and won the BISTO BOOK OF THE YEAR Award. No Goodbye, which tells of the heartbreak of a young family when their mother leaves home, was recommended by Book Trust in their guide for One Parent Families. Safe Harbour is the story of two English children evacuated from London during World War ll to live with their grandfather in Greystones, Co Wicklow and was shortlisted for the BISTO Book of the Year Award. A Girl Called Blue follows the life of an orphan, trying to find who she really is in a cold and strict orphanage. Marita has also explored the world of fantasy with her book In Deep Dark Wood.

Marita has won several awards, including the International Reading Association Award, the Osterreichischer Kinder und Jugendbuchpreis, the Reading Association of Ireland Award and the Bisto Book of the Year Award.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read this book I was about 12 and I absolutely adore it. I couldn't put it and read it in one day. It was beautifully written.

[Josephine (Jo) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blue lives at Oak Hill orphanage in Dublin, she is called Blue by her friends because she was abandoned in a blue blanket but to the strict nuns, she is called by her proper name Bernadette.
Life in the orphanage is a harsh one, every girl has allotted tasks to fulfil every day and there are some unpleasant punishments for anyone who breaks the rules. Blue's biggest hope is that she will find a family that will love her, she desperately wants to know who her mother was but the nuns will not or cannot tell her. Being a girl who is spirited and has a mind of her own is not a good thing in the orphanage and Blue finds herself in Sister Regina's office far more often than is good for her. It almost turns into a battle of wills, Sister Regina appears to want to break Blue's spirit.
People come and go and Blue gets her hopes raised too many times always thinking that the next visitors will want a girl like her.
The story is set in the 1960s and I found it very moving and not necessarily for a younger reader, in fact in places it is quite graphic for a child's book. Blue is ever the optimist and the reader is with her all the way hoping for things to go well for her.

[Feebee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really enjoyable book, meant to be a children's book but I am not sure I would deem it appropriate for younger children as it does contain some harsh and upsetting scenes.
Blue is a young girl within a Dublin orphanage who is searching for a family but has many things in her way such as Sister Regina, the head nun.
A really touching story which keeps you gripped, a dark twist on jolly boarding school stories, you really do get attached to Blue and want her to achieve a happy ending.

A few minor down points, there are a few continuity errors and you don't really get to know the other girls very well such as Jess and Mary.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only thing that annoys me with these books is that the main character always ends up running away at some point and that's only going to get them killed!
But other than that I liked the way her mother was unknown and it made it more exciting for the reader.
Although McKenna didn't leave many mysteries at the end which would of made me more satisfied.

[Hana Moncrieff · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful book it is a story that I will remember forever I find that is a sad/happy story…

One of the saddest parts for me was what happened to Jessie I felt I was to cry for to long to say her drowning was something that gets to me now, Personally I don’t really go in the sea 🌊 as I don’t really like crabs/jellyfish, and the worst part of her dieing was when her mum came to take her for her visit god I didn’t like that part very much ….

The happiest part for me is when Blue finally finds a family a man and a dear old Lady then blue them all together I think is the perfect fit away from the boarding school forever!

The end of this book is amazing but I guess it was from the very beginning some parts are very emotional 🥹 and wow some parts are really happy 😊 but all of this together makes a really beautiful story ❤️

Love and a flock of doves
Xxxxxxx

[Edwina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Girl Called Blue was a novel that focused on a young teenage girl living in an orphanage where she deems her life as boring and almost lifeless given the fact that she has always wanted to be adopted and given a family of her own to grow up and be happy in. The novel lacked plot and seemed a bit boring and I was quite bored therefore it took me quite a while to finish the book. I commend the author for trying to create a tale of hope, happiness and love and the yearning of a family from the perspective of a young girl. I only wished that the middle of the plot and the end was more concluded to a far happier note than it did. Therefore, I rated this novel three stars.

[caoimhe murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read, sad story about an orphan girl and the isolation she feels. The heartbreaking loss of her friends and the cruelty of the nuns. Glad it has a happy ending. Marita has a very certain writing style a like no others. Her books are short and tend not to go into lengths about surroundings of characters. Each character has a short simple physical description leaving lots of room for readers perception/interpretation. You can see a few common phrases in several of her books eg. 'Milky tea'

[Bláthnaid Mullins · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is about a little girl who grew up at an orphanage and got really sad because the Hickey's never came to pick her up and then she had to spend the day up with the babies. That is all I have read so far...

[Lorna Corcoran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. A really honest heartrending story. If you didn't already hate nuns, you probably would when you meet Sr Regina, but I can honestly say I've never met a bad one and one bad apple does always spoil a bunch!!

[Ava · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book we were reading in school I read ahead so I finished really quick it was an incredible book were following a girl called Blue who lives in a terrible home called larch hill so many ups and downs happen in her life its happy and sad I recomend it

[Orla · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my childhood favourites that has stuck with me throughout the years. I only heard it once, read aloud my a teacher, and read it once alone - so it's the sign of great read that it has held a soft spot for me this whole time. Revisiting this old friends was wonderful.

[Mariea Coady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, cleverly wrote, loving that it's set in Dublin. Tears and laughter all the way through the book.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in 5th class

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book i wanted to make my name blue after reading it though

[zuza · Rating 4 out of 5]

i actually thoroughly enjoyed this book, it has a nuclear grip on my balls and its one of those books that I'll definitely remember

[Neva · Rating 3 out of 5]

it should have been longer

I was caught up into the story right away, but it seemed to finish too suddenly and left me disappointed like it wasn’t finished.

[Sibéal · Rating 5 out of 5]

My all time favourite book

[Summer · Rating 2 out of 5]

One dimensional characters that stayed exactly the same through the entire book. No growth or character development.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book without pictures and I still think about it to this day

[Simone The Glam Historian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book when I was about 10. My teacher gave it to me as she thought I was advanced enough of a reader to handle it. I loved it. It was so sad but that story stayed with me all my life.

[Rebecca Riordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book only book ever given 5 stars and have re read it so many times

[Grace Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blue lives in an children's home in Ireland, under the strict rule of the nuns. She longs for a family of her own. She is precieved by most of the nuns as a troublemaker. This book depicts her life in the children' home as she tries to survive the many hardships there. Never really giving up that one day she will have a family of her own.


This is a children's book which deals with many heavy topics. It does not shy away from the brutality that the nuns inflicted on the people under their care, which can be hard to read. It does a good job in setting the scene and developing Blue's character. I liked the book but I don't think it is appropriate for young kids to read. I liked the character Blue. I thought she was very courageous and spirited, however there were things that she would do in the book and I kept asking, "Why are you doing that you are only going to get yourself in more trouble". I wasn't crazy how the book concluded. After all Blue had been through she really deserved a Happy Ending and the book didn't quite deliver the happy ending.

[Aoife O'Toole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book. I cried quite a lot while reading it! Marita Conlon McKenna describes a girl called Blue, who lives in an orphanage is Dublin. It shows how she copes with the loss of her best friend, Jess, and how she was often abused by one of the nuns who worked in the orphanage. Eventually, things work out though. Its a brilliant book.

[Sylvia sloan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Happy at last

Such a lovely story about a child called blue who was raised by nuns
And treated appallingly. After being badly burned by one of the sisters she decided to run away. Unfortunately she was caught by it was Jimmy Mooney who found her brought her back and she. Was punished but then Jimmy and his ma made her part of their family Happy at last

[Lavender · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blue is an orphan girl and has a mind of her own. She lives in Larchill, Dublin in a christian orphanage and dreams of her own family.
The style is completly different from the famine-triology but still capturing and a quick read

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this story when I read it and just now realised it's by the same author who wrote the famine stories my teacher read us in school. :) nice revelation!

Find more reviews at: http://ambilit.wordpress.com/

[Kerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about a girl who grows up in an orphanage in Dublin.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bless Blue's little heart. I think every primary school girl should read it.

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pure and tragic tale of a girl's horrendous childhood of lies and loss. Very heart-wrenching and utterly brilliant.

[Caoilinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was one of the best book I read.