A Solitary Blue is a novel by Cynthia Voigt

Cynthia Voigt

Cynthia Voigt is an American author of books for young adults dealing with various topics such as adventure, mystery, racism and child abuse. Her first book in the Tillerman family series, Homecoming, was nominated for several international prizes and made into a 1996 film...

. It was a Newbery Honor book in 1984. It takes place before, during and after the events described in Dicey's Song

Dicey's Song

Dicey's Song is a novel by Cynthia Voigt. It won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1983.-Plot:Picking up where Homecoming left off, Dicey Tillerman and her three siblings, James, Maybeth, and Sammy, are now living with their widowed grandmother Abigail Tillerman,...

, Voigt's 1983 Newbery Medal

Newbery Medal

The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...

 winner and Come a Stranger. Instead of revolving around the Tillermans, however, it revolves around Jeff Greene, a boy who accepts his mother for who she is.

Plot summary

Jeff Greene's mother, Melody, leaves him and his father reserved and always sticks to a routine. Trying not to be a burden to his father, when Jeff feels sick he makes light of it until he is seriously unwell with a chest infection.

After many years without any contact from his mother, she asks him to visit her in her family's home in Charleston

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

, South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

for the summer. He connects with Melody and has a wonderful time, the first one since Melody left. After his visit, he writes letters to Melody on the first day of every month even though she never writes back. For Christmas he sends Melody a beautiful scarf but receives nothing from her in return. Jeff convinces himself to excuse her for ignoring him so he can keep loving her.

On his second summer visit, Melody doesn't spend much time with Jeff. She has a boyfriend and is never at home for more than a day. Jeff's second summer with his mother is very different from his first one, and by the end of it, Jeff is forced to see that Melody doesn't really care about him. Jeff is heartbroken and withdraws himself. Melody and Jeff have a huge fight.'

He begins to fail his classes and doesn't open up to anyone about his feelings. He becomes so withdrawn his father becomes convinced he is on drugs but finds out the truth and decides to make a change for Jeff's good, moving to Crisfield.

Jeff makes some friends and gets his life back on track, taking an interest in schoolwork and learning to play the guitar. He learns to accept himself, and starts to build a real relationship with his father.

After a year in Crisfield, Jeff meets the Tillermans and begins courting Dicey, whom he attracts with his music.

Finally, Jeff becomes able to put his mother behind him and bond with his father.

Chapter 1

In this chapter Jeff is only 7 and comes home from school to find a note from his M (Mom-Melody) telling him that she had to leave for a while and for him to not be sad. Later Jeff's father, the professor, finds a live in student to try to replace Melody. The student was a tall male named Jackson, the professor chose a male because "Girls tend to be unreliable". Later in the chapter, the professor comes to his 3rd live in student named Brother Thomas and Jeff catches the Flu and he hides it from the professor, in hopes of it passing over and not disturbing his routen in result of this it elevates to the point of it being impossible to hide the professor finds out and tries to take Jeff's temperature but they don't own a thermometer. Thankfully Brother Thomas does, 104°, the professor doesn't know his doctors name so Brother Thomas tells him to contact his wife, Melody, so he does and find out all he needs to know. calls the doctor and get's a house call. After the medicine was taken and Jeff was felling better, Brother Thomas spoke to Jeff about his parent's situation, Jeff find out his mother lives in Charleston, South Carolina...