Up from the Blue: A Novel

This first novel from Henderson (curator, NPR's Dime Stories) opens in 1991 as twentysomething Matilda Harris goes into premature labor in her new Washington, DC, apartment. The only person she can think of to call is her father, with whom she hasn't spoken in three years. The story then turns to eight-year-old Tillie as she and her family relocate to Washington from New Mexico when her father, a weapons system designer, gets a new job at the Pentagon. But Tillie's mother isn't in Washington when she arrives. Tillie's older brother, Phil, isn't much help, and her father just wants her to be a good soldier and avoid the usual chaos that surrounds her. Tillie longs for the bright colors and dancing and joy she associates with her mother. Instead, she basks in the praise from her teacher and feels an affinity for the one black girl in her class, who comes in on the bus. VERDICT Henderson beautifully portrays this family in crisis through its most voluble and consistent member. Rapturous prose reveals young Tillie's heart as she yearns for the mother who will make her world better but who can't seem to mend her own tortured soul. A triumphant debut. [Online reading group guide.]—Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal