The Fortunes of Indigo Skye

Gr 9 Up—Eighteen-year old Indigo Skye is a free-spirited Seattle teen, happily coasting toward graduation. She loves her quirky family, her hunky boyfriend, and her job waiting tables at a small café. Then a mysterious customer leaves her a $2.5 million tip. Deciding that she can't keep the money, she follows her benefactor to Maui, where her father also lives. But Richard Howards, a search engine entrepreneur seeking a clean start, insists that she keep the money. "The money is not a burden," Indigo decides in a characteristic moment of soul-searching. "It is the end of all burdens." So she returns to Seattle, newly wealthy, only to learn that money changes everything—and not necessarily for the better. She escapes to Malibu with a pal, where she must decide if she can ever feel at home with the rich and famous. Deb Caletti's early descriptions of Indigo's stratified Seattle neighborhood, with its haves and have-nots, nicely set up the protagonist's attitude toward wealth. The novel's (Simon Pulse, 2008) first half is overly long, but once Indigo receives the money, the pacing and humor really pick up. Ellen Grafton's earnest, effusive reading is a winning match for Indigo's happy-go-lucky disposition. Her depiction of various male characters is less convincing, even corny at times, but luckily most of the story takes place in Indigo's voice. A sprinkling of strong language aside, this is a refreshing modern fable.—Amy Pickett, Ridley High School, Folsom, PA