1. Born Blue by Han Nolan Presented by Ms. Doherty

2. About the Author Han Nolan Born in Alabama in 1956 active and loved to sing and dance as a child hated school until 6 th grade when she started creative writing adopted three children with her husband Other books she’s written include Crazy, A Summer of Kings, When We Were Saints, If I Should Die Before I Wake, Send Me Down A Miracle, Dancing On the Edge, A Face In Every Window Source: http://www.hannolan.com

3. Important Characters in Born Blue Mama Linda Janie, aka Leshaya Harmon Paul

4. Main Setting Alabama, 1960s

5. Conflicts Janie’s dream Janie’s problems

6. Summary of Novel Janie goes to live with a foster family when she is very small and becomes close to Harmon, her foster brother. Her mother takes her away to live with some other people who are not very nice. They get arrested and Janie goes to other foster homes. She finally runs away and gets involved with some older people who want to help her with her singing. She gets involved with drugs and alcohol and becomes pregnant. She has to make some decisions: her music or the drugs or the baby? How will she survive?

7. Meaning of title Born Blue

8. Review I highly recommend this book. It is realistic because the characters experience problems that real people face. It is suspenseful because you are never sure what Janie will do next. Warning: Sometimes the language is inappropriate and Janie does inappropriate things, so be sure your parents would approve of you reading it.