Blu's Hanging by Lois-Ann Yamanaka

Middle School/Young Adult

Themes of  Sexual Molestation/ Death/ Disease/Drug Abuse/Poverty

"Blu's Hanging" is a painful,beautiful novel in which the eldest daughter,Ivah,  must become the head of the family after her mother's death. Ivah cannot prevent her brother Blu from overeating loaves of soft white bread since their mother died, nor can she protect him from the sexual perpetrators in the neighborhood and larger community She tries to care for him and their little sister Maisie, while their father eases his grief with marijuana.  
Lois-Ann Yamanaka understands the deep hunger, wounds and longings of her characters. The voice of Ivah's first person narration is replete with the sadness of her family home:

"From my bedroom, I smell the sweet smell of marijuana. It wafts through the walls. I hear the sucking, deep and long. The orange chair creeks and then it is silent."

 There is a deeper shadow that is left by the death of Ivah's mother, one that is related to the family medical history of the disease of leprosy, disfigurement, social isolation and the risks involved in attempting to escape.
Ultimately, this family finds redemptive peace as the ghost of their mother finds rest herself.











Reviewed by Susan Kanga