Goodbye, Rebel Blue by Shelley Coriell

Goodbye, Rebel Blue by Shelley Coriell, pub. October 2013, 320 pg.

Goodbye, Rebel Blue by Shelley Coriell, pub. Oct. 2013, 320 pg.

Rating: 4/5 stars

If your classmate died and you had her bucket list, what would you do? That’s the question the title character in Goodbye, Rebel Blue by Shelley Coriell has to answer when a girl at her school dies and leaves behind a list of things she wanted to do with her life.

Rebecca “Rebel” Blue is a misfit at her high school. She grew up running barefoot and wild while she and her mother, a photographer, traveled the world. When her mother died, Rebel went to live with her aunt, uncle and cousin Penelope, in a much more regimented household.

When the book begins, Rebel is constantly in and out of detention and has a reputation for causing trouble. When one of her classmates suddenly dies, Rebel is the only one who knows
where to find the girl’s bucket list. After trying to get rid of the list only to have it continuously come back to her, Rebel decides there is only one way to get the list – and the memory of her classmate – to stop haunting her: she has to do everything the other girl wanted to do before she died.

This book paints a really touching and genuine picture of what it feels like to not fit in. Readers get a behind-the-scenes look at the thoughts behind Rebel’s often prickly actions. She constantly pushes friends and family members away when she really wants and needs their support. Because she feels like she doesn’t fit in, it’s hard for her to believe when people really do have her back and want to stand up for her. She constantly suspects other people of having ulterior motives, even when it’s clear they are just trying to help her.

I read this book in one day. I couldn’t put it down because I wanted to see how Rebel was going to tackle the next bucket list item. Her classmate’s list is full of good deeds, and Rebel isn’t exactly known for being the helpful type. The items on the list send her to places and set her to tasks she never would have done on her own. Taking on goals that force her to interact with people outside of her comfort zone really changes Rebel, and it’s amazing to see the metamorphosis she goes through over the course of the book.

One of the biggest challenges Rebel faces is learning how to trust others and believe in them. READ THE FULL REVIEW AT THE DAILY QUIRK!