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About The Indigo Notebook
Fifteen-year-old Zeeta lives in a different country every year with her flighty, English-teaching mom, Layla. The wandering life suits Layla, who lives in the moment, quotes mystical poetry, and hangs out with penniless artists and scraggly-haired clowns. But Zeeta yearns for the "normal life" she sees in American magazine ads.
This year, Zeeta finds herself in the Ecuadoran Andes, where sacred waterfalls grant wishes and old Incan gods dwell in mountains. In the colorful marketplace of Otavalo, an American teenager, Wendell, asks Zeeta to help him search for his birth parents. The quest leads them to adventures in an indigenous village with its crystal caves, exotic gardens, and venomous creatures. Nearly everyone Zeeta meets is hiding secrets, including Wendell himself.
As Zeeta and Wendell's adventures bring them closer together-- and closer to danger-- they find themselves growing closer to fulfilling their greatest wishes, as well. But is the truth worth pursuing, no matter what? Is it possible that a surprising reality might be better than a long-held fantasy? And most of all, what is it that will truly make their spirits fly?
Ages 10 & up, Delacorte/ Random House. Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook, and Kindle
Excerpt from The Indigo Notebook
It's always the same, no matter where in the world we happen to be. Just when I get used to noodle soup for breakfast in Laos, or endless glasses of super-sweet mint tea in Morocco, or crazy little tuk tuk taxies in Thailand, Layla gets that look in her eyes, that far-away, wistful look, as though she's squinting at a movie in the distance, and on the screen is a place more exotic, more dazzling, more spiritual than wherever we are. On rainy hills, she dreams of parched desert drum rituals. On windswept islands, she yearns for ancient jungle secrets. On palm treed beaches, she imagines sacred mountain waterfalls. When her mind starts drifting off, our bodies and suitcases soon follow. And here we are, Layla and me, on the last leg of a journey from southeast Asia, our plane swimming in clouds above the Andes, hovering, once again, between homes.
Reviews
School Library Journal
Gr 6-9... Well plotted, with a cast of likable and interesting secondary characters and a powerfully atmospheric setting that includes a cave of crystals and a waterfall supposed to have magical powers, this novel succeeds at creating a believable and touchingly gentle romance between Zeeta and Wendell. The fantastic element, Wendell’s inherited gift of seeing into the future, is deftly handled. An entertaining and suspenseful read.
The Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books
... Zeeta is an effective guide for readers as well as for Wendell in this exotic landscape… Her own questioning of what she really wants also facilitates readerly connections; holding the exciting plot, evocative setting, and unusual experiences up to the rhythms of a more ordinary life enables readers to share Zeeta's ultimate epiphany that she is, in fact, living the life others only dream of. Obviously, this point of view is somewhat romanticized despite the dangers and discomforts Zeeta and Wendell encounter, but readers looking for inspiration and impetus to get out and see the world will find this a satisfying outing.
ALA Booklist Review
Observant, aware, and occasionally wry, Zeeta’s first-person narration will attract readers and hold them. Not all will find the magical elements woven into the story satisfying, but some will find them enchanting. The romance starts almost imperceptibly and builds gradually, believably throughout the novel. Resau, the author of What the Moon Saw (2006) and Red Glass (2007), offers another absorbing novel with a Latin American setting.
Kirkus Review
The characters fairly brim with life in this thoughtful, poignant novel filled with cultural details. The writing is simple but evocative - "Far above, the gray peaks wear long, green robes, swirling into valleys, rippling into smooth mounds." The story's too-neat ending may strain believability for some readers, but this is a minor detraction to an otherwise remarkably engrossing, layered work. (Fiction. 12 & up)
Online, Author, and Newspaper Reviews
Six Boxes of Books Review
The last two days [reading The Indigo Notebook] I felt like I WAS in Ecuador, and so the only possible thing I could have for dinner last night was Ecuadorean quinoa vegetable soup from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes--you may think you've never been that interested in going to Ecuador, but after reading this book, I predict you'll be looking up plane fares... I think your bright middle-schoolers and maybe high-schoolers will love this series. I was desperate to travel when I was that age, and it seems like something even more teens aspire to now. Zeeta is both a real girl (multiracial, by the way) and a wish-fulfillment fantasy, something YA can never have enough of.
Marjolein Book Blog Review
The story of Zeeta and Wendell was very entertaining and keeps you page turning. And you learn a lot about Ecuador and its culture too while reading it... an outstanding YA novel.
***** Five out of five stars!!!
This amazing book blends coming of age, romance, mystery, and a little mysticism to build an enticing story. The characters become real and I hated to turn the last page and leave them.
Tasha Saecker
Ecuador comes alive in [Resau's] writing. One can almost smell the popcorn in the air, the fresh bread baking, and the potato soup. . . Highly recommended for tween and teen readers who are looking to travel. This book brings a place to life so vividly it is almost like being there. Add a little romance and it becomes irresistible.
Becky's Book Review
Life in Ecuador certainly is interesting, Zeeta finds. Full of adventure, mystery, magic, danger, love, and laughter. It's a coming of age story as well. A story of discovering who you are, what you want, and what you really need. It's a complex story exploring family dynamics and relationships.
Southern Colorado Examiner
The journey to her revelations, as recorded in her notebook, will amuse and entertain readers of all ages. The characters are charming, unique individuals that will remain in the memories of readers for many days to come. This tale is a young adult adventure, with a humor, mystery and mystique thrown in to make a truly enjoyable read.
For more reviews, please see the sidebar of Laura's blog
Awards and Recognition
Winner Colorado Book Award
Winner Colorado Authors' League Top Hand Award
ALA Amazing Audiobook for Young Adults
Cybils Award nominee
ALA Best Book for Young Adults nominee
Inspiration for The Notebook Series
Fellow author and Baltimorean Anne Tyler said that writing novels lets her live many alternate lives. I love this about writing. At some point in my twenties, I was faced with the choice of either endlessly moving from country to country teaching ESL-or settling somewhere. I chose the latter, promising myself I'd take short trips as often as possible and try to live abroad again for a year or so... but part of me wonders what my life would have been like as a permanent traveler. So I created Zeeta and Layla, who in some sense, represent conflicting parts of myself. Through them, I can (sort of) live out my alternate wandering life.
When I proposed this project to my agent and editor, I was especially excited at the idea that travel was required for these books. At that time, my husband and I were planning to have our first child, so I knew my life would soon undergo a huge change. I wanted to make sure I had to take international "research trips," as a kind of protection against the possiblility that life with a baby would make me put my traveling-the-world passion on hold. Another benefit of doing a travel series is that I can incorporate what I learned for my Masters degree in cultural anthropology. (It's nice to feel that I didn't sweat over nine zillion journal articles for nothing...)
Inspiration for The Indigo Notebook
My idea for the series' first book, The Indigo Notebook, grew out of a research trip I took to Ecuador for a collaborative memoir I was working on (which hopefully will come out with in the next couple years.) My close friend María Virginia, an indigenous Otavaleña woman, asked me to write a book with her about her amazing girlhood in the Ecuadoran Andes. While I spent "research" time in Ecuador, another indigenous friend happened to tell me about his recently discovered half-brother-- a teenage boy who had been adopted as a baby by a European family. The boy came to my friend's community searching for his birth parents, where he ultimately discovered the truth of his origins-- a somewhat painful, but mostly joyful journey. This gave me the idea for Wendell's search.
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Interviews and Articles
For over a dozen interviews and articles, please go to the "Interviews with Laura" section on the sidebar of her blog.
For more articles, interviews, and reviews, please see the sidebar of Laura's blog.