Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy

The last book in my Julie Murphy marathon (until Dear Sweet Pea comes out) is Ramona Blue. Murphy wrote this book in between Dumplin' and Puddin'.

Ramona is a character that speaks to everyone. She isn't afraid to be herself without question and is fiercely loyal to her friends and family. Ramona is someone who starts to question the labels she has put on herself after her friend Freddie comes back to town to live after having only been there for the summer when they were younger.

Ramona is a character I couldn't help but love and want to take care of. She takes care of herself and her older sister Hattie and the baby that is on the way. Ramona feels like she has to be the one to take care of her sister and her father financially too. She has this so far into her head that she doesn't want to take advantage of any opportunity that is presented to her to get out of her small town and to have a career that isn't waiting tables at the local restaurant and working multiple part time jobs to make ends meet. Doesn't she know that it takes a village anyways?

Ramona is fiercely loyal to her friends in that they become like her family. She goes out of her way to do great things for them before sometimes worrying about herself -- while she's rocking her cerulean hair along the way. Ramona is a character that made me start thinking about my own friendships with people and whether I showed them enough that I cherished them.

This book is one I recommend for everyone -- whether you agree with her life or not. I cannot wait to visit Ramona again one day, and it'll be a great time in Eulogy then. Or maybe I'll just go on down to NOLA and dance in the street with a tuxedo shirt on. We'll never know until I do it.

Disclaimer: As much as I love the world of Dumplin' and Puddin', this might just be my favorite book by her yet. (So please don't hate me until you read it for yourself.)

I do not own this picture.