
“Even though the road trip genre goes back all the way to Homer and has been rehashed a thousand times, Blue’s journey feels fresh and surprising. It conjures up a cold wind, a warm hearth, and the sweet jangle of guitar strings.”
—NPR
“Jennifer Mason-Black knows how to find wonder in the messy stuff of our world: a bus graveyard, a diner, a TV game where players stray from their scripted songs. It may not conjure many spirits, yet music is the true magic here.”
—Locus
“A magical-realist adventure laced with folk guitar and outcast drifters unpacks the bonds of family—those we are born into and those we choose.”
―Kirkus [starred review]
“First-time novelist Mason-Black delivers a subtle, delicate tale reminiscent of the work of Charles de Lint, a magical realist journey of self-discovery and hidden depths, with fascinating characters and a captivating narrative.”
―Publisher’s Weekly [starred review]
“In Devil and the Bluebird, the universal question of a soul’s worth feels uniquely American, drawing on the folk legend of the devil and Robert Johnson. Mason-Black’s story lives on society’s fringes, tangling around small-time musicians, lost souls and street kids, highlighting the beauty and brutality of wandering the world alone. Older teens will especially appreciate this allegory for finding one’s voice, finding one’s own kind of family, and the danger of playing “a tune that’s not your own.”
―ShelfAwareness [starred review]
“Old-school Weetzie Bat fans will be enthralled with this musical, meandering book brimming with magical realism and all sorts of ways to find and give love.”
―BCCB