When the Stars Go Blue

When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer 2010 (ARC)
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Griffin Press


When the Stars Go Blue is a modern retelling of Carmen. Listen to the song that inspired the title here (utterly haunting/enchanting). Soledad is dance and dance is Soledad, it is her everything. It's the summer after graduation and she had planned on teaching at her ballet teacher's dance studio and then getting an apartment in NYC in order to audition for dance companies. However her plans change when her classmate Jonathan Crandall asks her to consider auditioning for the part of Carmen. The audition is for the drum and bugle corps he is a part of. The opportunity is a once in a lifetime and introduces Soledad to the competitive world of the drum and bugle corps, the thrill of dancing in front of a huge, live audience, and the wonder of falling in love for the first time. While she travels across the U.S. with the corps, she meets Taz, a Spanish soccer player with a silver streak in his hair. Taz is clearly into Soledad, but it doesn't matter, because she's in love with Jonathan. And you can't be in love with two people at once, right? But everything changes after one dramatic incident that could ruin more than one future.

"People always asked why I danced. Why I'd devoted so much of my life to something that seemed to offer so little in return. But good as I was with words, in this they kind of deserted me. Every once in a while, I wished I could talk about it. How dancing created this huge, chaotic jumble of emotions and adrenaline rushing through my bloodstream-the freedom and power that came from the ability to command my body so completely." If you have ever felt passionately about something, no doubt, you can relate to what Soledad is saying. This quote is on the 2nd page and it was then that I knew Soledad and I would get along just fine. Soledad is one of the most driven protagonists in YA that I've ever come across. In this novel, the similarities between the original Carmen (I've never seen the opera so I'm basing this off summaries I've found and the musical Carmen Jones, which I adore) and this retelling are harder to spot. One of them is in how ambitious Carmen was and how ambitious Soledad is. Plus they both live in the moment, a quality that Jonathan envies of Soledad. Furthermore Jonathan and Soledad have tempers, much like Don Jose and Carmen. There is a love triangle but there is no clear winner, not until the grand finale. Taz is probably the only guy with long hair I will ever see as utterly sexy (that silver streak!), and it doesn't hurt that he's a soccer player ;) There are no one-dimensional characters. Each character is very carefully fleshed out, the flaws becoming more evident while the plot thickens. There is an intense air throughout the whole novel since Carmen is a tragedy and you know that eventually there will be a dramatic conclusion.

The writing is indescribable. It is expressive and elegant and it has obvious that the author knows both the story of Carmen and the world of which she speaks (drum and bugle corps, dance). The passion for the subject matter leaps off the page, after all only a dancer could really name the indescribable feeling that dancing provides. The romance is steamy, not because it's particularly explicit but because there is so much longing between Soledad, Jonathan and Taz. "Felt as if we had a whole conversation in the glance we exchanged in the silence following his words. But it was a teasing sort of exchange, the words in a language I wasn't quite comprehending. That I didn't really want to understand yet. But in a way, I did. At least, I wanted to try." (pg. 208). The author clearly illustrates the confusion Soledad feels over the behavior of both Taz and Jonathan, the confusion of being in love and wanting someone so badly, you don't know what to do with yourself.

When the Stars Go Blue is a dazzling read set in a world that will be new to many readers (including myself). I've never been to a college football game or seen a drum and bugle corps perform, but now I really want to see one live! I can't say that it looks easy being in the color guard, playing an instrument, etc. but I now know from this book that it's not, it takes a ton of blood, sweat and tears (well I already knew that about playing an instrument and dancing but still). The fervor that Soledad feels for dance, that Taz feels for soccer and that Jonathan feels for playing the horn is a palpable feeling that anyone who has dedicated themselves to a craft of some sort can relate to. The romance will have any romantic swooning and the climax will have you gasp out loud (especially when witnessing the painful rebound Soledad must make, it's a struggle to say the least). Caridad Ferrer is definitely one of my favorite authors and I will read whatever she writes next, no questions (after all I swore I would never develop a crush on a literary character with long hair or for that matter, any guy with long hair. Until Taz came along). At one point Jonathan tells Soledad to "Own it.", own the role of Carmen. Caridad Ferrer owns this retelling of Carmen and just like her main character, she triumphantly makes it her own.

Original review

Read our interview with the author

WWOC: Barbara Caridad Ferrer

Full name: Barbara Caridad Ferrer (Yes, the Caridad is really mine!)

Birth date: 8/25

Location: New York, NY

Website/blog: http://www.caridadferrer.com/

Genre: Contemporary/Multicultural Young Adult

WiP or most recently published work: When the Stars Go Blue (St. Martin's Griffin/November 2010)

Writing credits: Adiós to My Old Life (2006); It's Not About the Accent (2007)

How frequently do you update your site? I blog regularly and since the site is built on a blog platform, fairly frequently. It also contains my Twitter feed, so you could say that my site is constantly being updated.

Is your site designed for reader interaction? Definitely. Between email contact, my Twitter feed and the blog entries, I love hearing from and interacting with readers.

Post of note, something in particular you want readers to check out:

And People Seriously Wonder

Tell Me Again How This Isn't One Person Making A Decision For the Whole?

War of the Words


Top 5 reads you’re looking forward to reading in 2010?

The Girls from the Revolutionary Cantina- M. Padilla

Maybe This Time- Jennifer Crusie

The Babylonian Codex- C.S. Graham

Forget You- Jennifer Echols

The Sugar King of Havana- John Paul Rathbone

From your blog, I've noticed you are a big fan of the arts. What draws you to the world of music and dance? How does this influence your writing (if it has any influence at all)?

I've been both a reader/storyteller and a musician literally my entire life. I wouldn't begin to know how to exist without either. I've also dabbled in other arts, taking ballet as a child, being a competitive figure skater, and most recently, I've taken up photography to indulge my love of visual arts (I cannot draw to save my life- literally. I'm TERRIBLE.) I wish I could adequately describe the depth of emotion a beautiful piece of music or art or a dance performance can evoke in me. It's what I try to express within the written word and hopefully, if I've even come close, the reader will at least get a sense of the passion I have for the arts. It's so important, to me, to find the beauty in the world, especially as it grows increasingly dark around us. The arts are the purest expression of joy I can think of.

Please share what your newest release, When the Stars Go Blue, is about.

Basically, STARS is a modern retelling of the CARMEN story, first written as a short story by Prosper Mérimée, then adapted into the opera by George Bizet. (As well as a ballet, by Roland Petit.) The basic story is of the Gypsy, Carmen, who woos an inexperienced soldier, Don José, who basically renounces everything for her, then murders her when she rejects him for the bullfighter Escamillo. My version is a bit looser interpretation- my "Carmen" is Soledad Reyes, a driven dancer with dreams of becoming a professional, "Don José" is Jonathan Randall, an equally driven music prodigy who falls for Soledad, but whose has some longstanding personal demons to deal with, and finally, my "Escamillo" is Taz, a Spanish soccer player who's brash, cocky, and completely charming. My story plays out against the backdrop of competitive drum and bugle corps, of which Jonathan is a longtime member. He recruits Soledad to join the corps, because they're going to be performing Carmen and they need a dancer to portray the role of the gypsy-- Jonathan also has ulterior motives, because he's harbored a longtime crush on Soledad. The dual pull of the role of a lifetime, plus unrequited desire proves to be too tempting for Soledad to pass up, so she joins the corps and becomes involved with Jonathan. Of course, that's when Taz shows up, providing a distraction and making Soledad question everything she thinks she knows.

And in an eerie echo of the story they perform every night, tragedy strikes.

100 words or less how would you describe your work?

I have the hardest time describing my own work. Those who have read it use the words "lush" and "lyrical" and I have to say, I find that both humbling and incredibly flattering, since those are two things I really strive for in my writing. I want the reader to feel as completely immersed in the world I'm creating as I was when I was writing it.

100 words on less please share your thoughts on the writing life

The writing life is not one that's easy, but it's easily the most gratifying thing I've ever done. And it's really the perfect profession for me because it allows me to incorporate every passion and interest I have. It's sort of like acting, in that I get to be those people for as long as I'm writing the story. Writing is completely yours in a way that very few other professions can be.

I was fortunate to receive an ARC of When the Stars Go Blue and everyone is in for such a treat! The writing is lush and sublime ;) The romance is absolutely enthralling and the love triangle is actually realistic (i.e. there is no obvious choice of who Carmen should choose until the very end). As for the ending, possibly one of the most dramatic (in a good way) and tense endings I've read in a long time. Ms. Ferrer does indeed completely immerse you in the world of her characters, you care deeply for them and get a good idea of the environment they are living in. Utterly fabulous! I adored Adios to My Old Life and It's Not About the Accent was a very interesting read. I highly highly recommend all of Ms. Ferrer's books.