From the Publisher
I suddenly see where I'm standing, and that's at the edge of change - really, really big change.
Eighteen-year-old Indigo Skye feels like she has it all - a waitress job she loves, an adorable refrigerator-delivery-guy boyfriend, and a home life that's slightly crazed but rich in love. Until a mysterious man at the restaurant leaves her a 2.5 million-dollar tip, and her life as she knew it is transformed.
At first its amazing: a hot new car, enormous flat-screen TV, and presents for everyone she cares about. She laughs off the warnings that money changes people, that they come to rely on what they have instead of who they are. Because it won't happen...not to her. Or will it? What do you do when you can buy anything your heart desires -- but what your heart desires can't be bought?
This is the story of a girl who gets rich, gets lost, and ultimately finds her way back - if not to where she started, then to where she can start again.
Publishers Weekly
The old saying "Money can't buy happiness" proves true for high school senior Indigo Skye after she receives a $2.5 million tip from a handsome stranger at the suburban Seattle restaurant where she is a part-time waitress. Before long, the pressure is on from friends and family to spend (or not spend) her money a certain way. Although the lesson of this rags-to-riches tale is evident from the beginning, Caletti (Honey, Baby, Sweetheart) builds characters with so much depth that readers will be invested in her story. Indigo's ability to recognize and appreciate what makes other people tick makes her an unusually compelling narrator, even when her values get blown off course. The rest of the cast, all of whom harbor conflicts and aspirations of their own, radiate personality, especially the crew of customers who regularly patronize Indigo's restaurant (they include a man accused of murdering his wife, a heavily tattooed factory worker and a Native American poet with a chemical imbalance). Working from a premise that strains credibility, Caletti spins a network of relationships that feels real and enriching. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)
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Children's Literature
Indigo Sky is just an average girl, waiting tables to save money for college and living in her mother's home with two siblings. She likes the routine structure of serving her regular customers' favorite meals to them in a small diner, but when a mysterious wealthy businessman leaves Indigo a multi-million dollar tip for having the concern to warn a stranger not to smoke, her world becomes anything but routine. She initially clings to her old structure, working at the diner and spending time with her ex-stoner boyfriend and his lofty dreams, but slowly Indigo changes and takes less joy in her life. When a friend offers Indigo the chance to travel to California, she leaps at it, only to find that all she values is miles away from her glitzy lifestyle. Indigo returns home to seek everything worth having—her family's love, her friends' support, and the joy of helping others realize their dreams. While this message of rejecting material wealth for the support of true closeness with others would be uplifting, it is disconcerting that Indigo is able to quite literally buy the forgiveness of all the people she hurt so deeply when she left without any notice. Additionally, the prose is often circular and sometimes quite dense, and some of Indigo's observations regarding class differences at times seem more advanced than most teens would develop. Some adults may object to the book's language, though many teens will likely find this aspect authentic and swiftly verify it is nothing they have not heard (and said) before. The book is a fun, though not light-hearted, read many girls will enjoy, especially those with restaurant experience. Reviewer: Jennifer Wood
KLIATT
AGERANGE: Ages 15 to adult.
I’m a great fan of Caletti’s YA novels and this one didn’t disappoint me. You may remember her from Honey, Baby, Sweetheart, which was a National Book Award Finalist, or for The Nature of Jade, Wild Roses, and The Queen of Everything. Indigo Skye is nearly an adult. In her last semester of high school, she is happy with her waitressing job, and willing to keep working at the café until she figures out what she wants to do with her future. Unlike most 18 year olds, she is grounded, confident, and observant. Perhaps these are the qualities that attract the attention of the Vespa guy, a handsome, quiet customer who sits with a cup of coffee, not wanting to talk. A few words are exchanged along the way between the Vespa guy and Indigo, and these words are the catalyst for an incredible gift: the Vespa guy leaves Indigo a check, a tip, of two and a half million dollars. You may think this is ludicrous…well, when we know more about the guy, it makes sense. He is an entrepreneur who has plenty of money and doesn’t know how to live. Indigo’s few words help him to make some basic changes. Now, we all would start wondering how we would spend this bonanza. And it is interesting to see Indigo process the gift. At first, she hastens to return the money, for all the obvious reasons. Then she starts going wild buying all sorts of stuff, not really thinking about what she is doing, and this takes her far away from her center. Eventually, she seriously considers how to use the money wisely, to make her life better, and to give meaningful gifts to her family and to those she loves. Her family is wonderful--not perfect, that’s for sure, but nurturing andinteresting. Unlike in most YA novels, many of the characters are adults, and Caletti spends as much effort making them as real and sympathetic as the teenagers. The Fortunes of Indigo Skye make us all think about fortune and fortunes in our own lives. Reviewer: Claire Rosser
March 2008 (Vol. 42, No.2)
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up- Indigo Skye, an average high school senior, works part-time as a waitress at a small diner, where she gets to know and love a group of quirky "Irregulars" who frequent the place. She leads a happy but ordinary life until the day a customer, in return for a small kindness, leaves her a $2.5 million tip. This story follows Indigo's struggle to remain true to herself and to fight all the negative side effects of instant wealth. Right from the beginning, Caletti is able to distinguish her extensive cast of characters by relating their memorable and endearing eccentricities. Indigo, especially, is a multilayered and complicated protagonist. Although the premise seems a bit far-fetched, the characters' actions and dialogue keep this story real. Humor is sprinkled in with the more serious, philosophical questions and Indigo's emotions are expertly conveyed. While the theme of money as a potential corrupter is effective, it is stated outright too frequently instead of allowing readers to draw their own conclusions. Filled with rich characters and hilarious interactions mixed with Indigo's astute perceptions of conformity and frivolous wealth, this book encourages thought and examination of what is truly important in life.-Jessie Spalding, Queen Creek Branch Library, AZ
Kirkus Reviews
Money is bad. That polemic resides at the heart of Caletti's latest and overwhelms almost everything else. Eighteen-year-old Indigo Skye is a devoted waitress with no further aspirations and a too-mature voice that sometimes contradicts her stated lack of worldly experience; discourses on topics such as shopping for fulfillment and "airport time" sadly sound like adult intrusions (although they make for delightful reading). When Indigo receives a 2.5-million dollar tip, she turns into a spoiled brat who spends wildly, accuses her long-standing boyfriend of wanting nothing but her money and turns her back on the motley crew of diner patrons who are her extended family. Ultimately, Indigo learns to be rich and responsible (after a fling with the darker side of wealth), ensuring that readers are left with a clear sense of the moral rocks beneath the novel's ground. Despite myriad flaws, Caletti's fans will doubtless embrace this, even if the story is swallowed by the message with a capital M. (Fiction. YA)
(1 ratings)
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