The Blue Notebook

A Novel

A Novel

A Novel

By James A. Levine

By James A. Levine

By James A. Levine
Read by Meera Simhan

Best Seller
The Blue Notebook by James A. Levine
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Paperback $14.00

Jul 06, 2010 | 240 Pages

Ebook $6.99

Jul 07, 2009 | 224 Pages

Audiobook Download $17.50

Jul 07, 2009 | 441 Minutes

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      Jul 06, 2010 | 240 Pages

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      Jul 07, 2009 | 224 Pages

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      Jul 07, 2009 | 441 Minutes

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    About The Blue Notebook

    An unforgettable, deeply affecting debut novel, The Blue Notebook tells the story of Batuk, a precocious fifteen-year-old girl from rural India who is sold into sexual slavery by her father. As she navigates the grim realities of Mumbai’s Common Street, Batuk manages to put pen to paper, recording her private thoughts and writing fantastic tales that help her transcend her daily existence. Beautifully crafted, surprisingly hopeful, and filled with both tragedy and humor, The Blue Notebook shows how even in the most difficult situations, people use storytelling to make sense of and give meaning to their lives.

    About The Blue Notebook

    BONUS: This edition contains a The Blue Notebook discussion guide and an excerpt from James A. Levine’s Bingo’s Run.

    An unforgettable, deeply affecting debut novel, The Blue Notebook tells the story of Batuk, a precocious fifteen-year-old girl from rural India who is sold into sexual slavery by her father. As she navigates the grim realities of Mumbai’s Common Street, Batuk manages to put pen to paper, recording her private thoughts and writing fantastic tales that help her transcend her daily existence. Beautifully crafted, surprisingly hopeful, and filled with both tragedy and humor, The Blue Notebook shows how even in the most difficult situations, people use storytelling to make sense of and give meaning to their lives.

    About The Blue Notebook

    Dear Reader:

    Every now and then, we come across a novel that moves us like no other, that seems like a miracle of the imagination, and that haunts us long after the book is closed. James Levine’s The Blue Notebook is that kind of book. It is the story of Batuk, an Indian girl who is taken to Mumbai from the countryside and sold into prostitution by her father; the blue notebook is her diary, in which she recalls her early childhood, records her life on the Common Street, and makes up beautiful and fantastic tales about a silver-eyed leopard and a poor boy who fells a giant with a single gold coin.

    How did Levine, a British-born doctor at the Mayo Clinic, manage to conjure the voice of a fifteen-year-old female Indian prostitute? It all began, he told me, when, as part of his medical research, he was interviewing homeless children on a street in Mumbai known as the Street of Cages, where child prostitutes work. A young woman writing in a notebook outside her cage caught Levine’s attention. The powerful image of a young prostitute engaged in the act of writing haunted him, and he himself began to write.

    The Blue Notebook     brings us into the life of a young woman for whom stories are not just entertainment but a means of survival. Even as the novel humanizes and addresses the devastating global issue of child prostitution, it also delivers an inspiring message about the uplifting power of words and reading–a message that is so important to hold on to, especially in difficult times. Dr. Levine is donating all his U.S. proceeds from this book to help exploited children. Batuk’s story can make a difference.

    Sincerely,

    Celina Spiegel
    Publisher

    Get the news you want from Penguin Random House

    Praise

    Praise for The Blue Notebook

    “The Blue Notebook is a deeply moving story and a searing reminder of the resilience of the human spirit. It is a tribute to how writing can give meaning and help one transcend even the most harrowing circumstances. The voice of Batuk, the unforgettable child prostitute heroine, will stay with the reader a long, long time.”—Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns

    “James A. Levine’s The Blue Notebook tugged at my heart and opened my eyes. Levine’s fictional protagonist, Batuk, stands shoulder to shoulder with the iconic Anne Frank, another brave young girl whose innocence was annihilated but whose spirit prevailed and whose gift to the world was the written testimony she left behind. To read The Blue Notebook is to bear witness, something we must do if we are to create a world that rejects the exploitation of children and creates a world where they can be safe.” —Wally Lamb, author of The Hour I First Believed

    About James A. Levine

    Born and educated in England, James A. Levine is a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic who has worked with impoverished children in the United States and internationally for more than thirty years. He has won more than fifty… More about James A. Levine

    About James A. Levine

    Born and educated in England, James A. Levine is a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic who has worked with impoverished children in the United States and internationally for more than thirty years. He has won more than fifty… More about James A. Levine

    About James A. Levine

    Born and educated in England, James A. Levine is a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic who has worked with impoverished children in the United States and internationally for more than thirty years. He has won more than fifty… More about James A. Levine

    Product Details

    Paperback
    Published by Random House
    Jul 06, 2010 | 240 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780385528726

    Ebook
    Published by Random House
    Jul 07, 2009 | 224 Pages | ISBN 9780385530491

    Audiobook Download
    Published by Random House Audio
    Jul 07, 2009 | 441 Minutes | ISBN 9780739382806

    Also by James A. Levine

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