Verwandte Artikel zu Three Blue Hearts

Three Blue Hearts - Softcover

Kelly, Lynne

 
9780593898420: Three Blue Hearts
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0593898427 ISBN 13: 9780593898420
Verlag: Random House Children's Books, 2026

Inhaltsangabe

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of Song for a Whale comes a deeply moving story about a boy, an octopus, and the extraordinary bond that changes them forever—perfect for fans of Remarkably Bright Creatures to hand to the young readers in their lives.

Max can’t seem to escape the big, looming shadow of his politician dad. But for the next few months, Max and his mom are going away to a quiet Texas beach town where Max can be someone else. Someone who doesn’t make dumb mistakes that embarrass his father—someone who knows how to be strong.

He stumbles on his fresh start right away, when he finds an injured octopus washed up onshore after a storm. With the help of a local wildlife center and a couple of new friends, Max rescues the octopus—who they name Ursula—and vows to take care of her until she’s ready to return to the sea.

But as their bond deepens and Max makes unexpected discoveries that turn his summer upside down, Max’s true strength will be put to the test. Can he keep his promise after all?

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Lynne Kelly is the award-winning and USA TODAY bestselling author of Song for a Whale, The Secret Language of Birds, and Three Blue Hearts. She lives with her dogs Abigail and Eloise near Houston, where she works as a sign language interpreter and writes books for kids.

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I knew the evening wouldn’t go like I’d planned when Dad told me to wear a tie.

On the way to dinner we sat in the back seat together, which looked ridiculous. No one in my neighborhood rode around like that. Dad’s driver, Louis, let me ride shotgun whenever I was the only passenger. It seemed weird to ride in the back when there was a perfectly good seat up front.

“Where to, young man?” Dad asked.

Usually he’d ask me what I wanted for dinner, then choose his own favorite restaurant anyway. He’d want a place that was “Big Max–friendly.” That meant an expensive place most people couldn’t go to. Maybe this time he’d actually let me choose.

“I saw this new food truck,” I said. “It’s called Nutter Your Business and they make peanut butter sandwiches.”

Dad chuckled. “Sandwiches?”

“Not just regular peanut butter sandwiches. I mean, unless you want that. They have all kinds of toppings and breads. You could get one with bacon. I want to try the grilled peanut butter and banana on chocolate-chip bread.”

“You can get a sandwich anytime, Max. This is a special night, just us men going out to dinner. It’ll be a while before I see you again.”

Soon I’d be leaving for the summer. The whole summer. My mom was in grad school, working on her geography degree. She had a research project at this place on the Gulf Coast called Lafitte Island, about a four-hour drive from our home in Houston. She also said it’d be a chance to get away to a place where no one knew us. That part sounded good to me.

“What would people think if they saw us at a food truck?” Dad continued.

Well, they’d think we liked food trucks, and peanut butter sandwiches. Dad asked that question a lot: “What would people think?”

But there was no point in arguing. Dad had made up his mind. “No one says no to Big Max” was another thing he liked to say.

“How about Hawthorne’s,” he said. It didn’t sound like a question.

I slumped back against the leather seat. “Hawthorne’s is fine,” I said, wondering why he’d even asked me what I wanted.

“Louis, take us to Hawthorne’s,” Dad said.

Louis caught my eye in the rearview mirror. “Yes, sir.”

I was always afraid I was doing something wrong at Hawthorne’s. At a food truck, you don’t have to worry about picking up the wrong fork or sitting up straight. You can hold a wad of paper napkins or wipe your mouth with your shirt and no one will care. You can have a conversation without being extra uncomfortable in a tie and a straight-backed chair.

“Good evening, Councilman Conway,” the host said when we walked in. “Right this way.” He led us to a table for two in the back corner.

Chicken strips weren’t on the Hawthorne’s menu, so I ordered the closest thing--the baked chicken breast. The chef did cut it into strips for me, though, and the server brought a side of ranch dressing.

“So, how are things, son?” Dad asked.

I took a big sip of my sweet tea. What could I possibly say? Sir, things are super awkward and weird, thanks for asking was the first thing that came to mind.

“Big Max!”

A smiling couple approached our table, and I silently thanked them for interrupting.

It took just a second for Dad to switch from Dad Face to Councilman Face. His smile matched the couple’s as he shook hands with each of them. “Hey there, Dan, Connie. They let riffraff like you into this place?” The three of them laughed, and then Dad said, “Max, you remember the Mortons.”

No, I did not remember the Mortons. I shook their hands and said, “It’s good to see you.”

“My goodness, Little Max,” said Mrs. Morton. “Look at you, growing up!”

“Bet you’re a linebacker, right?” Mr. Morton laughed and added, “Maybe football will work out better than soccer.”

My face burned, and probably matched Dad’s reddening face. At my last soccer game of the season, I’d scored the game-winning goal. Normally that’d be something to celebrate, but the goal was for our rival team, the Water Bears. I got turned around and kept running and kicking the ball as the crowd cheered. I didn’t notice until after I’d scored that the cheering was coming from the parents of the other side. Of course it was all on video, and everyone on the planet had seen it. The Water Bears were just on the news for winning the state championship.

Mrs. Morton gave her husband a playful smack on the arm and said to me, “Oh, don’t listen to him. Bless your heart, you try so hard. Don’t worry about that soccer game. Folks will move on soon enough.”

I never knew how to respond when people said that to me. Somehow it was supposed to make me feel better, reminding me that things I did were best forgotten. I’d embarrassed Dad again, without even doing anything.

Dad changed the subject. “And he’s the top student at his school.”

“Ooh, impressive!” said Mrs. Morton.

Mr. Morton clapped me on the shoulder. “You’ll be ready to take over your dad’s business in no time!” In addition to being a city council member, Dad owned a car dealership. It had been in the family for a long time. Mr. Morton must’ve forgotten I’d been in a commercial for it, or he wouldn’t have made that linebacker comment. In the commercial, I was supposed to catch a football that Dad threw to me. He liked doing stuff that reminded everyone he had been a star football player in high school. I had my hands out to catch the ball, telling myself, Don’t drop it, don’t drop it, as Dad said his line: “Don’t let these deals pass you by.” I’m still not sure how it happened, but the ball pelted me right in the face, then bounced onto the floor. Of course they didn’t air the commercial like that, but the video got around anyway.

It was kind of nice to hear Dad brag about me, but I wished he could say something true. The way he talked about me in front of other people was different from the way he talked about me when he thought he didn’t have an audience. I didn’t want to embarrass Dad, but I didn’t want to lie, either. Even though he’s the one who said it, going along with it felt like lying.

“Oh, I’m not really the top student,” I said. Not even close.

“And humble too!” Mrs. Morton said. The three of them laughed, and Mr. Morton added, “Guess that’s one thing he didn’t get from his dad, right?”

“No, ’fraid not,” said Dad.

“We were hoping to talk to you sometime about that bayou expansion plan you’re promoting,” said Mr. Morton.

“It just doesn’t seem wise, does it?” said Mrs. Morton. “Such an expensive project--won’t it raise our taxes? Plus our granddaughter is worried about some--turtles, I think? A turtle that’ll lose its habitat if the expansion goes forward.”

Dad pulled a business card from his shirt pocket. “Oh yes, no one knows more about that than Big Max. Those turtles might interfere with the project, but we’ll see.” He handed Mr. Morton the card and said, “For now I want to get back to my dinner with Little Max, but call my office anytime.”

“Oh yes, of course,” said Mr. Morton. “Just hoping when...

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Verlag
Random House Children's Books
Erscheinungsdatum
2026
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0593898427
ISBN 13 
9780593898420
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
305
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