THE BLUE LINE LETTERS

In a series of letters to his teacher, a boy chronicles his daily commutes as he rides the length of the Portland, Oregon, metro area train line.

Seventeen-year-old Ty Clark, who’s white, has a few responsibilities in the coming weeks: He has an internship at the Washington County Land Use Department and for English class must read Jane Eyre and write about what he learned over the summer. His commute on the Blue Line MAX train is 90 minutes each way, and he makes use of his time by writing daily letters to Ms. Warne. Ty gives each letter the name of a train stop—“Gresham City Hall, Day 3”—and he discusses the various people he observes and events that occur during his travels. The most notable regulars he sees are Janie, a girl from school whom he gets to know on the train and develops a crush on, and the mysterious man people call the Prophet, who offers words of advice to the passengers. Ty’s letters are studies of the human condition offering some interesting reflections more than tension-filled vignettes that drive the narrative forward. The resulting work stumbles a bit even as it focuses on Ty’s minimal character arc. Descriptions of the setting are specific enough to be recognizable to readers who know Portland yet universal enough to engage those who don’t.

An observant story that patient readers may enjoy.