I Will Call It Georgie's Blues by Suzanne Newton

First published: 1983

Subjects: Coming-of-age, family, and friendship

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Social realism

Time of work: The early 1980’s

Recommended Ages: 13-18

Locale: Gideon, North Carolina

Principal Characters:

• Neal Sloane, a fifteen-year-old minister’s son who conceals his developing piano talent from his father and others
• Georgie Sloane, Neal’s younger brother, who is developing psychological problems
• Mrs. Talbot, Neal’s piano teacher and confidante
• Richard E. Sloane, Neal’s overbearing father, a minister who worries more about his public image than about his family
• Mrs. Sloane, Neal’s mother, who is torn between caring for her children and fulfilling her role as a minister’s wife
• Aileen Sloane, Neal’s rebellious sister
• Pete Cauthin, Aileen’s nineteen-year-old boyfriend and Neal’s nemesis

Form and Content

I Will Call It Georgie’s Blues is an insightful study of adolescent life within a family in denial of reality. Reverend Sloane is concerned with maintaining the façade of a perfect family, and his efforts toward this perfection have damaging effects on his children.

Aileen dates Pete Cauthin, a nineteen-year-old still trying to graduate, and she is in danger of failing English even though that would mean more time at home when college could provide an escape. The younger, frightened Georgie is in danger of losing his grip on reality altogether. Neal is usually calmer in dealing with his father, although, at fifteen, he is growing less tolerant of his father’s overbearing methods. It is ironic that Neal is as tenacious at concealment as his father. As the novel opens, Neal’s two-year source of solace with “Mrs. T,” his piano teacher, is threatened. He has kept his music lessons a secret from his family and the townspeople, but his visits to his teacher’s home are beginning to raise questions.

While seeking access to Mrs. T and to the jazz that is his deliverance, Neal is swept into a swirling turmoil that is beyond his control. The earliest hints of this situation develop when he learns that Georgie has made a secret, on-credit purchase from grocer Mr. Bailey, a fact that Neal helps him conceal. He soon forgets about the incident as his mother tries to limit his visits to Mrs. T., and Mrs. T suggests that he reevaluate the secrecy and nature of his time with her.

Tension builds within the family as Reverend Sloane wrangles with Aileen. Neal inwardly applauds her defiance and begins to take stands against his father as well, such as refusing to mow the churchyard for free.

It is while he is on a secret approach to Mrs. T’s that Neal encounters Pete, who offers him a boat ride. As they ride, Pete makes lascivious remarks about Mrs. T, prompting a fight with Georgie. This incident wrecks the boat and heightens animosity between the boys, while also damaging notes for a musical composition on which Neal has been working.

When Mrs. T discovers the soaked Neal at her door, she takes him in but warns him that the secrecy of his music lessons is creating a bad appearance for her. She reminds him that he cannot keep his love of music secret forever if he wants to be a jazz performer, and she contends that it is much easier to live an honest life. Honesty, Neal says, is something he knows nothing about because he has never had an example. As he contemplates this conversation, Neal decides that his mother must have spoken to Mrs. T. He confronts her but discovers that he is wrong, and his mother concedes that she may have been wrong in her decision about his visits.

Neal becomes more aware of Georgie’s problems one Sunday after they visit Georgie’s friend Captain, an elderly man who lives on a boat. Georgie tells how safe he feels with Captain and how frightened he feels at home. Georgie fears that the Sloanes have been replaced by “false” people who only look like his family members.

Neal discusses this discovery with his mother, with whom he is actually beginning to communicate again. She explains her concerns about Georgie’s mental health, but she does not know how to broach the topic with her husband. Reverend Sloane interrupts the conversation to berate Neal about the mowing issue, but eventually Neal is heartened by the fact that the “mutiny” against his father seems to be spreading to his mother.

That satisfaction is short-lived. Neal is discovered playing jazz in the church by Mr. Mac, but tensions in the Sloane family soon worsen as a result of a different matter. Reverend Sloane learns that someone has been spreading rumors that he has family problems and that he is about to lose his job. When he is called to the principal’s office because Neal and Pete have had a fight, he reveals his worsening paranoia.

That paranoia peaks when he learns from Mr. Bailey that Georgie is the source of the rumors. Neal defends Georgie against Reverend Sloane’s verbal abuse, and at last his father admits a need for counseling. Before they can seek that help, however, Georgie disappears. His purchases at the grocery were canned goods in anticipation of an escape. After a frantic search, he is found and taken to a nearby clinic for help.

The events bring about a catharsis for Neal, who goes into the church and begins to play the composition on which he has been working, a piece that he has decided to title “Georgie’s Blues.” He continues to play even as Mr. Mac and other townspeople discover him. Neal is at last ready to reveal his secrets, just as the family secrets have at last been exposed.

Critical Context

I Will Call It Georgie’s Blues, Suzanne Newton’s sixth book, has been praised for its blend of teenage reality and humor. It has also drawn acclaim for its depiction of the strong central character, who, like the central figures in M. W. Sexton Speaking (1983) and Care of Arnold’s Corners (1974), must wrangle with adult authority figures. I Will Call It Georgie’s Blues received numerous awards in its year of publication. Newton’s subsequent books have included An End to Perfect (1984) and A Place Between (1986).