Seeing Red

Seeing Red

Product Description National Book Award winner Kathryn Erskine delivers a powerful story of family, friendship, and race relations in the South. Life will never be the same for Red Porter. Hes a kid growing up around black car grease, white fence paint, and the backward attitudes of the folks who live in his hometown, Rocky Gap, Virginia. Reds daddy, his idol, has just died, leaving Red and Mama with some hard decisions and a whole lot of doubt. Should they sell the Porter family business, a gas station, repair shop, and convenience store rolled into one, where the slogan -- Porters: We Fix it Right! -- has been shouting the familys pride for as long as anyone can remember? With Daddy gone, everythings different. Through his friendship with Thomas, Beau, and Miss Georgia, Red starts to see theres a lot more than car motors and rusty fenders that need fixing in his world. When Red discovers the injustices that have been happening in Rocky Gap since before he was born, hes faced with unsettling questions about his familys legacy. From School Library Journal Gr 5-7-In 1972, Red Porter, 12, is dealing with the recent death of his father. His mother wants to move the family from Stony Gap, Virginia, to Ohio-which would mean that Red and his brother, J, would have to leave everyone and everything they know, including friends, the family convenience and car-repair shops, and their home that is full of memories of their father. Red is also dealing with an estrangement from his African American friend, Thomas, who severs ties with him after someone tries to burn a cross on his grandparents yard. Red tries many ways to stay in Virginia, from vandalism to getting rid of For Sale signs to skipping school to work in the shop and store. Hes desperate enough to seek help from his neighbor Darrells gang, but they wont aid him unless hes initiated into the group. They convince him to burn a cross and even try to get him to beat up Thomas, who they tie up and nearly lynch. Erskine tackles many issues in this novel: death and grieving, racism and race relations, womens rights, physical abuse, and religious and educational bias. By learning through his mistakes and the advice and actions of those around him, Red evolves from an angry, grieving boy to a well-adjusted, helpful big brother who can handle a shameful family legacy.-Adrienne L. Strock, Chicago Public Librarya(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. From Booklist *Starred Review* The year is 1972 and things are changing in tiny Stony Gap, Virginia. Theres a For Sale sign in front of 12-year-old Red Porters house; his daddy has died, and now his mama must sell both the house and their combination garage (Porters: We Fix It Right) and convenience store (What-U-Want). Worse, she then plans to move the family to Ohio. Red is determined to stop her, but what can one 12-year-old do? When he turns to a local gang for help, he unwittingly finds himself complicit in a case of racial bigotry that leaves his friend Thomas injured and Red riddled with guilt. Meanwhile, school has started, and he has a new teacher whose passion is history. Historys boring and stupid, Red protestsbut its history that may offer him and his family a way to remain in Stony Gap. In the process of attempting to right a century-old wrong, Red learns the salutary lesson that he can make his own history. Erskine has written a powerful indictment of injustice in all forms and an equally powerful and dramatic demonstration that young people, by taking individual action, can actually change history. This is an important book that deserves the widest possible readership. Grades 5-8. --Michael Cart Review Praise for Seeing Red: * A powerful indictment of injustice of all forms and an equally powerful and dramatic demonstration that young people, by taking individual action, can