Bibliography Sones, Sonya. 2016. Saving Red. New York: HarperTeen. ISBN 9780062370280 Review & Critical Analysis While volunteering to count the city of Santa Monica’s homeless population, Molly Rosenberg encounters a young girl with red hair and becomes obsessed with finding her family and reuniting them before the holidays. Her new friend, Red, however, does not want to share this information with Molly. Despite this, the two girls discover that they have more in common than they realize and form an unlikely friendship that ends up changing both of their lives. This novel is written in free verse. Even without rhyme, there is a rhythm and cadence to the story. The way the lines are written bring Molly’s voice to life, and you can almost hear her voice in your head. Sones paints the scene in Santa Monica vividly through Molly’s perspective, including the emotional scene of how she feels and what she thinks. Even though the story is told through Molly’s perspective, the poems also paint a clear picture of Red and the mental health issues she is dealing with. This verse novel does a terrific job of using poetry to bring several mental heath disorders to life: post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, manic depression, and schizophrenia. It does all of this without being too heavy or dark. The issues are discussed plainly and directly, with the effects of each clearly displayed through poetry. This leaves a lasting impact on the reader and brings awareness to these illnesses. The free verse is appealing for young adult readers and makes the book more accessible. The page is not overcrowded with text, and even though the experiences of the characters may not be familiar to all readers, the themes of the book definitely are. One of the major themes of the story is family. Molly is struggling with the disappearance of her brother, while Red is struggling with her mental illness preventing her from reuniting with her family. Both girls, from very different “sides of the tracks” realize that they have much more in common than they thought. Two other highly identifiable themes are young love and self discovery. Both Molly and Red transform throughout the book, becoming more aware of who they are and what they must to do to fix the things in their life that have gone wrong. The greatest lasting emotional impact of this novel is in its straightforward, no-nonsense handling of mental illness. Using a subject that could be very controversial, especially in a young adult novel, Sones brings mental illness to life in a realistic way. From Molly’s anxiety and her service dog, Pixel, to the voices that guide Red’s decisions and actions, Sones handles each in a way that is refreshing and much needed. These illnesses do not detract from the story they actually enhance it. Each girl learns to open up, and finds an appropriate and necessary way to deal with the issues they are experiencing. In both situations, Molly and Red both mature and “face their demons” in an age appropriate and impactful way. Each poem is consistently written in Sones’ signature style. She is amazingly able to bring the voice of these characters to life in less lines than most regular novelists use. That is truly an art! As the moods and emotions of the characters change, the tone of the poems change and it is clear in the rhythm of each piece. The book is arranged in chronological order following the story of Molly discovering Red, finding her, attempting to help her, and eventually saving herself in the process, too. At the end of the book, Sones includes an author’s note in which she describes where the idea for this novel originated. She also includes resources for help for anyone experiencing homelessness or mental illness or those who may know someone who is. Overall this is a wonderful work of realistic fiction in verse. Sones has written yet another novel that is incredibly appealing to young adult readers. Her inclusion of characters with mental illness and a character experiencing homelessness is a wonderful way to open up dialogue and address these issues with young adult readers in a new way. Spotlight Poem Until Today Until this very minute actually, I was under the impression that when you forgave people you did it to make them feel better. Now I see that it works the other way around: forgiving people makes you feel better. Or maybe… Oh, I don’t know… Maybe it makes both of you feel better. This poem, found on page 406, follows Molly’s mother’s apology for not being there for her. This is a feeling that all of us have experienced, yet Molly finds the strength to forgive her mother and makes the realization that forgiveness feels differently than she expected. I would introduce this poem to students by first having them remember a time they had a disagreement with someone they cared about. I would then read the poem aloud and have them think about that same disagreement. Were they able to forgive the other person and move forward? As a follow up activity, I would have students reflect through writing on this time. I would encourage them to write a free verse poem about their experience and whether or not they were able to forgive the other person.
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AuthoRMy name is Mrs. Scott and I'm a secondary Media Resource Specialist (librarian) in Texas. This blog was created as part of my graduate coursework at Texas Woman's University. All reviews and opinions are my own. Archives
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