Red Kayak

Red Kayak Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sometimes I read a book for kids and I think, "wow, this is like a John Irving book for kids." Red Kayak is reminiscent of John Irving, a tale of a boy living on the east coast (Maryland, specifically), tackling the themes of man vs. nature, man vs. man, and especially man vs. self. The novel opens with this loaded sentence: "After all this time, I still ask myself: was it my fault?" This novel doesn't end with tragedy, it opens with it. Brady, our narrator/main character/hero, struggles with a secret he holds, the truth behind a tragic accident. He feels obligation to his friends to keep the secret, though he also has a powerful need to do the right thing, whatever that may be.

This book should fall in my personal category: "Books it took far too long for me to pick up and actually read." A fifth-grade teacher I work with reads this aloud every year. I have worked with this teacher for the past seven years, and despite his selection of Red Kayak as an Important Book for his students, I didn't read it. I know the students love it, and not just because it has naughty words. I truly enjoyed it, heartbreak and all. It's also a choice read for freshman at my high school. I'm very glad I finally picked it up and I highly recommend it, especially to middle grade readers.

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