KATHRYN ERSKINE
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​SEEING RED

In a nutshell:  A boy faces up to prejudice in his small town, realizing that he can’t erase the past but he can change the future.

After his beloved father dies, Red tries everything to stop his mother from selling their home and business, even getting in trouble with the sheriff -- and worse.  At odds with his mother and little brother, he misses his friends even more.  Rosie won't tell him what's going on in her family and Thomas, two years older and African-American, has outgrown Red's naivete.  Beau and Miss Georgia, and maybe Red's teacher, are the only ones who seem to understand, yet it's 1972 in a small southern town and they, too, are victims of the prejudice that surrounds them all. It's up to Red to try to right the wrongs of the past and present, and make his stand demanding change for the future.


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Reviews:

"Seeing Red is a boy's twist on Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird." 
ALAN (Assembly on Literature for Adolescents)

"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." 
Booklist, Starred Review

"Erskine frankly explores the difficulty in fighting a corrupt system, but also stresses the difference one individual—even a child—can make, providing hope that justice can prevail." 
Publishers Weekly

Fun Facts about SEEING RED


Here's the excellent and extensive Seeing Red Discussion Guide!

Seeing Red Pinterest Page!

Seeing Red -- Lexile:  750L,  DRA:  50,  Guided Reading:  V

So grateful that Seeing Red is on the Sunshine State (Florida) list that I'm going to Florida twice -- once in January to Lakewood Elementary in St. Pete's, and a few months' later to "April is for Authors" in Palm Beach!


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Here's the British cover of Seeing Red.  I love how it incorporates the red pickup truck on the American jacket but adds a periscope look at the two important characters, Red and Thomas.

Thanks to the Orthodox Mama (and teacher) for this Seeing Red review and for inlcuding it in her 100 books to read in 2015.
​http://www.theorthodoxmama.com/what-im-reading-this-week-14/

Music touches our hearts and souls.  It's both comfort and inspiration.  Here are songs popular in the early 1970's that I listened to while thinking about the charaters and events in Seeing Red.  
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RESPECT, Aretha Franklin
BLACK & WHITE, Three Dog Night
I’LL BE THERE, Jackson 5
STAND BY ME, Ben E. King
I AM WOMAN, Helen Reddy
Theme from M*A*S*H
WAR, Edwin Starr
I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW, Johnny Nash
TAKE ME HOME, COUNTRY ROADS, John Denver
Theme from KUNG FU
LEAN ON ME, Bill Withers
SAY IT LOUD, I’M BLACK AND I’M PROUD, James Brown
O-O-H, CHILD, The Five Stairsteps
MY GIRL, The Temptations
CRACKLIN’ ROSIE, Neil Diamond
I’D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING, The Cola Singers
WHAT’S GOING ON, Marvin Gaye

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