Kathryn Erskine

Usborne

9781409570509

February 2014

paperback

Finished

• 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

Erskine was born in the Netherlands and spent her childhood in Israel, South Africa and Scotland. But she has lived in the US state of Virginia, where this novel is set, for most of her adult life.
Is it a cop-out for a reviewer to let the author herself summarise her book? I don’t know, but it seems rather silly to try to do this better than the writer herself, who recently contributed a guest post (‘The Importance Of Story’) on the FCBG blog, and described Seeing Red thus:

In Seeing Red, a story set in the post-Civil Rights era in the United States, young Red Porter gradually pieces together his community’s role in racism from a map, a scrap of paper, a grave marker, a Bible, a teacher and an elderly friend. This African-American friend, Miss Georgia, is able to tell Red how her grandfather was killed and their land taken away — a practice not uncommon after the U.S. Civil War — but even she doesn’t know all the details. As Red keeps digging, he resolves to reveal the killer and see that Miss Georgia’s land is returned. He’s determined to do as the sign above his family’s repair shop says: “Porter’s: We Fix It Right!”

Seeing Red is not just a story but has stories within stories. There are memories of his father that help shape Red and guide him now. There are real life stories of America’s past, like Emmett Till, Rosenwald schools, Massive Resistance. Those stories are an important part of our present and future because they’re what brought us to where we are now. The past doesn’t dictate our future but it’s up to us to respond to it and forge a new path.

The importance of story telling in Seeing Red, like many books, is to allow readers to think and feel. In this case, it’s to prevent history from repeating itself with other distinct groups in other parts of the world, and even specifically with African Americans in the United States, where the country may look very different from its 1970’s self but still has room to progress.

Yes, this book is unashamedly didactic. It sets out not just to move the reader, but to inform and educate. I normally dislike the inclusion of extra baggage at the end of a novel, but here the Author’s Note and suggested list of Discussion Questions will be welcomed by teachers who decide to use the book in guided reading sessions – it is particularly recommended for Years 5 to 8 (10-13 year olds).
But above all it is a totally convincing immersive read that can be enjoyed on an individual level from age 10 up to adult.
Every character featured in the story is vividly drawn and for all its attention to universal values the whole action is played out in a tightly localised setting of car repair shop, schoolhouse, church and various close neighbours. More dialogue-driven than many first-person voice novels, Seeing Red is eminently adaptable for stage or film.
I still have the pleasure of reading this author’s previous novels ahead of me, including the award-winning Mockingbird, and that’s good to know. If there’s any justice, Seeing Red will win awards too, and result in a significant increase in UK awareness of Kathryn Erskine and her work.

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