Red Reviewed

I thought that Red was an excellent book to end our course with. I think that starting out with Hine's Rise and Fall of the American Teen set the stage for the different impressions of the teen years that our various novels dealt with. Ending with essays as raw and honest as the ones presented in Red were an excellent way to come full circle. I can understand why the novel has gotten the acclaim it has. At a time in their lives when young women long to be understood, Red touched on many topics that are painfully relatable to them. Even though many of the topics related to eating disorders and addiction were a bit more extreme than an average teen's problems, most of us know at least one or two teens who are struggling with those and similar problems. When I was reading the essays, I was inspired by the bravery of the young women writing, knowing that they were not only exposing themselves to countless strangers who would read the book, but even more painfully, to those who were closest to them -- family and friends. I'm glad that non-fiction books like this one are the most widely read genre in America. I think there is so much to be learned from them. Although most of us can relate to an incident or two in Sherman Alexie's novel, an essay format is much more powerful to most reading it. Maybe it's not as entertaining, but more therapeutic! Like some of my classmates, I too felt that there was a sameness to some of the stories. I wished it hadn't been so similarly edited. I think it would be interesting to read some of the posts on the young author's of the book Facebook pages.

I think if I were writing the next American teen novel, I'd probably want to include the challenges that seem to be most prevalent today as opposed to when I was a teen. In the years since I was a teenager some things have stayed the same, like teen pregnancy, the temptation of alcohol and drugs, and the universal struggle to fit in. One of the things that has changed in my view, is the intensity and methods of bullying. I think the novel that I'd like to write would deal with bullying, but not just from the victim's perspective, but the bully too. I think it would be an interesting study to learn what makes the bully tick, much like Rowdy from Alexie's novel. We all know what extreme bullying can result in for the victim, but I wonder if by beginning to understand the psyche of the bully we might be able to prevent some of the violence. I would set the novel in the suburbs and have the characters be very relatable, with all the concerns and problems of typical 14 year olds. I would present the characters, even the bully, with all their sides, not just the stereotypical one-dimensional "bad" bully, "good" victim. I loved that Alexie's setting was a southwestern Indian reservation. It wasn't the typical ghetto or San Fernando Valley location. My hope is that the novel would show that the bully character is often a victim too of one form or another of parental abuse. Thankfully, my kids' school has zero tolerance for bullying, but who's to say that one day they might encounter a grown-up bully, and I'd like them to be aware of just what might have made them that way. It's not that my novel will prevent anyone from becoming a bully or being the victim of one, but if it can lead to a better understanding of the conflict, then we're one step closer to solving it.