Saving Red: Poetry Review
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sones, Sonya. Saving
Red. New York, NY: Harper Teen. ISBN-13: 978-0-06-237028-0
SUMMARY/ANALYSIS
The verse novel tells of teenage Molly, a girl who is desperate
to save and help an older, homeless teen named Red find her way back home. The novel
flows effortlessly, each page or two as a different poem written in free verse,
using Molly’s voice to narrate the events. Reading this I was instantly brought
back to being a teenager, easily adopting my past fourteen-year-old mentality
while gaining insight into Molly’s world. As we follow Molly on her journey to
help Red, we learn how this is an acting of healing, helping her deal with the
loss and regret of her older brother’s disappearance. With pain, first love, learning
to cope, and even warm moments with therapy dog Pixel, this verse novel has
much to offer its reader in this emotional, captivating tale. There are no
images providing, but this is no way takes away from the book, as it is rich in
emotion, experience, and depth.
None of the free verse poems within this verse novel feel
forced, instead seeming to follow natural language and thought processes that a
teen girl would have. The language and expressions, even the at times overuse
of exclamation marks, all add to the feeling of a young teen’s voice, creating
a more authentic experience. Molly’s thoughts also provide the reader with much
emotional and personal insight, serving to draw the reader in more and more,
relating to Molly and her mix of emotions. For example, the poem segment called
“It Takes Me Hours to Fall Asleep” is one that evokes true emotion within all
that read it. It is relatable, as we have all been in stressful situations that
affect our sleep (or lack thereof), but also relatable in knowing the awful
dread that comes with having a nightmare. Towards the end of this segment Molly
is caught in an awful nightmare where her brother is trapped in a coffin, and
no matter how hard she tries, she cannot help him. The parts of the verse that
stood out most to me are as follows:
and now I’m screaming too
and beating on the lid,
clawing at it, tearing at it
with broken, bloodied nails,
but I can’t pry it open…
I can’t…
I can’t!
Just this small part does an incredible job of conveying
desperation, panic, and the immense fear Molly is feeling during this
nightmare. The use of wording, spaces, and punctuation only help in doing so. I was on edge reading this, and the free verse
language serves to place us as readers right there with Molly, trapped in her terrible
dream. The whole verse novel was like this for me; whether moments of
happiness, love, despair, panic, or pain, I always felt like I was right there with
the book’s protagonist Molly, feeling, seeing, and hearing all that she did. I
highly recommend this verse novel for older children, teens, young adults, and
adults alike, as it is a wonderful experience from start to finish.
POEM PLUS “TAKE 5” ACTIVITIES
One of the poems that truly stuck out to me in terms of
being an exemplary example of a poem that creates a relatable feel for its
readers is the poem segment in the verse novel called “So I Write:”. The way in which Sonya Sones lays out this poem,
using two different fonts to differentiate between what Molly is typing in a
message and what her thought process as she does so, serves to really put the
reader in the moment. I could instantly relate to Molly as she typed something
out, only to overthink her response, leading her to deleting it and trying
again. We have all been here before, second guessing a messaging we are sending
out, and the language and font use only strengthens that common human
experience.
So I
Write:
By Sonya Sones
Thanks for asking! I’m fine!
Just got some sunscreen in
My eyes.
But who puts on sunscreen
at ten thirty at night?
So I delete that and write:
Thanks for asking!
I’m OK!
Just the usual teen angst.
But that
makes me sound
like a total loser.
So I delete that too.
And suddenly
I find myself writing:
Have you ever done something
so stupid, so selfish,
so just plain wrong,
that you wish you could turn back the clock,
return to the scene of the crime, and
somehow keep yourself from committing it?
And then, before I have a chance
to change my mind---
I click send.
And I instantly wish I could
turn back the clock and keep myself
from sending that message!
Take 5
Activities
1. Read this
poem aloud to the class, having them reflect on their experiences on hesitantly
answering a text or message.
2. Reread
the poem once again, having one half of the group read her typed messages, and
the other half read her narration aloud together.
3. Reflect
on the poem together and talk about the different feelings Molly is feeling
during this poem. Is she experiencing insecurity? Doubt? Fear? Regret?
4. Link
this poem to the picture book A Terrible
Thing Happened by Margaret H. Holmes
(Magnination PR, 200), and learn about Sherman’s bad experience and how he dealt
with his mixed emotions. Compare Sherman and Mollly’s experiences. Do you think
they shared similar feelings? Could Molly benefit from talking to a counselor
like Sherman did?
5. Link
this poem to another similar poem dealing with mixed emotions such as regret,
doubt, guilt, etc., called “Brain Dead” by Isobel Landrum (Family Friend Poems,
https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/brain-dead).
How do Isobel’s feelings compare to Molly’s? How are they the same? How are
they different?
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