Saving Red
Author: Sonya Sones
Grade: B+
A couple of days before Christmas Molly meets Red. A homeless teenager living on the streets in Santa Monica. Red has schizoaffective disorder and it becomes Molly’s quest to get her home for the holidays or at the very least keep her safe and out of trouble. Like most things however Red might wind up helping Molly just as much as she tries to help her.
I really wanted to read this book because it’s in verse. It makes it a very fast read for what’s generally some pretty heavy subjects. I liked Red a lot. She’s very relatable, funny, bright and actually has a pretty good read on her illness. There’s also a bit about a soldier with severe PTSD.
I also liked that despite the element of Christmas Molly is Jewish and we see some of her troubled families long time traditions come into play as well.
But the book is definitely more about the friendship between the two girls and learning to forgive yourself and the people who have harmed you. It’s a really good message. I thought the ending was well-handled. For the most part it walked a good line between fairy tale and reality.
Nothing is easy or perfect in real life as much as you might want it to be.
My biggest annoyance with Saving Red has to be the relationship between Molly and Cristo. A boy she spends literally a couple of hours with (some of them with Red). Most of the relationship is conducted on telephone or video. Okay, I know they’re young characters but there were times seriously when I thought Molly was the one hearing voices because no way Cristo could be real. While I bought pretty much every other conclusion in the story I admit I was rolling my eyes so hard at the two of them.
Molly and Cristo aside strangely I found this book a better Christmas story than The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily.
Recommend: Yes. If you can stomach the love story and remember that it is written in verse it’s worth a read.