The Red Kayak

Early this morning I finished Priscilla Cummings' Red Kayak in my attempt to read the Division Two nominees for this year's Maud Hart Lovelace Book Awards (http://www.maudhartlovelace.org/nominees.htm). This is my third title from this year's nominees (Goose Girl and The Schwa was Here are the other two) and I would rate Red Kayak as the third best read.

The Red Kayak is about three eighth-grade boys and their families that leave near the Chesapeake Bay region in Maryland. The boys begin the book as friends but gradually drift apart as the story unfolds. The main central themes in this story have to do with how families deal with the loss of young child, and how young men learn how to navigate the tension between keeping friends and doing "the right thing".

This story is less about unexpected plot twists and more about how will the main character, Brady, will resolve the dilemma of trying to please his neighborhood friends when he knows that those same boys have crossed a serious line.

I was disappointed when I first learned that the main characters were eighth graders. I guess I was hoping for a bit more mature character to follow though the backwaters of Maryland. My initial response was that eighth graders don't act this way, but as I consider some of the young men I see in eighth grade I am less sure about that analysis. At times Brady and his friends act much younger, and at times they seem like high school students, but that is very characteristic of eighth graders. I am going to continue to ruminate about this....More to follow.

I would give Red Kayak and eight out of ten.