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RED, the book, gives teen girls a forum
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“Susie and I had another blow up session this morning. She told me to shut up, and I lost it. I told her not to tell me to shut up, and that just because she is not feeling well doesn’t mean she can treat me poorly. Then I told her as she was leaving she was welcome for my making her breakfast, lunch, and proofing her paper that morning. Then I slammed the door. Life in our house.
“I sat up last night thinking of all these ultimatums for her. If you do this, this will happen. Mainly if you do not excel, stay drug and alcohol free, I cancel car insurance. All threats. I did take her TV remote this morning, and will keep that until Thursday. I'll let you know how that goes.
“I feel so frustrated…”
From a friend’s email. Her 16-year-old daughter was caught with a marijuana-laced brownie, consequently lost her bid for Honor Society membership. Mom feels she’s losing her daughter. The girl feels rebellious and emotional.
They’re ripe for RED.
The full title is RED: The Next Generation of American Writers--Teenage Girls--On What Fires Up Their Lives Today
The book is writer/editor Amy Goldwasser’s anthology of 58 essays by contemporary teenage girls, from all walks of life and locales.
While this generation is blogging and myspacing and leaving an unprecedented record in online, there is probably much to be said for an edited selection. These were culled from 800 submissions.
The publishers claim that cyber socializing has given these children an unprecedented comfort level with the written word. I’m not so sure it’s the well-written word, but readers can judge for themselves.
The girls write “about everything from post-Katrina New Orleans to Johnny Depp; from learning to rock climb to starting a rock band; from the loneliness of losing a best friend to the loathing or pride they feel about their bodies. Ranging in age from 13 to 19, and hailing from Park Avenue to rural Nevada, Georgia to Hawaii, the girls in RED…represent a diverse spectrum of socioeconomic, political, racial, and religious backgrounds, creating a rich portrait of life as a teen girl in America today…revealing complicated inner lives, humor, hopes, struggles, thrills, and obsessions.”
It was suggested that RED would provide today's teen girl with much-needed community, perspective, and validation while it helps the rest of us to better understand her.
Now a year in print, the book seems to have fulfilled that promise.
Teens say it has opened their eyes and their friends’. Mothers say it has helped their daughters and step-daughters.
It’s rare to see only five-star reviews for ANY book on Amazon.com – but RED has racked up 39 five-stars and nothing else
Perhaps this is the work we’ve been desperately needing for and about the Internet and texting generation.
Other opinions:
"Each of these stories is a treasure. I couldn't say which is my favorite. It's like comparing children: one stuns you with her wit and then another breaks your heart with her sensitivity."
-- Jeannette Walls, author of the New York Times Bestseller The Glass Castle
"This book gives voice to many talented young essayists, who-either because of their suffering, their great wit, their sensitivity, their triumph, or some combination of all those things-richly deserve to be heard. --Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the New York Times bestseller Eat, Pray, Love
"… a perfect blend of raw and original voices. Honest, hysterical, heartbreaking, uplifting-these essays come straight from the true teenage soul."
-- Paul Feig, creator of the TV series Freaks and Geeks; author of Kick Me and Superstud
"Red will speak to every teenage girl out there who thinks she's alone. Thank you to these brave and talented writers, and hooray for the rest of us, who will see our experiences in every chapter of this important book."
-- Sara Shandler, author of the New York Times bestseller Ophelia Speaks
"The honesty and beauty of the heartbreaking, hilarious, and often harrowing stories collected in Red are enough to give you hope for the young women who wrote these marvelous pieces, and for literature, and for us all."
-- Francine Prose, author of the New York Times bestseller Reading Like a Writer
"Unsparingly frank and perceptive, the essays in Red take on politics, pop culture, and body image-and, oh yeah, they're written by teenage girls. Long underestimated and undervalued by society, they emerge as literature and society's great hope."
- Vanity Fair
"I was stunned by the speed with which each of these stories pulled me in. . .funny, smart, dark, observant. If Red is any indication, then the kids are alright."
- Salon
"Sometimes funny, sometimes emotionally searing-always heartbreakingly honest-this collection of essays by adolescent girls captures what it's like to be a teen today."
- Family Circle
"Brilliant-Highbrow: Surprisingly good essays by teenage girls."
- New York Magazine's "Approval Matrix"
In New York City? The Community Bookstore in Park Slope, Brooklyn, hosts readings from “RED: The Book” beginning at 7 p.m., Tuesday Dec. 16.
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