Wednesday, September 24, 2014

The Red Sheet

The Red Sheet
by Mia Kerick
published by Harmony Ink
May 2014
ISBN 978-1-62798-717-2
Why read? Review
Challenges: Ebook, 100 Books in a Year

With The Red Sheet, Mia Kerick has succeeded in writing a contemporary YA novel where the protagonist is gay, but it is not about that.  The Red Sheet is about bullying and the other woes of high school life.

Bryan Dennison is your stereotypical high school jock.  He is in the popular clique, he cares more about his reputation than his grades, he parties on the weekend, and he is not below going along with his buddies when they push around those they deem uncool.  But all of that changes one day when he wakes up one Monday morning with no memory of the weekend and a burning desire to tie a red sheet around his neck and save everyone.  While the total personality transformation is not unwelcomed, it is a little disconcerting to him, especially when he discovers that the weekend involved doing something bad to the new kids at school, Scott Beckett.  Not only does Bryan not remember what happened over the weekend, he does not remember Scott at all.  Once he figures out that he hurt Scott, though, he is determined to make everything right.  He quickly learns, though, that it takes more than a cape to be a hero.

Bryan – at least the new Bryan – is the type of character that you wished more of existed in real life.  He is fun, sweet, is not afraid of who he is and wants to repent for who he was.  Scott, on the other hand, is unfortunately like a lot of kids in real life.  He may be witty, a good student, and a potential great friend, but he is an outcast for whatever reason his school’s social hierarchy deems him so.  Kerick does a wonderful job of making both of these characters relatable and ones the reader will want to root for.

The Red Sheet may have a slightly quirky premise, but Mia Kerick has written a very real story.  She presents real issues that teens face with a style that makes the pages fly by, and that is what makes The Red Sheet a great read.

Rating: 4/5

2 comments:

  1. I'm with you, Ricki! You can't help but fly through these pages to see what happens to the characters. Thanks for the review :)

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  2. Thank you for the awesome review!! Much appreciated!!

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