A warm welcome to
Kathy Erskine, whose kind spirit and sense of social justice shines through all
her novels, including National Book Award winner Mockingbird. I’ve long known
Kathy and admired her nuanced characterizations of young people trying to
create positive change. Her latest
novel, Seeing Red (Scholastic, 2013,
ages 10-14), continues in that tradition.
Set in 1972, Seeing
Red explores themes of individual and social responsibility. The rich historical details ground the reader
in this changing place and time.
Protagonist Red Porter’s Virginia world is rocked when he discovers a
long-held family secret. How will he
ever be able to right the terrible wrong committed by his great-great
grandfather? See Kathy’s website www.kathrynerskine.com for Common
Core connections and teachers’ guides and try her writing prompt below.
What was your greatest joy in writing Seeing Red? Your greatest
challenge?
The
greatest joy, as always, was bringing the characters to life. This book
has a long history and lay dormant for quite a while but the characters kept
calling to me. When I opened the story and revived them, it really was a
joy. I think the greatest challenge was waiting -- waiting for it to
gestate, develop and become the book I want to publish.
You are a popular speaker at schools and
conferences, Kathy. Do you have a writing prompt or suggestion that might
connect with the book?
I think it'd
be great to have writing prompts that help readers understand and connect with
the time period (1972), and particularly to see that
things aren't all that different. Kids are still kids. We all still
make mistakes. We all have power over our own actions. I'd say
comparing your school to Red's school would be an easy one, or which TV shows
today are actually a social commentary (like M*A*S*H in 1972), or how songs
today address racism and inequality and how that compares with the songs of the
early 1970's, or what political events were happening in 1972 that are only
lightly mentioned in Seeing Red
(Vietnam War, Presidential election and Watergate, Women's Liberation). I
could go on but I'll stop now!
What are you working on now?
I'm working on
quite a few books right now (picture books, a young middle grade, and a teen
road trip novel) but the one I'm finishing up at the moment is a middle grade
adventure set in the Middle Ages. It'll be out next September but we
don't have a good title yet. I'm going to follow the journey of Adrian,
the main character, in a few weeks as I walk along Hadrian's Wall in England.
I'm hoping I'll "find" the title while I'm walking in his
shoes.
Wishing you an inspiring walk with your
character in England, Kathy, and thanks for visiting Pencil Tips!
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