Did you ever make a decision to tell the truth about something even though you knew it would end up bad? When I say end up bad, I don’t mean that you decided to be honest with your sister and tell her that you “borrowed” her Uggs but they got ruined because you walked through snow in them. When I say end up bad, I mean that you have to tell a truth so big that people’s lives will be ruined, your best friends will end up in jail, and everyone will know that you’re the one who snitched. Have you ever had to tell a truth like that?
Me neither...but in The Red Kayak, by Priscilla Cummins, the main character, Brady, faces that kind of a decision. This suspenseful book follows the lives of Brady and his best friends in a small fishing town in the Chesapeake Bay.
The story starts right away with a tragedy. Even though it’s really sad, starting out like that makes it hard to put the book down! Brady, the main character, gets pulled out of school to get in his boat and look for Ben, his three year old neighbor who went for a kayak ride with his dad. They find the kayak and discover that Ben -- this adorable little 3-year-old with a shock of blonde hair -- drowned. I’m not gonna lie, this book made me cry.
As the town is trying to deal with this tragedy, Brady starts to realize that this accident might not have actually been an accident -- and that his best friends, J.T. and Digger, might have had something to do with the tragedy. Brady works hard to find the truth and make the right decision, all along knowing that the right decision isn’t always the easy one. But will he do the right thing?
This is the kind of story that will make you laugh and cry, but it will also make you think… it will make you think about what it means to live life above the line, and it might even teach you a thing or two about yourself. Read The Red Kayak! And when you finish it...let me know how you liked it -- and whether you think Brady made the right decision or not.
