Saving Red by Sonya Sones

Saving Red

Sonya Sones

HarperCollins · Paperback · February 19, 2019

Sonya Sones, award-winning author of What My Mother Doesn’t Know, delivers a gripping, funny, and inspiring novel in verse about what happens when the person you set out to save ends up saving you.

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Who it’s for
Two girls’ unlikely friendship finds humor and tenderness amid difficult silences and questions of family.
Genres
Novels in Verse for Teens, Homelessness & Poverty for Teens, Mental Illness for Teens
Published
HarperCollins, February 19, 2019

About this book

Sonya Sones, award-winning author of What My Mother Doesn’t Know, delivers a gripping, funny, and inspiring novel in verse about what happens when the person you set out to save ends up saving you. Right before winter break, fourteen-year-old Molly Rosenberg reluctantly volunteers to participate in Santa Monica’s annual homeless count, just to get her school’s community service requirement out of the way.

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But when she ends up meeting Red, a spirited homeless girl only a few years older than she is, Molly makes it her mission to reunite her with her family in time for Christmas. This turns out to be extremely difficult—because Red refuses to talk about her past. There are things Molly won’t talk about either. Like the awful thing that happened last winter. She may never be ready to talk about that. Not to Red, or to Cristo, the soulful boy she meets while riding the Ferris wheel one afternoon. When Molly realizes that the friends who Red keeps mentioning are nothing more than voices inside Red’s head, she becomes even more concerned about her well-being. How will Molly keep her safe until she can figure out a way to get Red home? In Sonya Sones’s inspiring novel, two girls, with much more in common than they realize, give each other a new perspective on the meaning of family, friendship, and forgiveness.

Tender Contrasts

Two girls’ unlikely friendship finds humor and tenderness amid difficult silences and questions of family.

Come here for

  • A funny, moving novel in verse about friendship and family
  • A story that approaches homelessness and mental health with care

Expect

  • A verse narrative balancing wit with serious subject matter
  • A focus on connection, forgiveness, and seeing one another differently

Where it sits

Mental Illness for Teens79%
Novels in Verse for Teens60%
Homelessness & Poverty for Teens53%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • YA Books About Libraries
  • Coming of Age
  • YA Stories About Girls & Women
  • Novels in Verse for Teens
Show all 8 publisher categories
  • YA Poetry
  • Contemporary YA Romance
  • Dating & Sex for Teens
  • Disabilities & Special Needs for Teens
Authors
Sonya Sones
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
February 19, 2019
Format
Paperback
Reading lane
YA Books About Libraries