Customer Reviews

Red Glass

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Laura Resau's RED GLASS was an amazing read. It's a wonderful mixture of excerpts from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, eccentric people, political unrest, and magical fortunes folded into a cross-continental summer road trip.

Sophie is an amoeba, a free-floating spirit who is not attached to anything besides her family and her books. Then one night she picks up a phone call from the hospital. Seven Mexican migrants and their guide have died crossing the Arizona border. The lone survivor is a six-year-old boy named Pablo who had Sophie's stepfather's business card in his pocket. Pablo comes to live with Sophie, her parents, and Sophie's great aunt Dika, a Bosnian war refugee. Sophie grows to love her Principito, or Little Prince, but after a year her parents get in contact with Pablo's remaining family in Mexico.

Over the summer, Sophie, Dika, Dika's boyfriend, and his son must take Pablo back to his hometown so that he can choose between his new family and his birth family. The trip is hard at first, because Sophie is afraid that anything and everything will go wrong. But the stories and the struggles of her companions change her perception of danger and she grows attached to Ángel despite her fears that she will lose him. When a terrible accident occurs, Sophie is forced to make a dangerous trip by herself. On the way, she realizes that while life has its risks, it is still beautiful and even fun.

I loved this book. One of the things that was really well done was how it was multi-cultural without being culturally exclusive. Even though some of the dialogue was written in Spanish, it was still easy to read. But the best part of the book was its characters. They are both hilarious and tragic, but never melodramatic. At times, I felt as if author Laura Resau was in my head. Teens will identify with Sophie as one of their own.

Reviewed by: Natalie Tsang

I love this book. Sophie is the kind of best friend every girl should have--she's generous, funny, artsy, more than a little neurotic, and really brave. She takes off with a crazy cast of characters on an adventure to die for, traveling from Arizona to Mexico and then into Guatemala to rescue her boyfriend-to-be. It made me want to learn 10 languages and travel around the world. I cried and laughed a lot, and had to look up places on Google Earth! Great read.

Like a Barbara Kingsolver for the slightly younger set, Laura Resau uses gorgeous, sensuous language to create a galloping good story with a timely social theme. Readers will never want this wonderful road trip with its cast of utterly convincing oddball characters to end. Red Glass is a book to fall in love with.

For any teenage girl who is too scared to be a hero and yet desperately wants to be one, Red Glass is for you. In many ways, Sophie's story is every girl's story - although the circumstances may be different - a story of beating her fear and finding out she is a person much stronger, wiser, and wilder than she ever imagined.

Contains all the ingredients for a good story: tragedy, comedy, love, and danger. I'm using it in my book club for adult ESL learners who are from various world cultures. They love it! It treats modern issues of immigration, alienation, and human rights with sensitivity. Hispanic culture is beautifully interwoven as are the lives of common people who come to know and respect each other accross vast landscapes and invisible borders.

Red Glass is the story of 16-year-old Sophie, whose family takes in 6-year-old Pablo, the lone survivor of a group of illegal immigrants who died crossing the Arizona desert from Mexico. When they discover Pablo's extended family is still alive, Sophie travels from Tuscon to Mexico and Guatemala with four diverse companions. Adventure, danger, and enlightenment ensue -- and also, love.

Red Glass stole my heart, not only because of its setting, but because of its story, its characters -- especially Dika, Sophie's Bosnian refugee aunt -- its romance (you'll fall in love with Angel, I promise), and most of all, its language. Laura steeps her descriptions of Mexico and Guatemala in sheer beauty, resulting in a book filled with gasps and sighs.

You know a book's a winner when it's packed with lyrical language, and yet, pulls you from page to page to page. It also takes a controversial topic -- illegal immigration -- and brings to light its heartbreaking human condition elements by focusing on a simple story. I can't wait to read the rest of Laura's books.

~review by YA Highway,[...]

Sixteen-year-old Sophie becomes attached to a child found wandering alone in the desert. The boy, Pablo, has come north from Mexico, crossing the border illegally with his parents who end up dying of dehydration. Pablo stays with Sophie's family and becomes part of her heart, but she knows she should allow him the choice to return to his relatives. She agrees to travel deep into Latin America to reunite Pablo with his aunts, uncles and grandmother. But the trip is far from simple. Sophie is phobic about germs, and she's afraid to take chances. Not only that, but she will be traveling with a young man, Angel, someone she finds both attractive and mystifying.

During Sophie's journey, she overcomes not only her germ phobia but much more. She discovers courage she didn't know she had, love she never imagined, and profound friendships with people who transcend cultural differences.

Sophie has been afraid of just about everything: cancer, gems, car wrecks, and becoming an orphan. Then one day her stepfather Juan gets a phone call from the hospital. Pablo, a six-year-old Mexican boy is recovering from a trip across the Border. The same trip that killed both of his parents. Pablo comes to Sophie's home. She grows to love this little boy who she calls-her Principito, Little Prince. After a year Sophie's parents are able to contact Pablo's extended family in Mexico. Sophie, her Aunt Dika, and Dika's new boyfriend and son must travel with Pablo so he can make a heartwrenching decision.

On the way down Sophie feels a strong connection to Angel, her Aunt's boyfriend's son. But she fears she'll lose him. A tragic accident forces Sophie to make a dangerous journey where she must learn to face her fears. Will she always be delicate Sophie? Or will her difficult choice make her become fuerte--strong?

I enjoyed this story of a young girl who must face her fears in order to grow stronger. The road trip into Mexico was very vivid and I remembered similar things on my own trip many years ago. The contrast between Mexico and Guatemala are striking. I don't know if I'd be as strong as Sophie to travel down there alone. But what really stands out about this book is how Sophie learns to reach out to those around her. Dika, the eccentric aunt who survived the Bosnia war. Mr Lorenzo who survived beatings from the Guatemalan police. And little Paco, who watched his parents die while crossing the Border. They all learn from each other even when one of them makes a heartwrenching decision.

This book is gorgeous, gut-wrenching, and fun. What I love about Laura Resau's writing is how she takes current, real-world issues (such as immigration) and turns them into adventures that are as thrilling to read as fantasy, while also being emotionally powerful. Red Glass puts a human face on the immigration issue, and though the subject matter is serious, Sophie keeps things upbeat, funny, and riveting. Not to mention that Laura Resau's writing (especially her descriptions of places, and the many vivid characters who are encountered in these places) makes you want to pack your bags and explore the world. Red Glass is a great reminder of how full of wonder the world is.

Sophie's unusual family group -- she lives with her English mother, Latino stepfather, and Bosnian refugee great aunt -- becomes a little more unusual when a small boy, Pablo, is found in the desert with Sophie's father's business card in his pocket. Poor little Pablo has seenhis parents die trying to cross the border, and barely survived himself. Sophie, whose favorite book is The Little Prince, decides that Pablo is her pricipito who came from parts unknown, and is thrilled when he becomes part of their family.

However, Pablo's surviving family is eventually located in a tiny Mexican village, and it is decided that Pablo should see his family, and make a very difficult decision for a very small boy.

It just so happens that Great Aunt Dika's boyfriend, and his son Angel, were planning a trip South of the border, and it seems an opportune time to make a road trip. Just one problem -- Sophie is afraid of almost everything. Germs, car-accidents, other people... This road trip will be another kind of journey for Sophie, as she learns a little bit about
herself, and the lives of others.

This book had an uphill battle, because I had just finished What is the What and that was a tough act to follow. However, I was immediately engaged with the story, and couldn't bear to put it down.

The prose was so lyrical, and although Sophie is sort of your stereotypical, unsure, preteen heroine, she has a great voice that pushes past all that. The descriptions of people and places were intense and vivid, really putting one right in the story. And the characters -- well, that's the most important part. This is a very character-driven novel, and they all just sparkle.

One minor complaint: As usual in these books, Sophie will need a boy to convince her of her true worth. A boy which, I'm sure, we are supposed to be convinced is her teenaged soul mate, or something. However, I'll get over it. The story, if conventional in spots, was beautifully told.

Very much a girl book for girls around Sophies age -- 13 to 16.