Customer Reviews

Red Kayak

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a seventh grader from Seattle, and I read the Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings. I thought it was a good book and I thought I would share my opinion.

It is about a 13-year old named Brady who leads a normal life as a working kid fishing for crabs when a new family, who is quite well off comes into the neighborhood. Tragedy strikes when their red kayak turns over in the bay and causes a tragic accident. Brady, who is on the rescue team and friendly with the family, investigates the cause of the accident, and he doesn't like what he finds.

This book is full of suspense and will keep you hooked from page 1 through the end of the story. It is a very interesting book and I think I would recommend it for people ages 10 and up. I give it four and a half out of 5 stars. It is a must read.

Kayak is rich in theme and offers some good plot twists, but it is desperately lacking in authenticity and voice. The main character, Brady, contrives a diabolical plan to sabotage the new neighbor's red kayak, and is then shocked to find out that his best friends acted on the plan. The plot is unique and well crafted, but the characters seem to be driven by the needs of the plot. It was Brady who laid out the cruel and vindictive plan, revealed only through a brief flashback that is completely out of character, but his character's thought process and actions for the remainder of the book are those of a character with unrealistically high moral standards and a need to connect emotionally with every other character on a level that feels nothing like a middle school boy, especially one who could lay out such a plan. In the end, Brady's friends, rather than feeling betrayed when Brady has them arrested, are thankful to their friend (and, remember, mastermind of the plan) for turning them in, and to me, again, act completely out of character to the ones the author constructed. This ruined a good plot for me.

This is one of the best young adult/teenage novels I have read in a long time. It is well written and spoken like a 14 year old boy. I could not put this book down because I needed to know what happened to all of the characters. I can't wait to read other books by this author.

"Oh nooo (groan), not another book where a kid or a dog dies!!," was the reaction from my 12-yr old son, when I gave him this book to read. Unfortunately for him, this book was the required summer reading for his 7th grade class. He unhappily slogged through it, but didn't enjoy it. After reading a few chapters myself, I have to agree. Although a well-written book, the underlying message is too similar to On My Honor, Sounder, Old Yeller, etc. (all of which my kids have had to read at some point). A kid causes the death of another kid, or a beloved dog dies, and the protagonist (usually a boy) has to learn to come to terms with death and/or the consequences of his actions. Give kids a break! Only make them read ONE book of this type; the message gets across the first time! This book might be preferable over the classics like Old Yeller or Sounder, because it is more current and today's kids can more readily identify with the characters.

I really liked this book, I felt drawn to the characters and think it is an excellent book for children as it shows that even though telling the truth is not always easy, it is the right thing to do. Very serious subject with believable roles. I could see through Brady's eyes and was pulled into the story. I also liked how it showed that even though the boys were friends they had different lives at home.

If you are like most young teens, there will be a time when you will struggle to do the right thing. For sometimes, doing the right thing means your life or the life of someone else will never be the same. The Red Kayak is exactly that kind of story. This gripping and tragic story of a sunken red kayak centers on Brady, his two best friends and a Chesapeake Bay town that is undergoing some very big changes.
This book captures your attention from beginning to end with vivid descriptions and unexpected happenings. From the beginning, when the kayak is seen traveling down the street on top of a sports car, to the death of a young boy, and to the end when Brady discovers the truth behind the sunken kayak, the story grabs your attention. Brady is faced with one of the biggest decisions of his life.
I would highly recommend this book to any young readers, age 9 and up, because the reader can really relate to the many emotions and struggles of the characters. It is a quick and easy read with lots of suspense and life lessons. Even though the book is fictional, the author does a great job of making the story seem realistic.

-Kaylor Kelley

"Each must make his life as flowing in
tumbling block or a stepping stone
while common people like you and me
we'll be builders for eternity
each is given a bag of tools
a shapeless mass and the book of rules"
-- Llewellyn/Morgan/Sibbles, "Book of Rules"

"From where we stood, you could see down the grassy slope behind our house, on past Dad's shop and the dock, to the creek. And out there, heading our way, was Mr. DiAngelo's new red kayak."

Brady Parks is a hardworking thirteen-year-old son of a Chesapeake Bay waterman. He and his two longtime friends, Digger and J.T., are waiting for their ride to school one April morning when they see that red kayak go by in the distance.

"Cupping his hands around his mouth, Digger pretended to call out: 'Paddle hard, you sucker!'
"He and J.T. exchanged this look I didn't quite catch, and J.T. started laughing, too.
"But I shook my head. 'He shouldn't be going out there today. When he gets down to the point--he'll fly down the river.' I was sure Mr. DiAngelo didn't know about how the wind picked up once you left our creek and hit the open water. Not to mention the spring tides. Sometimes they were so strong they'd suck the crab pot buoys under. I doubted whether Mr. DiAngelo knew that; he'd only had the kayak a few weeks.
" 'Really, guys. We ought to yell something,' I said soberly."

Although he's quite fond of the man's wife and little boy, Ben, for whom he's baby-sat, Brady and his friends are not fans of Mr. Marcellus DiAngelo, who has bought Digger's grandfather's farm, replaced the old farmhouse with a mansion, and eliminated the boys' access to the surrounding lands where they've always been able to play, and which Digger had always used as a getaway from his abusive dad.

"Sneering, Digger stuffed his hands in his pockets. 'Look Brady, if he's stupid enough to be out there today, he can take what's coming. Besides, he deserves it.' "

So they don't call out a warning.

And then later that morning, when his father comes to take him out of school to assist with search efforts, Brady learns that it was actually Mrs. DiAngelo, taking Ben out for a ride, who had been paddling the red kayak in those frigid waters. Thus begins Brady's moral journey through this action-filled page turner.

Brady's rescue and resuscitation of Ben makes Brady a hero for a day--until Ben dies from the effects of his exposure. Brady's friends distance themselves from him, and he is left alone with the secrets of the trio's actions and inactions.

"My mind sure was drifting. Looking back, I could see there were things we three did that I would never forget. Boy, like the day we were playing ice hockey and I went through the ice on that cow pond. It was Digger who saved my life. I can still see him sprawled toward me, his chin bleeding, his tooth chipped forever, reaching both of his bare, cold hands out to me while I thrashed around in that freezing water and couldn't get a grip because the edges of the ice kept breaking. 'Grab on, Brady! Grab on!' And J.T. in the background, holding Digger's ankles so he wouldn't go down with me."

The long-term process that Brady navigates in his attempts at discovering "the right thing to do" is paralleled by that of Brady's dad. Mr. Parks is seeking a solution to his own problems involving decreasing income due to the dwindling inventories of crabs in the Chesapeake fishery. Dad must decide whether or not to participate in the political actions being organized by his fellow watermen who are calling for less restrictions on their crab harvesting.

"Pressure pushing down on me
Pressing down on you no man ask for
Under pressure that brings a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets"
--David Bowie/Queen, "Under Pressure"

Another parallel involves the loss by Brady's family--prior to the story--of his little sister Amanda from SIDS. Brady's previous experience makes him quite cognizant of the effect Ben's loss must be having upon Mr. and Mrs. DiAngelo. The pressure within Brady builds as his complicated feelings about guilt and friends and family consume his days and compel him to seek a way out of the dilemma.

"I thought I'd wake up feeling relieved the next morning. Like a weight had been taken off my shoulders because of the action I'd finally taken. But it didn't start out that way, and I wondered while I poked at the scrambled eggs Mom had made whether it was something I just had to get used to first, like a new haircut."

RED KAYAK provides a winning balance between the outdoor action and settings, and Brady's inner turmoil. From the muck on the crab traps to Brady's yellow lab tearing through the tall grass to retrieve a ball, the descriptions brought me gladly back to locales I've previously explored with the likes of Dicey Tillerman and Tunes Smith. Readers will surely be caught up in Brady's story of life and death on the river, as he finds himself trapped between a rock and a hard place, while killer currents and dangerous obstacles just under the surface threaten to take him under.

I started this book for Summer Reading in NH, I was 12 years old when I read this.This book was very adventureous and it was more suspense then mystery. I was so into the book that I wouldn't put down the book. It took me 4-5 days to read it, I wasn't in a rush It was just to good.

I never do this, but I just picked up this book the other day. I started reading it and could NOT put it down. It was very clever and one of the best novels I have ever read! Five stars well earned in my book!

The Red Kayak is a story about three boys, Brady, Digger, and JT. Brady loves his life with his mom and dad on Chesapeake Bay crabbing and fishing, and just hanging out with his friends. But when the DiAngelos and their sparkling new red kayak move into the neighborhood, everything changes. Especially when the red kayak is taken out for a ride and the DiAngelos' son dies.
When Brady discovers the truth behind the red kayak the question is whether he should tell the world what happened or keep his discovery a secret, which could cost him his old life.
I really liked The Red Kayak. If you're someone who likes a page turner, you should read this book. I felt that the author, Priscilla Cummins, really put the story together well and kept the story exciting throughout the book.
I would rate this book four and a half stars. What I didn't like about The Red Kayak is the ending. It was too much like reality for me. But overall it was a really great book.