The Red Shoe [Hardcover]

Ursula Dubosarsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2007 | Age Level: 10 and up

Funny, tough-minded and tender, this is the story of Matilda and her two sisters growing up in Sydney, Australia, in the early 1950s. Their father is mentally unstable and largely absent, their mother is possibly in the thrall of his brother, and a headline-making Russian spy defection is taking place next door. Punctuated by the headlines of the times, The Red Shoe depicts how the large events of the world can impinge on ordinary lives. This is a novel to savor by one of Australia's most gifted writers for young people.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—This novel set in Sydney, Australia in the Cold War era interweaves actual newspaper accounts of a Russian diplomat's 1954 defection with the day-to-day affairs of a local family with three sisters and a father away on military duty much of the time. Focusing mostly on the fascinations and fancies of six-year-old Matilda, the tale follows her observations of the strange men who have guns and fast, shiny black cars staying at the big house next door. When she sees one of those men in a newsreel about the Russian who defected amidst controversy about the fate of his wife, she lets slip to their other neighbor, a crazy old man with his own gun, that spies live on the other side of her, leading to some action, which is in rather short supply here. A family drama evolves piecemeal in flashbacks to a beach picnic at which the father, continuing to be distraught in the aftermath of World War II, attempts to hang himself while his brother looks on immobile. While key characters are young people, even their dramas of pet parades and teenage nervous breakdowns are unlikely to interest American readers. Even incidents involving Matilda's imaginary companion are strangely flat and unappealing. This plot and its characters won't motivate most children to follow the slow story to its happy conclusion.—Suzanne Gordon, Peachtree Ridge High School, Suwanee, GA
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Review

"The anxieties and strangeness of Cold War Australia make Ursula Dubosarsky's The Red Shoe (ages 11+) a considerably more intense, suspenseful kind of period piece, one that lives on in the mind long after it's finished...In lucid, poetic prose Dubosarsky explores the deep feeling and acute but partial perceptions of children struggling with a world under threat. Utterly luminous." July 22 2007 -- Toronto Star

*"In lucid, poetic prose (Dubosarsky) explores what is at the heart of her story: the intense feeling and acute but partial perceptions of children struggling with a world under threat. This memorable, luminous work is a vital addition to the growing constellation of recent Cold War novels and a stellar read on its own." (Starred review May/June 2007) -- Horn Book

*"Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, Australian author Dubosarsky (Theodora's gift) eloquently conveys the observations and memories of three sisters--the youngest, Matilda; middle-child Frances, 11; and 15-year-old Elizabeth--living in uncertain times...Dubosarsky proves masterful in conjuring and connecting images." (Starred review March 26 2007) -- Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press; First Edition edition (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596432659
• ISBN-13: 978-1596432659
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,427,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Red Shoe, April 26, 2011

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Red Shoe (Hardcover)

Personally, I hated this book. It was from the perspective of a very young girl, and it was very strange and sometimes inappropriate. Not worth the time.....