The Red Sheet

Oh wow! How does one review a book about bullying other than to say Mia Kerick chose a most interesting path with which to tell such a story.
A total Jock waking up with no memory of anything before that morning and the fact he wants a Superhero Cape in Red and to do good deeds. It is also about first love, redemption and finding out who you really are as a person.
I found all of the characters engaging. I knew these people in school and it was such a relief to see such a topic to be handled with care, love and oh wow so much humor. I found myself chuckling through much of the novel. This is a book that could be handed out at Junior High and Senior High Schools especially for all of the LGBT kids that need to see they aren't alone and as the saying goes \"It gets Better.\"
I will read this again it was so fun. The Red Sheet makes you want to run to the store and get a Red Sheet of your own to do good in your city. Seriously it does.
Look forward to reading more of Mia Kerick in the future.

Bryan Dennison is in his junior year of high school. One morning He wakes up with the sense of helping people and he feels a completely different person. What Bryan was not counting on is his desire to wear a red cape.
Scott Beckett is the shy , gay boy , the boy that had been bullied. Sadly to say one of his bullies was Bryan.
But also they were friends. The only thing is Bryan doesn't recall their last fall out. What Bryan knows is that he wants to do everything possible to convince Scott he is a changed man.
It is hilarious the way the book is written in first person, Bryan's voice ... the way he tells his story is a self dairy. Remembering ... reminiscing.
Bryan tells how he takes time to help the neighborhood LOL ( yes people little old lady ) , how he helps the lady across the street , how he changes they way he treats his mother.
But Bryan also tells the story of a guy who has never admitted or say out loud that He is gay , that he is repentant of what he did to Scotty , the boy that he feels and knows he loves.
Scotty is very careful in giving Bryan the opportunity to start a friendship back... He needs to see in action more than words .... Because the wind will take the words away. \" Las palabras se las lleva el viento \" ...
The Red Sheet is a story that will make you laugh , cry and ultimately will make you believe that regardless you also need a red cape.
Well done ! Excellent foreword by Cody Kennedy !

Review posted on Books on Silver Wings blog.
Byran likes Scott in secret. He gets a sudden obsession with red sheets (as a cape) and being a superhero. He has no memories of his past behaviors as a bully, especially towards Scott, but he has a crush on Scott and Scott wants nothing to do with him.
Byran's behavior is unrealistic and weird to me so I can't really connect with him and understand his dilemmas. Even his mother thinks his new behavior is out of character. It seems like he is possessed by aliens or something. I'm giving props to Scott for being cautious about Byran's new and improved behaviors.
Even though Byran's personality went through a big change, he is still an awkward teenager. I love how he enlists his teacher's help to get more chances to interact with Scott. He forms a social justice team, comes out of the closet, and becomes a superhero in the end. I like that he is concerned with doing the right thing that is just and moral.
Byran's biggest obstacle is Brandon, who is the biggest homophobe and a superjock at the school, but may also have a crush on Scott. He is the bad guy in the story, yet he's in a very similar situation to Byran. This story could have easily been about Brandon's transformation from superjock to superhero.
The story is super slow paced with Byran discovering his love of red sheets and lost memories and testing if he can fly. The story finally picks up the pace and reveals what happened that night with Scott and Brandon that led to him subconsciously repressing his memories. Once that is out of the way, Byran and Scott can move forward and forgive past transgressions.
The story gets very inspirational with Ghandi quotes and Bryan's self discovery. Even though the beginning is slow paced, I enjoy reading the love story from the bully's perspective.
*review copy received in exchange for an honest review*

\"I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naive
I'm just out to find
The better part of me\"
\"Superman\" by Five for Fighting
How appropriate, I thought, that 'The Red Sheet' begins with those song lyrics. Because from the moment I opened the book, Bryan Dennison is trying very hard to find the better parts of himself. Or perhaps I should say, he's trying to find the better parts of himself before the \"change\" and failing miserably.
For you see, Bryan was the worst kind of teenager imaginable. He is a jock in a small, upper middle class town in New Hampshire. He lives with his mom as his dad abandoned them years ago. He never says \"please\" or \"thank you\". He never helps his mom without a lot of screaming and the promise of payment for his chores. He never hugs his mom or tells her he loves her. He's even worse at school around his own peers. Bryan fully subscribes to the school mantras of: sit at the politically correct tables, never bring any attention upon yourself unless it is to be revered, and go along with the crowd at all costs. And, apparently, Bryan is a huge bully with some of his jock friends, and a favorite target is Scott Beckett. Bryan was this person before the change, and now in the aftermath he has to figure out how to make a positive difference in a way that will be taken seriously.
Bryan woke up one Monday morning with a severe craving to tie a red sheet around his neck. He was also significantly changed from the horrid young man he used to be. Now he wants to help people, be a good person, be nice to his teachers, get to know his fellow students outside of his gang, help his mother and give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. What? As Bryan learns more of his former behavior he is sickened by it and who he was. Strangest of all is that he has no memory, whatsoever, of Scott, before he sees him at lunch on that Monday. Discovering that Bryan, with the help of his \"friend\" Brandon, has bullied Scott unmercifully and did something very horrific to him two nights before on Saturday, makes Bryan physically ill. Now Bryan has to figure out how to make amends, how to be friends with Scott, and how to get Scott to believe that Bryan really has changed. Because it is only now that Bryan realizes he had fallen in love with Scott before the change and his horrible behavior stems from the fear of people discovering that Bryan is gay.
I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that this book will be at the top of every list of best young adult books of 2014. Told completely in Bryan's voice, as if I was sitting down with him and he was re-telling the whole story to me, 'The Red Sheet' is a powerful tale of one young man's journey back to forgiveness. Forgiving himself for his behavior, his fears, his doubts, and his insecurities is a compelling sojourn I'm not likely to forget any time soon. I'm not even sure if I have the words to express how much I loved this book. That's saying a lot from me since I am not a fan of young adult, I lived that life already and don't have much desire to return to it. But Mia Kerick's writing is something I will read, regardless of genre, because it just is that good.
\"Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things inside of me, inside of me, inside of me\"
\"Superman\" by Five for Fighting
NOTE: This book was provided by Harmony Ink Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews