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Saving Kenny
Kenny Reed has a bright future ahead of him, but he and his siblings must first escape their abusive mother in this emotional middle-grade novel.An age-appropriate, safe conversation starter presented with alluring prose and sensitive treatment of complex issues.Twelve-year-old Kenny Reed is a scholarship student at a private school across the river from his apartment in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, which he shares with an older brother and sister and their abusive mother. He has always lived in the shadow of his siblings' success, but when he watches a performance of the opera Aida, Kenny discovers costumes and decides to become a costume designer.In the midst of tumultuous family dynamics and domestic violence, the three siblings find themselves achieving their dreams and breaking the cycle of violence in this coming-of-age story.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published October 29, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 5, 2024
A sweet story that touches on some of the many events that marked this time in history from a perspective that children can understand. The characters are well-realized. I was a big fan of Gwen and her aspirations, which felt real for a young woman of this time. Kenny is also a relatable character, succumbing to peer pressure until, eventually, finding out that what we want in life, the passions that will drive us forward, are worth facing up to bullies and ignore those who make fun of our uniqueness.
Vaugh, Kenny’s older brother, is a character offering a very special window into the thoughts and circumstances of young African American men at the time. I know the book needs to keep things lite, giving its intended audience, but at times, particularly when Vaugh was the focus of the story, it did feel too lite to fully convey the weight of the events surrounding this Vaugh and his family.
About the representation of domestic violence in the story, it felt too monotone for most of it. Except near the end, when we finally see the always present “feeling sorry” side from the abuser, which is one of the reasons why victims, especially very young victims, of domestic violence find it so hard to separate love from abuse as they grow up.
They are many positives here, yet for me the story lacked drive. Only near the end was there a sense of urgency, of Kenny and Gwen wanting/needed something so badly, I felt like rooting for them.
Vaugh, Kenny’s older brother, is a character offering a very special window into the thoughts and circumstances of young African American men at the time. I know the book needs to keep things lite, giving its intended audience, but at times, particularly when Vaugh was the focus of the story, it did feel too lite to fully convey the weight of the events surrounding this Vaugh and his family.
About the representation of domestic violence in the story, it felt too monotone for most of it. Except near the end, when we finally see the always present “feeling sorry” side from the abuser, which is one of the reasons why victims, especially very young victims, of domestic violence find it so hard to separate love from abuse as they grow up.
They are many positives here, yet for me the story lacked drive. Only near the end was there a sense of urgency, of Kenny and Gwen wanting/needed something so badly, I felt like rooting for them.
June 27, 2024
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus
Kenny Reed lives with his mother, older sister Gwen, and older brother Vaughn in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston in 1968. His brother works at a Black owned bookstore and is very invested in the Black Panthers movement, and has just graduated from high school. His sister is enrolled at a private school, and is taking singing lessons in the hope that she can get into a performing arts program for college and become an opera star. She has helped Kenny get a scholarship to a private middle school, so she and Kenny take a daily one hour bus ride to attend their schools. Kenny has a best friend, Ted, who is wealthy, and invites him to spend time with his at his parents' summer house, but this falls through after Kenny draws a picture that Ted thinks is making fun of his father. The mother has fits of rage over small things, and is abusive; at one point, the milk for her coffee has gone bad, so she slams Kenny's head into the sink to make him smell it, and orders him to go to the store in his pajamas to get more. Vaughn and Gwen often serve as buffers, and he is afraid of what will happen when they both move out of the house. Gwen has taken Kenny to the opera, and he is fascinated by the costumes in Aida. He goes to a summer camp, and wants to take costume design. There's even another boy in the class, Walter, but Vaugn says that sewing is for "sissies" and forces Kenny to take drumming, which many of his friends are taking. After talking to the owners of the bookstore where Vaughn works they help Vaughn see that Black men have always been involved in texiles and sewing, so Vaughn relents. Kenny makes a tie dyed dashiki for his mother, and wins the class prize (a sewing kit!), but his mother shows no interest in it at all, but continues her abusive ways. When Vaughn gets his draft notice, he decides to go to Toronto with his girlfriend instead. This leaves Gwen and Kenny alone with their mother. When she becomes ill with pneumonia, they reach out to their mother's cousin Betty, a nurse, in Philadelphia, and she comes to help the family out. Their neighbor, Miss Temple, helps out as well. Recovery takes a while, but the minute Betty is gone, the mother is having Kenny buy her cigarettes and returns to her horrible ways. When Gwen and Kenny decide that Kenny should try to get a scholarship to the boarding school his friend Ted is attending, the mother beats Gwen and tells her to leave, and beats Kenny as well. He ends up in the hospital, and Miss Temple decides that the children will stay with her. Betty arrives and makes sure that the mother gets psychiatric help. An epilogue gives a brighter view of the world after Reed children are all in better circumstances.
Strengths: An author's note says that this is based, sadly, on some of the author's own experiences, and this first hand knowledge is evident in the attention to the details of daily life in 1968. I was thrilled to see information not only about the Black Panther movement, but about draft dodging, which is a topic about there could be a LOT more books. The mother's troubled past contrasted nicely with the drive her children had to not only go to college, but to pursue things that excited them. Kenny's interest in sewing would have made him a bit of a target, and this topic is treated realistically as well. This is a good length, moves quickly, and is an excellent historical fiction choice.
Weaknesses: There could have been better pacing to the arc of the mother's abuse; I would have liked to see more tension built in between the positive experiences that Gwen and Kenny have pursuing their activities.
What I really think: This is an excellent book along the lines of Stealing Mt. Rushmore, where problems that still exist in the present day are showcased against a historic background. Have this on hand for readers who want historical fiction like Magoons' The Rock and the River or William's One Crazy Summer, and definitely pair it with Magoon's excellent Revolution in Our Time, the most definitive coverage of the Black Panther Movement I've seen.
Kenny Reed lives with his mother, older sister Gwen, and older brother Vaughn in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston in 1968. His brother works at a Black owned bookstore and is very invested in the Black Panthers movement, and has just graduated from high school. His sister is enrolled at a private school, and is taking singing lessons in the hope that she can get into a performing arts program for college and become an opera star. She has helped Kenny get a scholarship to a private middle school, so she and Kenny take a daily one hour bus ride to attend their schools. Kenny has a best friend, Ted, who is wealthy, and invites him to spend time with his at his parents' summer house, but this falls through after Kenny draws a picture that Ted thinks is making fun of his father. The mother has fits of rage over small things, and is abusive; at one point, the milk for her coffee has gone bad, so she slams Kenny's head into the sink to make him smell it, and orders him to go to the store in his pajamas to get more. Vaughn and Gwen often serve as buffers, and he is afraid of what will happen when they both move out of the house. Gwen has taken Kenny to the opera, and he is fascinated by the costumes in Aida. He goes to a summer camp, and wants to take costume design. There's even another boy in the class, Walter, but Vaugn says that sewing is for "sissies" and forces Kenny to take drumming, which many of his friends are taking. After talking to the owners of the bookstore where Vaughn works they help Vaughn see that Black men have always been involved in texiles and sewing, so Vaughn relents. Kenny makes a tie dyed dashiki for his mother, and wins the class prize (a sewing kit!), but his mother shows no interest in it at all, but continues her abusive ways. When Vaughn gets his draft notice, he decides to go to Toronto with his girlfriend instead. This leaves Gwen and Kenny alone with their mother. When she becomes ill with pneumonia, they reach out to their mother's cousin Betty, a nurse, in Philadelphia, and she comes to help the family out. Their neighbor, Miss Temple, helps out as well. Recovery takes a while, but the minute Betty is gone, the mother is having Kenny buy her cigarettes and returns to her horrible ways. When Gwen and Kenny decide that Kenny should try to get a scholarship to the boarding school his friend Ted is attending, the mother beats Gwen and tells her to leave, and beats Kenny as well. He ends up in the hospital, and Miss Temple decides that the children will stay with her. Betty arrives and makes sure that the mother gets psychiatric help. An epilogue gives a brighter view of the world after Reed children are all in better circumstances.
Strengths: An author's note says that this is based, sadly, on some of the author's own experiences, and this first hand knowledge is evident in the attention to the details of daily life in 1968. I was thrilled to see information not only about the Black Panther movement, but about draft dodging, which is a topic about there could be a LOT more books. The mother's troubled past contrasted nicely with the drive her children had to not only go to college, but to pursue things that excited them. Kenny's interest in sewing would have made him a bit of a target, and this topic is treated realistically as well. This is a good length, moves quickly, and is an excellent historical fiction choice.
Weaknesses: There could have been better pacing to the arc of the mother's abuse; I would have liked to see more tension built in between the positive experiences that Gwen and Kenny have pursuing their activities.
What I really think: This is an excellent book along the lines of Stealing Mt. Rushmore, where problems that still exist in the present day are showcased against a historic background. Have this on hand for readers who want historical fiction like Magoons' The Rock and the River or William's One Crazy Summer, and definitely pair it with Magoon's excellent Revolution in Our Time, the most definitive coverage of the Black Panther Movement I've seen.
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July 30, 2024Thank you Net Galley for the ARC!
August 1, 2024
Kenny, his sister, and brother are dealing with a physically abusive mother, but all three have dreams that they hope will help them end up leaving the house. Kenny wants to be a costume designer although his older brother is discouraging until he realizes Kenny is good. Kenny’s sister, Gwen, wants to go to Juilliard. The older brother, Vaughn, was going to let Kenny live with him safe from mom when he graduated, but when he receives a letter from the draft Vaughn leaves for Canada. When Gwen and Kenny apply to Juilliard and a private school, the mom finds out and is mad. Kenny wakes up in an ambulance. What happens then?
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews