Red Day

by Sandy Fussell

Set in a modern-day small town among the remnants of a Japanese POW camp, this is the story of Charlie. Charlie has synaesthesia and hence sees and hears differently: people have auras; days of the week are coloured; numbers and letters have attitudes.

But when Charlie meets Japanese exchange student Kenichi, her senses intensify and she experiences flashbacks, nausea, and hears unfamiliar voices in her head pulling her back to the town’s violent past.

This is heartfelt contemporary storytelling at its best.

Genres: Contemporary, Friendship, Family

236 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2020

About the author

Sandy Fussell lives south of Sydney with her husband and two sons. She studied mathematics at university, is intensely interested in history and now works in IT. From the moment she could read, Sandy loved books and always wanted to be a writer. In school, she wrote what she refers to as “booklets” and “terrible plays that the teacher made the class perform”. After school, Sandy forgot about writing for a long time and started a family. She came back to writing after one of her children stopped reading and she suggested that they write a book together.

Reviews

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trigger warnings: war, racism, death of a sibling (in the past).

3.5 stars.

I've been hearing about this book a fair bit from students this term and managed to grab our copy from the shelves before Melbourne went back into lockdown. And I was really interested to read it because it's set in Cowra and features a Japanese exchange student coming to visit and try and find out what happened to his great-grandfather.

I vaguely remember being taken to Cowra as a 13 year old, but I don't think I had enough of an understanding of the way World War II played out in the Pacific theatre of war to truly appreciate what had happened there.

This has elements of a timeslip novel about it, which I loved. But instead of the main character, Charlie, literally slipping through time, the story instead uses her synaesthesia as a means of her discovering what happened in the past - when she looks at certain places or images, the past comes to life for her.

It was an interesting story and Charlie's reluctance to have an exchange student stay with her family was well depicted. But honestly, I just wanted this to be 50 or so pages longer than it was to properly cover her grief over her brother's death years earlier as well as the finding-out-what-happened-to-Kenichi's-great-grandfather plotline. I do also feel like it would have benefitted from a LITTLE more introduction to what happened in Cowra because unless the intended readership literally lives in the Lachlan Valley, they're not likely to know...

[Liza · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great middle-grade book which delves into a sometimes overlooked part of Australia's World War Two history. Charlotte or Charlie lives in Cowra in the central west of New South Wales. She is a synaesthete which means she experiences words and people as having colours. She is not looking forward to having a Japanese exchange student to stay at her home, and misses her brother who died some years ago. Kenichi, when he arrives, turns out to be not so bad. He also triggers her synaethesia in strange ways so that she feels what happened during the breakout of Japanese prisoners from the Cowra internment camp. Both characters have family mysteries to solve which are resolved in satisfying ways. Fussell's characterization of Charlotte, in particular, is warm and believable. An enjoyable read.

[Tonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a fabulous upper primary history novel if you happened to be near Cowra but otherwise it's a bit heavy going. The secrets of the Cowra Japanese POW camp breakout are gradually unlocked by the protagonist, Charlotte, who has synaesthesia and has episodes where she sees the past. These become more intense when a Japanese exchange student, Kenichi, comes to stay with her family. Even the synaesthesia fails to make the story particularly interesting. It was disappointing after the wonderful White Crane.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging and thoughtful.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars. A pretty engaging, interesting YA story, about a fascinating subject - synasthesia

[Freddy Iryss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading Red Day in more or less one session. In my world that means the book ticked all the boxes for me: great characters, good dialogue, adventure and mystery all wrapped up in a fast moving story.

Books with historical backdrops are, especially when they're about parts of history that are not much talked of, my favourite type of stories. Although the story is contemporary Australian, the historical backdrop is WWII but the set scene is not one that recounts a specific moment of battle in Europe or Asia - instead the story zooms in on an event, a Japanese war camp breakout in a rural town in Australia, that is far away from any battlefield at the time.

Thrown together, Charlie a synesthete (someone who can sense the world in colour - t's a condition in which one of the five senses simultaneously stimulates another sense) and Kenichi, a visiting Japanese student aren't necessarily hitting it off from the start. But things change once these two main characters become entangled in a mystery that involves both their families over many years. In order to find out what happened to Kenichi's great-grandfather, they have to open old wounds in Charlotte's family, too. They soon realise that they are the only ones who can get to the bottom of this, because they are tied to the missing man through their lineage and their connection to each other.

This book is a book about grief, loss, hope, friendship and family and the story is told through very realistic characters and events, with a good dose of magic realism, which makes the book all the more a delight to read.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book. T didn't finish this book as I was board reading it, the book has a good concept of The main character has sound-colour synaesthesia which means she can hear colours and feel them. The main character is living in Australia in a small town that remanets of a Japanese POW camp and is set in the modern day. Charlie (main character) lives with her mum. Charlie's mum decides to sign up for a host a international student thing and they get a Japanese student who stays in Charlie's dead older brother's room. Charlie does not like the international Kenchi as he is sleeping in Charlie's older brothers room who died in war. When do some sight seeing through a garden both Kenchi and Charlie get flashbacks. That is what I had read of the book.

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot. Historical information plus a touch of magical realism.

[idreamofallthebooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect introduction to historical fiction for middle grade readers!

Red Day tells the story of Charlie – a Year 7 girl who has synaesthesia – and Kenichi – thirteen-year-old Japanese exchange student who is determined to discover more about his past. It is their shared connection to Cowra’s prisoner of war camp, as well as their burgeoning friendship, that allows the two to resolve the unsettled spirits from the past before Kenichi’s seven-day exchange comes to an end.

There are three main elements that stand out for me after reading this story: the strong characters, the platonic connections and the ties to the past.

Though Charlie (or ‘Shallot’ to Kenichi!) allowed the reader to see the world through a completely different sensory experience than we are used to, I wished that there was an opportunity to see it through the eyes of Kenichi, especially the initial moments where he notices that Charlie see the world around her differently. The feelings and expression of grief that Fussell showed through the three generations of Cartwright women was also skilfully done – I thought it was quite clever for Fussell to show the many variations of how grief might manifest in different people.

Another element of the story that I enjoyed was the natural and developing friendship between Charlie and Kenichi. Though Lucy kept questioning the potential romantic intentions behind their growing bond, I loved that it was kept platonic and that it was more of a brother-sister relationship instead.

Finally, the ties to the past. The story’s connection to the Japanese prisoner of war camp was kept true, and there was a genuine undercurrent of the true nature of war throughout their research into learning about the man in the photograph.

Thank you @walkerbooksaus for gifting me a copy to read and review!

[Dimity Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sandy Fussell has a natural flow and rhythm to her stories that envelope and involve the reader with unassuming ease. This one, told with eloquence, charm and enough humour to normalise everything, resonates honesty and authenticity despite it's tentative time slipping qualities. Charlie and Kenichi begin as opposites and conclude as bonded equals. Their experiences which oscillate around Charlie's synaesthesia traits is both intriguing and enriching.

Synaesthesia is a condition that presents in 2 - 4 % of the (Australian) population. It's documentation in fictional narratives such as this one is a welcome and valuable way of introducing neurodiversity to youngsters while acknowledging the infinite wonders and mysteries of the human mind and its makeup.

Fussell's Red Day takes this one step further promoting the acceptance of being 'synth' while exploring one of the more significant moments (the Cowra Breakout) in Australia's (and Japan's) wartime history. Fascinating stuff and highly recommended reading.

[Leonie Stephenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 4 1/2 stars

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Easy to read. I thought it was pretty far fetched. The ability to zone into things that happened in the past?. I'm not sure if that's part of being synth?

[Ryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm enjoying reading Red Day, there'll be a full review out soon! 🙂

[Emma Orders a Mocha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this book at my local library. I’m glad I picked it up. I read it on a windy day at the beach - the wind and the sand don’t really go too well together. But I didn’t seem to mind that day because I was lost in this book. A good sign for it being a good book! It is a good book. Some parts felt like it skipped over parts, but maybe that’s the point in a way? Life isn’t perfect - and this book proves it.

[Lizz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlie has synaesthesia. Days have colours and letters have attitudes. Wednesday’s are yellow, Tuesday’s are purple, the worst days are red. The only red day Charlie’s ever known was the day her brother died.
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Set around the time after the 1944 Cowra Prisoner of War Camp breakout, and after her brother had died, Charlie’s mum offers to host a Japanese exchange student Kenichi.
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While Charlie hasn’t told anyone about her synaesthesia, when she meets Kenichi it intensifies more than ever.
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Through out the story, Charlie’s growing friendship with Kenichi and her intensifying synaesthesia send them on a journey to find out the truth of a soldier from the POW camp, learn about the past and also make peace.
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I really enjoyed Red Day. Even though Charlie knows she has something different than most, she refuses to let it stop her helping Kenichi, who she didn’t like at first. And while the synopsis says more about Charlie, I’m glad that there was more of a family dynamic in there as well.
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Overall a wonderful book about a historical time with a little bit of magic, loss, friendship and ultimately being who you are and doing what’s right.