Welcome to RED the Book!

58 real teenage lives, written by 58 real teenage girls 

 
"After Red I was not the same. Red rocked, gave joy, inspired, and healed. This book is a revolution!" — Justine Kayumba, 16, New York
 
NEW: A brilliant opinion piece from first-time voter Amy Hunt on the Huffington Post!!! 
Rebecca Murray's wonderful and moving video interpretation of her RED essay "Big Shoes."
A Q&A with "Future Celebrity Social Activist" Dani Cox in Diablo magazine 
 
"I can't rave enough, so I won't go on. I'll just say that this book will break your heart, ignite your passions, make you want to sing and dance and celebrate all teenage girls and how freaking smart and insightful they are."
— Melissa Walker, author of the amazing Violet series. Read these!!!
WIN-IT WEDNESDAY (7/2)!!! Melissa Walker's signed RED giveaway, and one of the world's sweetest reviews, world's best blogs. TODAY!!!
 

RED the Book: the Videos

Please select a RED author (below the video player) to see her read at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, NYC:


Or watch these authors and more on RED's brand-new YouTube channel!
 
RED THE BOOK: THE NEWS, THE ELECTION
  
FIVE STARS "Red is a revelation." — Time Out New York's Best of 2007 
 
Every one of RED's 58 authors has her own blog and profile here. Get to know these brave and talented writers
 

Recent and upcoming events:

"This is the best reading I've ever been to." - SMITHmag.net
"...an extraordinary reading, unlike any I've ever been to." - Hallmark Magazine
 
•A particularly wonderful blog on RED, featuring Sam Lewin and Jordyn Turney
Listen to Carey Dunne, Elizabeth Metzger, Olive Panter, and Maya Popa on WOR's The Joey Reynolds Show. 
•RED on Salon: Stop picking on the teenagers by Amy Goldwasser
•RED on KWMR's "Parent Talk"
 
RED THE BOOK: THE TOUR is parked at home in New York. For now. Invite us out, and we just might take you up on it. Eyes on more readings and writing workshops in New York, Chicago, working on Boston. Watch this space for dates. See the full list of RED events
 
 

RED the Book: The Editor

 
 

What the critics are saying...

"Unsparingly frank and perceptive, the essays in Red take on politics, pop culture, and body image. Long estimated and undervalued by society, [teenage girls] emerge as literature and society's great hope." - Vanity Fair
 
"I was stunned by the speed with which each of these stories pulled me in...funny, smart, dark, observant. If Red is any indication, then the kids are alright." - Salon
 
"The fifty-eight essays run the gamut--from laugh-out-loud funny to outrageous to heartrending. But each is astounding in its honesty and wisdom. The authors are complicated and real, with interests and concerns of immense scope. A surefire hit for girls and for everyone who thinks girls are interesting."- VOYA 
 
Red the Book is..."A must-have" in Teen Vogue; Newsweek's Book of the Week; Family Circle's Book of the Month; and "Brilliant/Highbrow" on New York Magazine's Approval Matrix.
 
 

What the authors are saying...

  • One day this will make you proud.

    So I was very perseptive last night. Whatever that means.. I was thinking about when I was little, I wouldnt let any part of my body go over the edge of my bed, like my feet or arms or whatever. Because if I did, the monsters under my bed would reach up and grab me and pull me under. And Ive been thinking, theres a lot of things in our lives that we...
    Posted to Killer Kali. (Weblog) by kalim on 07-03-2008
  • the story of ash

    Today was one of those good days that is just good. And I have too much in my head to write it all down, too many possibilities for posts. So instead of boring you with the details of my day (meeting, lunch, work), I’ve decided I’m just going to start my series of posts about my closest friends. And I’ll start with the post about Ash, because, if for...
    Posted to Anti-Cinderella, Pro-Belle (Weblog) by jordynt on 07-03-2008
  • gmail: "Plan a summer reading list!"

    Thanks, GMail. Got one. It includes my entire collection of Redwall books (2.25 down; 12.75 to go. I don't own the latest four, and I haven't read any of them since 2003. Been long enough!), The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Summer Common Reading book for K), and, um. Everything else in my path. It's summertime! I've...
    Posted to gmail is a tricksy thing (Weblog) by saskiab on 07-02-2008
  • no vote

    So I get home from work, have a short argument with my sister over the air conditioner, put some ice cream in the freezer, and turn my computer on and go to the MSN homepage (wait - is that one word or two??) where this is one of their big stories: and then it takes me like three times reading it for it to click, for me to connect the story about Jehovah...
    Posted to Anti-Cinderella, Pro-Belle (Weblog) by jordynt on 06-29-2008
  • Still attempting to be poetic

    Through Kinks My lips lightly pressing swelling clouds Soothing drums like rain drops my eyelids shut Sometimes I never want to open them Emotions, moods, transition like fabric sheets Unfolded, Tossing, turning but finely threaded still Warm Skin, Wet Skin, Rigid, resilient, rough… Vivid breaths, colors, sounds, thoughts, - Consume every stone mile...
    Posted to saml (Weblog) by saml on 06-29-2008

See for yourself, meet the authors...

Catch Red the Book: the Tour! Up next: New York

Did someone’s essay in Red particularly speak to you? Speak to its author, right here, right now!

“I just hope people don’t feel like this for the rest of their lives.”
Sam Lewin

“Someone once said that I should kill myself I’m so fat. Not to my face, no, but they meant for me to hear it.”
Amy Hunt