Red Menace
Binding: Hardcover
Age 11+
General Fiction
A suspenseful and heartfelt story about an era whose uncertainties, controversies, and dangers will seem anything but distant to contemporary readers.
If thirteen-year-old Marty Rafner had his way, he'd spend the summer of 1953 warming the bench for his baseball team, listening to Yankees games on the radio, and avoiding preparations for his bar mitzvah. Instead, he has to deal with FBI agents staking out his house because his parents—professors at the local college—are suspected communist sympathizers. Marty knows what happens to communists, or Reds, as his friends call them: They lose their jobs, get deported...or worse. Two people he's actually met, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, have been convicted of being communist spies, and they're slated to be executed in two months.
Creators
Lois Ruby is a former librarian and the author of 20 books for young readers. She lives in Albuquerque with her husband.
Reviews
Red Menace is a compelling and engaging story of a tumultuous and painful time in our history. Through a young boy’s eyes, we are drawn into the experience of a particular family, in that time and place. Marty Rafner is a character with great heart and depth. Lois Ruby accomplishes that rare feat of sparking an interest and enticing the reader on to ask questions, dig deeper, and learn more.
Young readers will find this compelling story sharply relevant in light of the persecution that Muslim and Jewish people especially face today.
Booklist
A sound addition to any library seeking middle grade historical fiction.
School Library Journal
