Red Menace

by Lois Ruby

Overview

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.




Marty just wants everything to go back to normal, but that's impossible thanks to the rumors that his parents are traitors. As his friends and teammates turn on him and federal agents track his every move, Marty isn't sure what to believe. Is his family really part of a Red Menace working against the United States? And even if they're simply patriotic Americans who refuse to be bullied by the government, what will it cost them?




As the countdown to the Rosenbergs' execution date continues, it may be up to Marty to make sure his family survives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541557499
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/04/2020
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	774,751
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	790L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Lois Ruby is a former librarian and the author of 20 books for young readers. She divides her time among family, community social action, research, writing, and visiting schools to energize young people about the ideas in books and the joys of reading. Lois lives in Albuquerque and shares her life with her psychologist husband, Dr. Tom Ruby, as well as their three sons and daughters-in-law and seven amazing grandchildren, who are scattered around the country.

Editorial Reviews

"Marty tries to overcome his fears by withdrawing into his love for the Yankees, listening to the games, quoting statistics, and writing memos, never sent, to his hero, Mickey Mantle. And there is much to fear in 1953 during the months leading up to the imminent execution of accused spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Marty's professor parents have refused to sign loyalty oaths and are suspected of being Communists planning to overthrow the government. The FBI watches day and night, their mail and trash are searched, and their home is bugged. His friend Amy Lynn is in the same situation. Could they lose their parents like the Rosenberg children? Friends turn away, Marty is thrown off his baseball team, his friend Connor's father forces them apart, and his mom and Amy Lynn's dad are suspended and later fired from their positions. The FBI threatens his mom with deportation, claiming she isn't a citizen. She is able to provide evidence to the contrary and is dismissed from the hearings, but the Rosenbergs can't be saved. Speaking through Marty's parents, Ruby demonstrates the escalating terrors endured by people caught up in the destructive McCarthy era, stopping just short of a dispiriting harangue. Marty is thoroughly endearing; he is resourceful, knows his weaknesses, endearingly dislikes studying for his bar mitzvah, and is a kind, caring friend. He narrates his own story, careening among fear, anger, bewilderment, and hope. Readers will root for the protagonist as hard as he roots for his Yankees."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

02/01/2020

Gr 5–7—Lois Ruby's latest novel takes the reader back to a contentious period in American history and politics from a kid's point of view. It is 1953 and 13-year-old Marty Rafner is the only child of two college professors loosely linked to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The Rosenbergs, of course, have been tried and found guilty of spying for the Russians and will be executed in June 1953. The whole novel serves as a countdown for the last two months of the Rosenbergs' life, while Marty's own family is thrown into turmoil due to his mother's stubborn refusal to sign an oath of allegiance at the local college where she and Marty's dad both teach. Intriguing side characters include the FBI agents staked out across the street and a quiet neighbor suffering from PTSD after being discharged from the Marines during the Korean War. Readers will feel the frustration of the accused in the 1950s when a hearing is held to determine if Marty's mother is a communist sympathizer. Marty has a sharp, snarky voice and an aversion to adult drama that will appeal to middle grade readers, and the G-men certainly provide some amusing tension to the story. However, students may need a quick lesson on the Rosenbergs and why they were important enough to enrage and divide the entire United States during the Cold War. VERDICT A sound addition to any library seeking middle grade historical fiction.—Kim Gardner, Fort Worth Country Day School, TX

School Library Journal

2019-10-23
Marty tries to overcome his fears by withdrawing into his love for the Yankees, listening to the games, quoting statistics, and writing memos, never sent, to his hero, Mickey Mantle.

And there is much to fear in 1953 during the months leading up to the imminent execution of accused spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Marty's professor parents have refused to sign loyalty oaths and are suspected of being Communists planning to overthrow the government. The FBI watches day and night, their mail and trash are searched, and their home is bugged. His friend Amy Lynn is in the same situation. Could they lose their parents like the Rosenberg children? Friends turn away, Marty is thrown off his baseball team, his friend Connor's father forces them apart, and his mom and Amy Lynn's dad are suspended and later fired from their positions. The FBI threatens his mom with deportation, claiming she isn't a citizen. She is able to provide evidence to the contrary and is dismissed from the hearings, but the Rosenbergs can't be saved. Speaking through Marty's parents, Ruby demonstrates the escalating terrors endured by people caught up in the destructive McCarthy era, stopping just short of a dispiriting harangue. Marty is thoroughly endearing; he is resourceful, knows his weaknesses, endearingly dislikes studying for his bar mitzvah, and is a kind, caring friend. He narrates his own story, careening among fear, anger, bewilderment, and hope.

Readers will root for the protagonist as hard as he roots for his Yankees. (author's note, acknowledgements, topics for discussion) (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews

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