Three runaway American teens meet up by chance out West and go on the road in a borrowed car, each on their own quest. LaRoux is trying to get to Austin to the Break-Out Blues Festival, Chas is running from a tragedy back home in Maryland, and Ramie is looking for Redfeather, his Apache father he never knew. It ain't Jack Kerouac's road trip! fiction/Ya/coming-of-age/road trip
Now an audiobook read by Aaron Landon!
Professional Reviews
captures all of the emotion and uncertainty of being a teenager, delivered through the practiced and nonjudgmental eye of an experienced writer -- Foreword Reviews
Looking for Redfeather by Linda Collison captures all of the emotion and uncertainty of
being a teenager, delivered through the practiced and nonjudgmental eye of an
experienced writer.
It’s hard to imagine the road trip’s classic sense of isolation and exploration translating
to the twenty-first century, with people (and especially teens) linked to each other through
smartphones, and the sense of mystery somewhat diminished by the ready availability of
Wikipedia and GPS directions. But Linda Collison has incorporated these elements into
Looking for Redfeather, creating a story that rings true for the times and keeps the essential
feeling of travel and self-exploration intact.
Collison has the wide range of experiences and careers that often make for a good
novelist, having worked as a registered nurse and skydiving instructor, among other
occupations. Her prior publications range from a guide to Colorado wineries to two nautical
adventure books. In Looking for Redfeather, she introduces three teens: Chas, a young man from
Baltimore fleeing the reality of his mother’s impending death; LaRoux (née Faith Appleby), a
girl out to make a name for herself as a singer and performer; and Ramie Redfeather, a half-
Apache man-child who embarks on a search for the father he’s never known. The three meet and
band together, searching for Ramie’s father, traveling in Chas’s grandmother’s classic Cadillac,
and learning much about themselves.
The book captures all of the emotion and uncertainty of being a teenager, delivered
through the practiced and nonjudgmental eye of an experienced writer. Collison shows us the
world as seen by teens—filtered through music and in constant threat of overwhelming us by its
magnitude: “Audioslave’s music filled his head, and the words to the song ‘Show Me How to
Live’ brought tears to his eyes. The night was black, and the stars were bigger than he had ever
seen, and there were more of them. It seemed a foreign sky—the night had such depth to it, like
he was looking into infinity. He was in danger of falling into the sky.”
There are many references to books, music, movies, and television shows. This aspect of
the characters’ vocabularies works well not only to convey the teens’ perceptions, but also to
portray the unceasing adolescent search for models and heroes, for a “scene” to fit into, and
ultimately for identity.
The writing is unsparing but honest, with several depictions of drug and alcohol use.
Looking for Redfeather is the kind of novel parents might be unwilling to recommend to
younger or immature teens, but readers who can handle the unflinching details may judge it one
of those seminal books that, by giving a wider view of the world, helps to safely deliver teens to
adulthood.
An engaging, well told, often lyrical narrative that never falters. -- Literary Book Review
Some teens are just unmanageable – getting crazy ideas and making questionable, if not bad, decisions because they think they’re invincible and can do anything – right? Linda Collison’s young adult novel about three such teens gives us a brilliant look at what goes on in the world inside their heads as they deal with the world around them. Young readers will instantly relate to these characters and adult readers will be, or should be, enlightened. But these three aren’t kids just off to do mischief, they’re children on the cusp of adulthood struggling to put together a winning hand from the cards dealt to them by adults.
Ramie Redfeather, 15, leaves a note at home for his single mom while she’s at work and takes off hitchhiking from Cheyenne to Denver in search of the father he’s never met, and maybe to dodge a court appearance. In Baltimore, Chas Sweeny, 17, “borrows” his grandmother’s car for a chance to see the world, but really to escape dealing with a tragic situation at home. Faith Appleby, who possesses a mild learning disability, and whose parents think she’s with a friend counseling at a Bible camp, changes her name to Mae B. LaRoux and takes a wrong bus out of Baton Rouge on her way to sing in a blues music competition in Austin.
Collison is so adept at building characters by showing the reader who they are that by the time the three teens serendipitously meet up the reader already knows the family they’ve left behind and cares about where they end up. (Writers who struggle with the “show, don’t tell” concept could use this book as a master class.) The affable and talkative Chas offers to drive Ramie and Mae B. where they need to go, via the road trip of his dreams. He periodically calls his grandmother to say he’s out looking at colleges in order to keep her from reporting the car stolen and having him picked up. So, with clear sailing ahead and no firm plan other than to find Redfeather and get Mae B. to Austin in time for the competition, the adventure unfolds through several states. And, of course, nothing goes as expected.
Looking for Redfeather is an engaging, well told, often lyrically-written story that keeps moving and never falters. Collison reveals the depth of her characters by deftly weaving minor successes and major disappointments into this road trip of self discovery and acceptance. And, in the end, the pain that set each of the trio on the road sends the two boys back toward home and leaves Mae B. at the Austin Music Festival. And along the way, maybe they find Redfeather.
Verdict: An engaging, well told, often lyrical narrative that never falters.
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