Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings

Red Kayak is a heart wrenching story that I absolutely could not put down! I felt a variety of emotions including sadness, compassion, anger, anxiety and at several points I felt my eyes welling up with tears.  The book presents genuine life struggles that everyone can relate to in one way or another.  The heavy material presented in Red Kayak includes lies, deception, death, serious illness, betrayal, financial strife, as well as dealing with the ideas of right and wrong. 
The reader follows Brady through his explanation of events that occurred in the recent past.  Brady blames himself for the loss of three year old, Ben, and upon uncovering the fact that his friends were to blame struggles with keeping his friends secret and doing what he knows deep down is the right thing to do. 
Red Kayak is a must read for upper elementary and junior high students, due to the heavy issues presented in the novel.  Teachers should be prepared to handle questions students may have or emotions that may surface when students relate their own experiences to events in the novel.  This book could be used to elicit emotional responses from students, create a reading circle, or as a pretext to students journaling about their own struggles.