1. Bibliography Woods, Brenda. 2002. The Red Rose Box. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-399-23702-X.
2. Plot Summary
On her tenth birthday Leah Hopper receives a gift from her glamorous Aunt Olivia. Although she has never met her aunt, due to a falling out between Leah's mother and her Aunt Olivia before Leah was born, the gift, a beautiful traveling case covered with red roses, inspires a reconciliation. Leah, her sister Ruth, their mother and their grandmother travel from rural Louisiana to suburban California for a visit that will change Leah and Ruth's view of the world forever. In California there are no Jim Crow laws; no drinking from separate water fountains, no eating at separate restaurants, no sitting at the back of the bus. Leah wonders why anyone would choose to live in Louisiana when they could live in California and feel free. Leah wishes she never had to return to Louisiana, segregation, and the blatant racism that exists in the south. When tragedy strikes and her wish comes true; she learns too late that you should always be careful what you wish for.
3. Critical Analysis (Including Cultural Markers)
Leah and Ruth's story opens in rural Louisiana during the 1950s when southern states used the Jim Crow laws to enforce segregation, perpetuate racism, and prevent African-Americans from achieving equality with whites. Careful to follow the rules aimed at maintaining the separation of the cultures; the girls' fear of accidentally crossing the line that keeps them in their place is palpable. In one telling encounter Leah and Ruth are walking with two young African-American boys, neighborhood friends and classmates Nathan and Micah, when two white men in a pickup truck drive past them; then stop and back up. The men call the children the "N" word and dare them to respond. "Nathan and Micah cowered, hunching their shoulders, the way colored boys had to when this kind of danger came around. Ruth and I looked straight down into the dust and we all kept walking. Fear walked with us. The man behind the wheel spat on the ground, laughed, and drove on...Micah stood up straight and whispered, "I woulda said somethin....Iwoulda but I don't wanna wind up hangin from no tree, burned to a crisp" (Woods, 21) The difference in the way of life when they arrive in California is eye-opening for Leah. "We drove past a movie theater but there was no colored entrance, and we passed shops and restaurants, where there were no Whites Only signs. I started to think about the word freedom" (Woods, 27).
Cultural markers are also evident in the descriptions and speech of the characters who, with a few exceptions, are African-American. Leah describes her Aunt Olivia as "the color of sweet praline (with) dark brown hair, pressed and perfect" (Woods, 27). Aunt Olivia's husband, Bill Chapel, remarks often and with pride about how nice it is to have "a house fulla beautiful colored women-folk" (Woods, 33). And though one has lived in Louisiana all her life under the thumb of Jim Crow and one has escaped to California and a life free from the harshest racism, both Leah and Ruth's mother and their Aunt Olivia are concerned that the girls use proper grammer, watch their manners, and keep their hair neat and pressed. The adults instill in the girls the importance of education and self-respect.
Food also plays an important part in Woods' description of life in an African-American family. Mealtimes include "collard greens, corn bread, every kind of gravy, red beans and rice, fried cabbage, catfish, bread pudding, oxtail soup, black-eyed peas and neck bones, grits, okra gumbo," (Woods, 36) and when money is tight; the occasional possum.
Leah and Ruth's story is a universal story of tragedy and triumph. The story of underdogs with the deck stacked against them who persevere against a system designed to make them fail. And through it all they maintain their culture and identity
4. Review Excerpts
Publishers Weekly: "Woods's moving first novel opens in sleepy Sulphur, La., in June 1953, when Leah receives a 10th birthday present from her estranged aunt in Los Angeles: a traveling case covered with red roses. The gift holds treasures the likes of which Leah has never seen: costume jewelry, a pink silk bed jacket ("like what rich white women wears b'fore bed at night," her grandmother tells Leah and her sister), pink satin slippers, nail polish, lipstick. A letter of apology from Leah's aunt to Leah's mother occasions a visit to L.A. with her mother, grandmother and younger sister, and Leah revels in the luxuries of her aunt's privileged world, a stark contrast to the subsistent lifestyle the child knows. Exposure to the freedom from segregation that exists south of the Mason-Dixon line also makes a dramatic impression on the heroine. Though the repetition of similar reflections occasionally slackens the pace of Woods's narrative, she creates some memorable characters, especially Leah, and probes historical events in a personal context that may open many readers' eyes. Ages 10-up."
School Library Journal: "Grade 4-6-Leah Hopper and her younger sister, Ruth, live in segregated rural Louisiana in the early 1950s. For her 10th birthday, the older girl receives a traveling case-a "red rose box"-from her mother's wealthy sister. Among other treasures, it contains train tickets for a family visit in Los Angeles. A long-lasting rift between Aunt Olivia and the children's mother is finally mended during the reunion. In L.A. there is no sign of the racial prejudice that the Hoppers are so accustomed to as a black family in the South, and the girls reluctantly return home. This is a bittersweet story with good descriptions of settings; a skillful use of figurative language; and well-realized, believable characters. Ruth is the embodiment of a sassy eight-year-old and the adults are genuine, loving, and supportive."
5. Connections
Reader's Advisory suggestions for those who enjoyed The Red Rose Box:
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Francie by Karen English
Heaven by Angela Johnson
3. Critical Analysis (Including Cultural Markers)
Leah and Ruth's story opens in rural Louisiana during the 1950s when southern states used the Jim Crow laws to enforce segregation, perpetuate racism, and prevent African-Americans from achieving equality with whites. Careful to follow the rules aimed at maintaining the separation of the cultures; the girls' fear of accidentally crossing the line that keeps them in their place is palpable. In one telling encounter Leah and Ruth are walking with two young African-American boys, neighborhood friends and classmates Nathan and Micah, when two white men in a pickup truck drive past them; then stop and back up. The men call the children the "N" word and dare them to respond. "Nathan and Micah cowered, hunching their shoulders, the way colored boys had to when this kind of danger came around. Ruth and I looked straight down into the dust and we all kept walking. Fear walked with us. The man behind the wheel spat on the ground, laughed, and drove on...Micah stood up straight and whispered, "I woulda said somethin....Iwoulda but I don't wanna wind up hangin from no tree, burned to a crisp" (Woods, 21) The difference in the way of life when they arrive in California is eye-opening for Leah. "We drove past a movie theater but there was no colored entrance, and we passed shops and restaurants, where there were no Whites Only signs. I started to think about the word freedom" (Woods, 27).
Cultural markers are also evident in the descriptions and speech of the characters who, with a few exceptions, are African-American. Leah describes her Aunt Olivia as "the color of sweet praline (with) dark brown hair, pressed and perfect" (Woods, 27). Aunt Olivia's husband, Bill Chapel, remarks often and with pride about how nice it is to have "a house fulla beautiful colored women-folk" (Woods, 33). And though one has lived in Louisiana all her life under the thumb of Jim Crow and one has escaped to California and a life free from the harshest racism, both Leah and Ruth's mother and their Aunt Olivia are concerned that the girls use proper grammer, watch their manners, and keep their hair neat and pressed. The adults instill in the girls the importance of education and self-respect.
Food also plays an important part in Woods' description of life in an African-American family. Mealtimes include "collard greens, corn bread, every kind of gravy, red beans and rice, fried cabbage, catfish, bread pudding, oxtail soup, black-eyed peas and neck bones, grits, okra gumbo," (Woods, 36) and when money is tight; the occasional possum.
Leah and Ruth's story is a universal story of tragedy and triumph. The story of underdogs with the deck stacked against them who persevere against a system designed to make them fail. And through it all they maintain their culture and identity
4. Review Excerpts
Publishers Weekly: "Woods's moving first novel opens in sleepy Sulphur, La., in June 1953, when Leah receives a 10th birthday present from her estranged aunt in Los Angeles: a traveling case covered with red roses. The gift holds treasures the likes of which Leah has never seen: costume jewelry, a pink silk bed jacket ("like what rich white women wears b'fore bed at night," her grandmother tells Leah and her sister), pink satin slippers, nail polish, lipstick. A letter of apology from Leah's aunt to Leah's mother occasions a visit to L.A. with her mother, grandmother and younger sister, and Leah revels in the luxuries of her aunt's privileged world, a stark contrast to the subsistent lifestyle the child knows. Exposure to the freedom from segregation that exists south of the Mason-Dixon line also makes a dramatic impression on the heroine. Though the repetition of similar reflections occasionally slackens the pace of Woods's narrative, she creates some memorable characters, especially Leah, and probes historical events in a personal context that may open many readers' eyes. Ages 10-up."
School Library Journal: "Grade 4-6-Leah Hopper and her younger sister, Ruth, live in segregated rural Louisiana in the early 1950s. For her 10th birthday, the older girl receives a traveling case-a "red rose box"-from her mother's wealthy sister. Among other treasures, it contains train tickets for a family visit in Los Angeles. A long-lasting rift between Aunt Olivia and the children's mother is finally mended during the reunion. In L.A. there is no sign of the racial prejudice that the Hoppers are so accustomed to as a black family in the South, and the girls reluctantly return home. This is a bittersweet story with good descriptions of settings; a skillful use of figurative language; and well-realized, believable characters. Ruth is the embodiment of a sassy eight-year-old and the adults are genuine, loving, and supportive."
5. Connections
Reader's Advisory suggestions for those who enjoyed The Red Rose Box:
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Francie by Karen English
Heaven by Angela Johnson
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