Red, White, and Whole, written by Rajani LaRocca; Quill Tree, 2021.

Rajani LaRocca calls this #ownvoices novel-in-verse “the novel of my heart,” and it’s sure to touch the hearts of readers. Thirteen year-old Reha endeavors to manage her two worlds: a warm and loving home, but one that is not fully assimilated to life in America; and school, where possibilities—exciting, inviting, and perplexing—beckon. The story of how Reha comes to realize, cope with a devastating personal loss, and ultimately grow, is at once heart wrenching and hopeful.

Why this Book? Why will it matter to kids?

Readers meet Reha, a bright, introspective, serious thirteen year-old Indian-American girl wrestling with growing pains common to early teens of any generation. Reha grapples with the intersection of the nurturing care of her parents and extended cultural community, and the more American ways of her schoolmates. Add to that, growing interest in a boy, struggles with her parents over her desire for more independence, and Reha’s eventual loss of her mother to a devastating disease, and you have a moving, thought-provoking, and ultimately hopeful middle-grade novel.

Levels and Layers of Learning

Grade level: Grades 5-8

Social-Emotional Learning Themes
Acceptance, compassion, concern, connection, courage, creativity, dedication, diligence, effort, empathy, empowerment, encouragement, fortitude, friendship, generosity of spirit, gratitude, helpfulness, honor, hope, humility, inspiration, integrity, justice, kindness, loyalty, perseverance, persistence, perspective, resilience, respect, resourcefulness, self-assurance, self-awareness, self-reliance, tenacity, trustworthiness, understanding

Content Area Connections
English Language Arts, Cultural Studies, Science

Using This Book in the Classroom

Hit the Ground Running
Ready Resources for Educators, Homeschoolers, and Parents

Educator’s Guide for Red, White, and Whole

Red, White, and Whole-Inspired Playlist:

Spotify

YouTube (music videos)

Write Away!
Ideas to prompt writing

Music plays an integral part in Red, White, and Whole. In “Pop Music” (pp.46-47) Reha reflects, “Pop music connects us– / all my friends, / everyone I know / Indian and not.” Write about a personal experience with music that connects you with friends.

In “Always Something There to Remind Me” (pp.87-88) Reha enjoys sharing a favorite popular song while driving in the car with Amma. She learns that her father has decided to allow her to go to a dance, despite her mother’s wishes to the contrary. Reha is torn between being happy that she can attend the dance, and her parents’ disagreement about allowing her to do so. The final verse reads: “A mother gives you life, / nourishes you, / protects you, / helps you when you’re hurt. / But sometimes / it feels like too much.”  Write a personal response to what Reha is feeling.

In “Smart” (pp. 81) Pete and Reha discuss what makes a hero. In “Hero” (177-178) they return to the topic as they talk about her upcoming test to see if she is a match for a bone marrow transplant for her mother, and her anxiety about the blood draw. They decide, “A hero is brave, but not without fear. / Says what they believe is right. / Works to make the world better. / Acts out of love for others.” Pete tells Reha, “…you’re trying. / That’s the first step to being a hero.” Write a personal response to Reha and Pete’s definition of a hero. What would you add to their list of a hero’s qualities?

LaRocca says, “Imagery and verse can help emotions come to life on a page.” Find a poem in Red, White, and Whole that you feel reflects this statement. Explain.

LaRocca believes, that “although we can feel conflicted about different parts of our lives and different aspects of our personalities, we can still be whole people—not just despite these things that we struggle with, but because of them.” Do you agree with this statement? Explain.

In her dedication, Rajani LaRocca writes:

For my parents, Chakravarthy and Kasturi Narasimhan,

who raised me in a new country with love and resilience

and gave me a future as open as the sky.

What insight does the dedication give to you as the reader of Red, White, and Whole?

Poetry Break
Related poetry to recite before or following the reading of this book

Poetry breaks fit perfectly into brief moments in the day—from opening or closing the day to lining up for lunch; from zipping up backpacks to transitioning from one subject to the next. Reading a poem typically takes less than a minute, yet it can introduce or reinforce a concept, celebrate language, exemplify rhythm, enhance vocabulary, expand understanding, increase attention span, initiate reflection, or summon a giggle. And, poetry soothes the spirit.

Reading novels-in-verse naturally leads to further exploration of poetry as an expressive art form. The following books offer methods, activities, models, and insight into teaching poetry in its many forms to middle graders.

• Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School by Georgia Heard
• For the Good of the Earth and Sun: Teaching Poetry by Georgia Heard
• How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson
• Immersed in Verse: An Informative, Slightly Irreverent & Totally Tremendous Guide to Living the Poet’s Life by Allan Wolf
• Opening a Door: Reading Poetry in the Middle School Classroom by Paul B. Janeczko
• Pass the Poetry, Please! 3rd Edition by Lee Bennett Hopkins
• Poems Are Teachers: How Studying Poetry Strengthens Writing in All Genres by Amy VanDerwater
• Poems Please: Second Edition by Bill Moore and David Booth
• Poetry from A to Z: A Guide for Young Writers compiled by Paul B. Janeczko
• Poetry Friday Anthologies published by Pomelo Books
• Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out by Ralph Fletcher
• Starting with Little Things by Ingrid Wendt
• What is Poetry? The Essential Guide to Reading & Writing Poems by Michael Rosen
• Wishes, Lies and Dreams: Teaching Children to Write Poetry by Kenneth Koch

Poetry collections

• A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms selected by Paul B. Janeczko, illustrated by Chris Raschka
• Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth, illustrated by Ekua Holmes

See also:

National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman’s November 2018 TED Talk on poetry

National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman’s recitation of “The Hill We Climb” at the 2021 US Presidential Inauguration of Joe Biden

“Five More Poems from Amanda Gorman to Share with Your Kids” 

And Then There’s This…
Enrichment activities, related books, online resources, craft projects, and ideas for further study

Additional Notable Novels-in-Verse for Grades 5-8

• All of Me by Chris Baron
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (Newbery Honor, National Book Award, Coretta Scott King Award) See also Before the Ever After; Locomotion.
• Catching a Story Fish by Janice N. Harrington
• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Honor) See also Booked; Rebound.
• The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary by Laura Shovan
• Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (Newbery Honor, Printz Honor, Coretta Scott King Honor, Walter Dean Myers Award)
• Love That Dog by Sharon Creech See also Hate That Cat.
• Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga (Newbery Honor)
• Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (Newbery Medal)
• Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai (Newbery Honor, National Book Award)
• Shakespeare Bats Cleanup; Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs by Ron Koertge
• Words with Wings by Nikki Grimes (Coretta Scott King Award) See also Garvey’s Choice. 

Meet the Author

Rajani LaRocca (RUHJ-uh-nee La-ROCK-ah) was born in India, raised in Kentucky, and now lives in the Boston area, where she practices medicine and writes books for young people. Her middle grade debut, Midsummer’s Mayhem (Yellow Jacket/Little Bee Books, 2019), was an Indies Introduce selection, an Indie Next pick, a Kirkus Best Middle Grade Book of 2019, and a 2020 Massachusetts Book Award Honor title. Her debut picture book, Seven Golden Rings: A Tale of Music and Math (Lee & Low Books, 2020) earned starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly. Set in ancient India, it involves a math puzzle and an explanation of binary numbers. Rajani’s middle grade novel-in-verse, Red, White, and Whole (Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins, 2/2021) involves heritage and fitting in, science and poetry, Hindu mythology and 80s pop music, holding on and letting go. It’s earned starred reviews from Booklist and BookPage and is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Learn about her other books on her website.

Backstory: Q & A with Rajani LaRocca

Since Rajani burst onto the children’s book scene, her books have garnered a bushel full of rave reviews. She generously gave of her time to respond to a few questions about Red, White, and Whole and her writing career.

Judy Bradbury: How did you come to write Red, White, and Whole? What kernel seeded its creation?

Rajani LaRocca: Red, White, and Whole began as a metaphor. I thought of the idea of blood and all that it means in terms of biology, heredity, and culture, and the story began to take shape from there. The line, “What happens when your own blood betrays you?” came to me, and I wanted it to have two meanings in the story.

JB: How/why did you decide to write this novel in verse?

RL: As a story about immigration, assimilation, and dealing with a parent’s serious illness, I knew this story would involve a lot of emotion and interiority, so verse felt like the perfect way to write it.

Music has always been very important to me, and I’ve always thought of song lyrics as poetry set to music. So it also made sense to write this novel, where pop music plays such a central role, in verse.

I’d never written a novel in verse, though, so I read every one I could get my hands on in preparation to write.

In February 2019, I went to the NY SCBWI conference, where I had registered for a verse novel workshop with Elizabeth Acevedo. She was so down to earth and led a fantastic session in which we learned a ton and did a writing exercise. One of the lines I wrote during that exercise made it into the final novel! And a year later, we sold Red, White, and Whole to the same imprint that publishes Elizabeth’s novels!

JB: Tell about one hurdle you experienced in the creation of Red, White, and Whole or provide a memorable (or humorous!) anecdote related to the making of this book.

RL: I had the idea for Red, White, and Whole, but I was committed to writing another novel first, and I had to turn that in before I was “free” to write this story. So for about six months, Red, White, and Whole was my “Friday night date” that I got to think about (and maybe write a few words here and there) once a week as a special treat. I turned in my other novel in December, and wrote the bulk of Red, White, and Whole in 6 weeks!

JB: At the heart of Red, White, and Whole is Reha’s struggle to ease her lack of connection between her home life and her friendships/school life. When she learns her mother is seriously ill, that adds another dimension to her desire for her own sense of identity. How do you see this struggle as both universal and yet distinct?

RL: All of us feel torn between different worlds at some point in our lives. The tension between wanting to fit in and wanting to be unique is universal—especially during adolescence. So I think Reha’s journey will resonate with many readers, even those who are not the children of immigrants or confronted with a parent’s illness.

JB: What did you learn from creating Red, White, and Whole?

RL: I learned to trust my instincts as a writer—that’s it’s OK to pour myself into an ambitious project. I learned that digging deep and putting my heart on the page means that readers will connect to the story as well. I also learned that months of thinking about a story without writing much can really pay off.

JB: What would surprise readers to learn about you or about the creation of Red, White, and Whole?

RL: Like Reha, I was 13 in 1983. Like Reha, I knew I wanted to be a doctor from an early age. Like Reha, I sometimes felt torn between my immigrant community and the world I lived in at school. Like Reha, I dealt with my mother’s illness as a teen. But Red, White, and Whole isn’t a memoir, and Reha’s life is different from my own. I crafted this novel so that even though the circumstances are different, the emotions are true.

JB: What do you hope readers will take away from Red, White, and Whole?

RL: I hope readers will enjoy reading about family and friendship, food and music, and how they all converge in Reha’s life. I hope they will think about how imagery and verse can help emotions come to life on a page. I hope they will understand, like Reha, that although we can feel conflicted about different parts of our lives and different aspects of our personalities, we can still be whole people—not just despite these things that we struggle with, but because of them. And I hope they recognize that those who love us understand us better then we may think, and that ultimately, we each decide for ourselves where we belong and how we belong.

JB: How do you see Red, White, and Whole connecting to curriculum?

RL: I think that Red, White, and Whole can be used to illustrate the power of poetry, to consider how verse can tell a story using very few words, and to practice using imagery and metaphors in writing poetry and prose.

JB: What is one question you wish I had asked, and what is your answer?

RL: What it my favorite song from 1983?

Answer: “Always Something There to Remind Me” by Naked Eyes. But the song that best encapsulates the message of Red, White, and Whole? “We Belong” by Pat Benatar.

JB: What’s up next for you?

RL: I have four other books coming in 2021!

My next picture book, Bracelets for Bina’s Brothers, beautifully illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat, will release on April 20! Part of Charlesbridge’s Storytelling Math series, it involves a little girl named Bina who wants to make special bracelets for her three older brothers for the Indian holiday Raksha Bandhan.

My next middle grade novel, Much Ado About Baseball, releases June 15 from Yellow Jacket/Little Bee Books! A companion novel to my MG debut, Midsummer’s Mayhem, it’s a dual point of view story about a girl and a boy, math competition rivals who find themselves on the same summer baseball team. It involves math, baseball, savory snacks, and magic.

My nonfiction picture book, The Secret Code Inside You, is an introduction to DNA, but also touches on the limits of genes, and how our choices also determine who we are. It’s illustrated by Steven Salerno and will release on September 14 from Little Bee Books.

And another picture book, Where Three Oceans Meet, is coming in 2021 from Abrams. It’s the story of a girl who takes a trip with her mother and grandmother to the very tip of India. It’s about the love and strength that mothers and daughter share across distance and time.

About the Illustrator

Red, White, and Whole jacket art was created by  Vrinda Zaveri and the book designer is Erin Fitzsimmons.

Over to You…

Join the conversation! Offer your thoughts on the featured question related to this month’s post in the comments section below. You are also welcome to post a general comment related to this month’s book.

What recently published middle-grade novel-in-verse do you recommend? 

Thanks for sharing!

News & Updates

In two months my CAYUGA ISLAND KIDS chapter book series debuts!! Intended for ages 7-9/ Grades 1-3, Book 1: The Mystery of the Barking Branches and the Sunken Ship, centers on one of the most intriguing mysteries of the Great Lakes: the sinking of the Griffon in 1679. This fiction story about five contemporary kids offers mystery, history, humor, practical age-appropriate research skills, and SEL themes. PRE-ORDER to receive a signed copy of the book and exclusive activities!

Educators! Limited digital ARCs are available to educators interested in reviewing CAYUGA ISLAND KIDS Book 1, The Mystery of the Barking Branches and the Sunken Ship. An extensive Educator Guide featuring cross-curricular activities aligned to CCSS will be available. Contact me for more information.

Update to “Recommended Books Featuring Differently-abled Characters” listed in last month’s blog post:

Middle grade novel My Name Is Layla has released. Says author Reyna Gentin: “The novel addresses issues young people face regarding relationships, loyalty, communication, and learning differences. It is geared to upper middle grade readers and their parents as well as schools, libraries, and any community hoping to inspire inclusion of all children, regardless of the nature of their challenges.” School Library Journal review: “Layla’s struggles at school and home are authentically depicted, and readers who face their own challenges will relate.”

CONGRATULATIONS to Laura Shovan and Saadia Faruqi! A Place at the Table received the Sydney Taylor Book Award 2021 Notable for Middle Grade! Find resources and an interview on my blog here. 

Final Thought