Summary: Howard Jeeter, the main character, is a fifth grade boy. He with his mom, dad and baby brother Gaylord, move from Arizona to Rosemount, Massachusetts for his father's job. His parents are thrilled about this "new adventure" but Howard isn't. He doesn't want to leave his friends and be the new kid in an unfamiliar school in an unfamiliar place. To make matters worse, Molly Vera Thompson, his 6-year-old babbling neighbor, cannot get enough of him. She has proclaimed herself his best friend. While Howard is desperate for a friend, he was hoping to find friends that are more like him. The story follows Howard as he adjusts to life in Massachusetts and learns that just because someone is different than you doesn't mean you cannot be friends.
Minor Characters: There are several minor characters in this book. First there is Howard’s mother. There is also Howard’s dad. His dad tries giving him advice about making friends at his new school. He kind of acts old-fashioned and geeky when he gives Howard advice. He uses the term: “Hey, fellas” which Howard doesn’t like because he feels that it sounds "old-fashioned". Howard’s friends are also important in this book even though they are minor characters. Pete Jones is one of them. Howard meets Pete at school. Pete teaches Howard that it is okay to be yourself. For example, Howard wasn’t being himself when he passed Madeline with Ollie. He knew that this was mean but wanted to stay friends with Ollie. On the other hand, Pete calls the boys “jerks” and stands up for what he believes in. Another friend of Howard’s is Thornberry. Thornberry still lives in Arizona. Thornberry is very special to Howard because he isn’t scared and embarrassed to share his emotions. At the end of the book, Howard writes an “it's-the-truth” letter to Thornberry telling him everything about his new life because he had been embarassed to tell him what his new life was like.
Setting: The setting is very important in this novel because Howard moves from Arizona to a new house cross-country in Massachusetts. Most of the novel has to do with Howard gradually adjusting to his new school and town. The setting of this novel is on Chester Pewe Street in Massachusetts in the late 1980s. The reader can tell this because the author makes references to Rambo and “The Simpsons”.
Point of View: This novel is told from the first-person-point-of-view, with Howard as our narrator. This allows the reader to get a better feeling of Howard’s overactive imagination. A lot of his thoughts are funny and they add to the enjoyment of the book.
Theme: The theme of The Kid in the Red Jacket is that even if someone is a different gender from you, you can still play with them. Howard thought that playing with Molly wasn’t good because she was younger and a girl, but Molly thought differently and saw Howard for the person he was, not his gender.
Biographical Aspects: Reading this book you get biographical clues about Barbara Park through Howard. Like Howard, Barbara experienced packing up her life, moving cross country and starting over somewhere new.
My Response: I really enjoyed this book! Howard's sarcastic humor is great and kept me chuckling. I also like this book because I believe it would be a great book to read aloud to a class in the beginning of the year because it has underlying themes of accepting differences and befriending all. I can relate to this book because I was the "new kid" in second grade when I transferred from private school to public school. I remember feeling like Howard; alone and awkward. Barbara really hit home for me with this one.