Little Red Riding Hood in Manhattan: A Modern Fairytale
Sarah’s Life in Brooklyn
Little Red Riding Hood in Manhattan is the story of a girl named Sarah who lives with her parents in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother, Vivian Allen, takes care of her family and works at the hospital caring for the elderly, and her father is a plumber. Sarah is 10 years old, very freckled and thin. She loves reading and fantasizing about the stories her grandmother, Rebecca, tells her. Rebecca is a former music-hall singer on Broadway and lives alone in Manhattan.
Weekly Visits to Grandma Rebecca
Every Saturday, Sarah’s mother accompanies her to bring a strawberry cake to her grandmother. During the journey, Sarah dreams of being free and going alone in Manhattan.
The Statue of Liberty Obsession
One day, upon arriving at Grandma’s, she is not there. Sarah is left alone, looking through old letters from her grandmother. When she comes home, they eat the cake together and start talking about the Statue of Liberty, and Sarah becomes obsessed with the statue.
A Family Tragedy and Sarah’s Escape
One day, after a car accident, Sarah’s uncle, her father’s brother, dies, and her parents have to rush to Chicago. Sarah seizes the opportunity and escapes to go to her grandmother’s house alone. During the journey, she gets lost on the subway and feels remorse for having escaped.
Meeting Miss Lunatic
Then she meets Miss Lunatic, an old beggar woman who is always dressed in rags and a broad-brimmed hat that covers her whole head. This woman is highly respected, even by the rich. She has nothing but lacks nothing. She just lives life, and for this, she does not need money because she achieves it by helping others.
An Unexpected Friendship and a Movie Scene
A great friendship is born between Miss Lunatic and Sarah from that day on. While they are sharing their experiences in a bar, a film director who was filming a movie decides to record them because they were going very well for his film. When Miss Lunatic learns of this, she gets angry because the director was filming without permission, violating their privacy, and she leaves the bar.
A Special Coin and a Farewell
After looking at a map to find the way to the Statue of Liberty, Miss Lunatic gives Sarah a very special coin that will help her enter a sewer to get to the statue. Then the woman and the girl say goodbye, and Sarah is left alone in Central Park.
Encounter with Edgar Woolf
In the park, she meets Edgar Woolf, who was taking a walk. Woolf begins to talk to her, and she offers him a piece of cake. He asks her to exchange the cake for the fulfillment of her desire to go in a limousine alone. And both, each in a different limousine, head to Grandma Sarah’s.
A Race to Grandma’s and a Detour
Then E. Woolf asks Peter, Sarah’s driver, to pass him so he can get to Grandma’s house first. But the journey was so long that Sarah fell asleep, and when she wakes up, she asks the driver to take her to Battery Park.
The Sewer and the Statue of Liberty
When they get there, Sarah escapes to go into the sewer and put the coin in the slot that allows her to reach the Statue of Liberty. But Sarah is unlucky, and the driver refuses her passage and takes her to her grandmother’s home.
A Surprise at Grandma’s and True Freedom
Finally, Sarah arrives at Grandma’s house and finds Rebecca dancing with E. Woolf. That’s when she decides to leave without anyone seeing her and experience the freedom of going alone by taxi to the slot of the culvert to help her get to the Statue of Liberty.