赤毛証明（読みもの）
Red Hair Certificate
カテゴリー: Japanese Children's Books、おすすめ！日本の子どもの本、読みもの／chapter books and novels
『赤毛証明』（Akage shomei）
中学１年生の堀内めぐは、毎朝、校門で先生に、頭髪を「そめているなら黒髪にもどしてこい」と言われるのが嫌で、頭髪の色が生まれつきであることを証明する「赤毛証明」を発行してもらう。しかし、先生に、証明書を毎朝校門で示すようにと言われ、自分は「ふつう」ではないのかと不安になり、「ふつう」とは何かについて考えるようになる。めぐには、両下肢欠損で車いすバスケをしている１歳年上の紘（ひろ）という幼なじみがいて、彼との会話を通しても「ふつう」について考える。
また、めぐは、紘と紘の親友のマモくん、めぐの親友のさわちゃんをめぐる恋愛事件で感じたことや、自分が親友に嫉妬した気持ちなどを、芥川龍之介の『羅生門』を読み解くことで理解しようとする。
ひとりの少女が理不尽な校則に抗議するまでの過程が、ていねいかつ説得力のある形で描かれている。自らの外見のみでなく、紘の障害や、シングルマザーであるさわちゃんの家庭が描かれていることで、多様な「自分らしさ」が考えられる作品になっている。（土居）
| 出版社 | くもん出版 |
|---|---|
| 初版年 | 2020年 |
| ISBN | 9784774330730 |
| ページ数 | 144頁 |
| サイズ | 20×14 |
| 対象年齢 | 13歳から |
| キーワード | 校則 外見 障害 |
Red Hair Certificate
In Japan, school rules forbid junior high school students from dyeing their hair; everyone’s hair should be black. Meg, however, was born with a natural red tint. The story follows her struggle against the school rules which require her to provide a certificate proving that her hair is naturally red.
Every morning, Meg has to show the teacher at the school gate her certificate. She begins to wonder if she is abnormal and even what the word “normal” means. Her childhood friend Hiro, who is a year older than her, is missing his lower limbs and plays wheelchair basketball. Meg talks with him about what it means to be normal.
Hiro’s friend Mamo likes Sawa, Meg’s friend, but Sawa has a crush on Hiro. In a fit of jealousy, Mamo punctures Hiro’s wheelchair tires. Although Meg is mad at Mamo, she also realizes that she herself envies Sawa. Troubled by these conflicting emotions, Meg tries to understand her dilemma through the famous short story, Rashomon, by the renowned Japanese author Ryunosuke Akutagawa. The protagonist, a lowly servant who has just been fired and is contemplating robbery in order to survive, struggles with his conscience. Meg comes to accept that such moral dilemmas are part of being human and strives to stay true to herself.
This is a convincing and sensitive portrayal of one girl’s struggle against irrational rules. Through Meg, who looks different, Hiro, who lives with a disability, and Sawa, who has been raised by a single mother, the book also explores the diverse possibilities of “being oneself”. (Doi)
- text: Mitsuoka, Mari
- Kumon Shuppan
- 2020
- 144 pages
- 20×14
- ISBN 9784774330730
- Ages 13 +
School rules, Appearance, Disability