Whether we've done it for someone, had it done for us, or been aware of a failure to do so, we're all familiar with situations in which needing to be rescued suddenly seems most important. This week, we asked Red Room to blog about rescue--and we've chosen a few blog posts to highlight:

Susan Browne writes that, when she'd finally had enough of her alcoholic father, she "stood up. 'I'm going home now, Dad.' I took his hand and squeezed it. 'Bye.' He didn't say good-bye, but we both knew it was over." Read To The Rescue.

Arabella Grayson writes of a teacher who changed her life. Read Marvelous Marva to the Rescue.

Raissa Falgui writes of a different flood than the one around which our featured novel revolves. Read her account, Escape From Floodwaters.

These three featured bloggers (two of whom had never blogged on Red Room before last week) will receive a copy of the new novel by critically acclaimed and best-selling author Dave Eggers, Zeitoun (McSweeney's 2009), donated by Red Room author G. Willow Wilson. Willow writes movingly this week about what Zeitoun means to her an essay she's written for Red Room called Lifeboats. Thank you to Willow, and thank you to our amazing community of bloggers for sharing their writing with us.

Here are just a few more of the great "Rescue" blog entries:

* Shelley Seale's Rescuing Women From the Pasts That Own Them

* Margie McKinnon's Rescue Blog

* Henriette Lazarus Power's The Steep Side

* Michael Thomas Ford's Thank You Note

* Myrna Shiboleth's The Wet Finger of God, especially if you love animals

There are more fantastic entries than the ones listed here. Read all of the Rescue blog posts.

–Huntington W. Sharp, Editor, Red Room