All I need is to know something—and I do. And maybe, just maybe, if I do this—and if I can rock it—all the other kids will have their minds blown, and it’ll be completely satisfying to watch. “Who would have guessed,” they’ll say, “that Zoey knew so much cool stuff? I had no idea! I thought I knew who she was, but clearly I didn’t at all.” Maybe Kaylee Vine would even stop holding her nose and switching seats on the bus to get away from me.
The Benefits of Being an Octopus is a treasure of a book — I absolutely loved it! If I could give it six stars, I would! At its core, it is an inspiring story about finding oneself and empowerment. It may be intended for teens and YA, but it will definitely resonate with adults. It’s an amazing debut novel and I cannot wait to read what Ann Braden writes next.
Zoey is a seventh grader who is working on her debate prep. The assigned topic — what is the best animal and why. For Zoey, the answer is the octopus and she knows many reasons why it surpasses all others. In fact, she is very knowledgeable about the eight-legged creature and even identifies with them at times.
Zoey is responsible for looking after her three younger siblings (ranging in age from infant to four years old) and it takes up a lot of her free time. She is not a great student and doesn’t really care about school. She never participates in class and as she explains, she isn’t the kind of kid that does homework.
Besides being unsuccessful at school, Zoey is bullied by her classmates. She doesn’t fit in and doesn’t seem to care. She also feels unappreciated by her mother, who she sees as having markedly changed since they moved in with her boyfriend Lenny. The reader cannot help but feel for Zoey and the challenging circumstances of her life. But one day her life, as well as those around her, will change when her social studies teacher becomes involved.
Likening herself to an octopus is a psychological coping mechanism for Zoey. She clearly suffers from an inferiority complex, among other things, and feeling that she shares some characteristics of an octopus helps guide her and gives her a perceived edge over her classmates. An added bonus for the reader is that we learn some interesting facts about the octopus.
The chromatophores right under my octopus skin switch to camouflage. When I slide into the seat, I might as well be made of the same colors as the desk and the metal chair legs.
It’s like my octopus body has gotten trapped in a net. But there has to be an opening somewhere. If I can just stay calm and avoid getting tangled up …
In fact, identifying with the eight-legged mollusk gives Zoey a sense of confidence, hope and courage when she most needs it. She is able to deal with stressful situations by imagining the advantages she has as an octopus.
I can camouflage myself well enough to blend in with a desk. I just need to camouflage myself enough to blend in with them. I take a deep breath and extend my tentacles.
I can still blend in with the eager beavers. I can still pretend I’m like them. Maybe after long enough, that magic wand of confidence will mistake me for them, and give me a bop on the head, too.
Could I really be like them? I mean, an octopus can change colors ten times in a matter of seconds, so all sorts of ridiculous things are possible.
Ann Braden does a remarkable job capturing the voice and temperament of a seventh grader.
I hate waking them up. It’s like you’ve finally won the lottery of peace and quiet and then you rip that winning ticket to shreds and dump a bucket of angry, screaming monkeys on your head.
Silas has the kind of freckles that make you want to connect the dots to form constellations and dragons and things.
I slip into the stall that has you’re a slut carved on the side. I used to like to look at it sideways and pretend that it says you’re a slug and that it was carved by a cockroach who was just trying to help his slug friend who was having some identity issues.
The Benefits of Being an Octopus explores many important and relevant topics - bullying, living day-to-day with poverty, emotional abuse, the gun debate and finding one’s voice (both literally and figuratively). Importantly, it shows how one person can make such a significant difference in a child’s life and its direction, in this case a teacher who cares.
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