The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden

 

Last night, I finished reading The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden. This realistic fiction novel is about Zoey Albro, a seventh grade girl who has to take care of her younger siblings after school as her mom works at a pizza parlor and they live in the trailer of her mom's boyfriend, Lenny. With so much going on in her life, Zoey imagines how much easier it would be if she were an octopus. Although Zoey likes to stay under the radar at school, her social studies teacher, Ms. Rochambeau, forces her to join debate club. Zoey is initially reluctant to participate even though she decides to show up at the club meetings, but after a shooting occurs in the school parking lot, Zoey begins to see her situation at home  differently as her mom and Lenny argue regularly about money. When Zoey learns the truth about the shooting from her best friend, Fuchsia, who's living with her single mom after being in foster care, Zoey has to decide if she should speak up.

I liked reading this book more than I thought I would. There are several tough topics that come up from poverty to domestic abuse, but I was really happy that it ended on a hopeful note. Zoey is a girl who has a lot of challenges in her life because she has grown up poor and her classmates look down upon her. While I was frustrated with some of her decisions at first, I really grew to admire her by the end of the book. I especially enjoyed her relationships with her younger siblings, Bryce, Aurora, and Hector. I could see that she was really trying her best as the oldest child and I'm not sure I would be able to maintain my cool if I was in some of the same situations. I also loved the importance of the friendship between Zoey and Fuchsia because it played a huge role in the resolution of the book. Lenny was definitely my least favorite character because he manipulated Zoey's mom into thinking she was incompetent as a mother. It made me so mad as Zoey spied on their arguments, and I certainly wanted her mom to realize that they should find a way to leave Lenny before it's too late. The Benefits of Being an Octopus is a fantastic look into poverty and the debate around gun control, and I would recommend it to anyone.