The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden

With a few more days left in May, I decided to wrap up the month with one of the middle grade novels I had sitting on my shelf. I picked up The Benefits of Being an Octopus a few years ago, with the aim of being able to use it in my classroom. I started my reading hoping to find a solid story to recommend to my eighth graders.

The novel centers around Zoey Albro, a seventh grader living in Vermont with her mother and three younger siblings. They are living below the poverty line, and have moved around quite a bit over the past several years. As the story begins, they are currently staying with their mom's boyfriend, Lenny, in his trailer. Lenny has a full time job and keeps a clean home, but is emotionally volatile. Zoey and her family live in fear of his cruel outbursts, but put up with it in order to keep a roof over their heads.

Living in poverty has taken a huge toll on Zoey. She is largely responsible for taking care of her young siblings after school, struggles to keep up with homework, and is frequently bullied for smelling like cigarette smoke and wearing old, dirty clothes. As a defense mechanism, she tries to model herself after her favorite animal, the octopus. The octopus is an escape artist, can squish itself down to a tiny size, and has powerful camouflage to blend into its surroundings, and Zoey employs all of these tactics to fly under the radar at school and make it through each day.

Her life begins to take a turn, however, when her history teacher, Ms. Rochambeau, begins to take a special interest in her and pushes her to join the debate club. She can sense that Zoey has a lot of potential underneath her quiet, defensive demeanor, and she encourages her to start speaking out and taking more control of her destiny. As her situation at home starts deteriorating, and her best friend Fuschia also begins to face some scary problems, Zoey takes her advice to heart and begins to take steps to change her life and better her situation. The octopus may be an expert at hiding, but it is also intelligent, curious, and has a firm grip, and soon, Zoey is embracing these aspects of her personality as well. The Benefits of Being an Octopus is a beautifully written coming of age tale that explores the devastating effects poverty has on families and the importance of refusing to disappear under the weight of one's problems.

This was a excellent read, and I was not disappointed in hoping that I could bring it into my classroom. Ann Braden's depiction of Zoey's poverty was accurate, sensitive, and heartbreaking. It mirrored the stories of many students I have had over the years. Her initial apathy towards school and struggle to assert herself are issues I have seen students display many times. It was inspiring and satisfying to watch Zoey work to overcome the many difficulties of her situation. I also loved seeing a teacher character be such a wonderful force for change in a novel. There are so many teachers in the world that have made incredible differences in their students' lives, and it was nice to see one depicted in this story. Braden's background is in teaching herself, so it's not surprising that she got so much right.

At just 254 pages, this is a relatively quick read. I finished it in a single sitting. For middle grade readers, it would take longer, but its length is perfect for its audience. It's not long enough to discourage kids from picking it up, and trust me, the amount of pages in a book is often the deciding factor behind whether kids will try to read something or not. The vocabulary is just right too. I could see a lot of kids being quite moved by this text. It has enough mild controversy in it to keep them engaged, and so many will be able to relate to it and learn from its themes. I know I will be recommending this one a lot once the school starts up again.

So ultimately, I ended up enjoying The Benefits of Being an Octopus a great deal--more than I initially thought I would. It is a simple tale, but a touching one. I think that anyone would benefit from reading it, but especially young people. Its message about the effects of poverty and the importance of keeping on trying in the face of incredible difficulties is a necessary one for people to hear. I'm quite satisfied to have found another book for my classroom library that I think will do a lot of good.  

Challenge Tally
Total Books Read in 2020: 43