Barnes & Noble

The Benefits of Being an Octopus A Novel by Ann Braden

One of Edutopia's "25 Essential Middle School Reads from the Last Decade," Npr Best Book of 2018, Bank Street List for Best Children's Books of 2019, Named to the Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher List, Maine's Student Book Award List, Louisiana Young Reader's Choice Award List, Rhode Island Middle School Book Award 2020 List, 2020 Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Award Nominee, 2021 South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee, 2020-2021 Truman Award 8203, Missouri Nominee, Middle School Virginia Readers' Choice Titles for 2020 ndash,2021 8203,, Charlie May Simon Award 2020 ndash,2021 List, 2021 ndash,2022 Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee, and 2023 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award nominee 8203, 8203,. Some people can do their homework. Some people get to have crushes on boys. Some people have other things they've got to do. Seventh-grader Zoey has her hands full as she takes care of her much younger siblings after school every day while her mom works her shift at the pizza parlor. Not that her mom seems to appreciate it. At least there's Lenny, her mom's boyfriend mdash, they all get to live in his nice, clean trailer. At school, Zoey tries to stay under the radar. Her only friend Fuchsia has her own issues, and since they're in an entirely different world than the rich kids, it's best if no one notices them.