Runt by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Bibliographic Information

Baskin, N.R. (2013). Runt. New York, NY: Simon and Shuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 9781442458079

Plot Summary

The lives of a handful of middle school students who share a homeroom class are explored in this intriguing look at middle school social hierarchy. Maggie is the queen bee who secretly yearns to renew her friendship with Freida, an artistic iconoclast who intentionally seeks to be different and spurns popular opinion. Stewart is a bully basketball star who feels his physical prowess must somehow make up for his older sister's handicap. Matthew, Stewart's long-time victim, is the fall-guy when he snaps under one abuse too many and breaks Stewart's nose. Elizabeth, a sensitive but intelligent girl who's good with the dogs that board at her house but not with the things necessary to be popular, is Maggie's target. Finally, there's Zoe, Maggie's sidekick, and Ethan, an artistic nobody who's drawn into Maggie's schemes.

Review

Unlike most other books on the subject of bullying, there is no happy ending to this one. Stewart gets a bit of comeuppance, but doesn't actually change. Elizabeth decides to turn the other cheek, only to be publicly mocked once again. The message for tweens seems to be that people are jerks, there's an order to things, and there's not much you can do to overcome harassment besides ride it out and wait for graduation. While the book is not terribly encouraging, it is rather realistic.