Anatomy of a Misfit

Anika Dragomir is the third most popular girl in school. She knows she will never climb to any higher rank because Becky (the first most popular girl in school) would never allow it. But she’s also terrified of getting on Becky’s bad side and losing her own precarious status. So when Logan McDonough, nerd extraordinaire, shows up on the first day of tenth grade with a bad boy makeover, Anika knows she must keep her attraction on the down low.

I have very mixed feelings on this book. On the one hand, it’s an incredibly uncomfortable read—foul language is scattered liberally throughout, not used for any particular effect. Anika (and her “friends”) did a lot of truly reprehensible things. She also did quite a few good things, working the system to help others, but she felt she had to hide anything good she did. However, Portes makes it clear that the story is based on real events from her ninth grade year, so I ended up feeling guilty about my strongly negative reaction. It also brought up a lot of memories of the tragedies that happened during my own school years. This is one to make you think; I’m still thinking.