The Benefits of Being an Octopus

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The Benefits of Being an Octopus

by: Ann Braden

The Benefits of Being an Octopus,  written by Ann Braden, is a book about a teenager’s mom who’s being emotionally abused by her boyfriend. Because of that, Zoey is left to deal with her own problems by herself. Zoey tries to help her mom fix her problem(s), while also taking care of two children and her own problems. “A heartbreaking, beautifully written book about finding one’s voice.

 Zoey is a seventh grader, and has a tough life both at school and at home. Zoey sometimes struggles to make it through each day, and one of the reasons is because she acts like a mom to her three younger siblings, while her real mom goes to work. Zoey doesn’t have time for homework, and barely has time to hang out with her friend, Fuchsia. She tries to avoid her mom’s boyfriend, Lenny, and Lenny’s dad, Frank. 

When Zoey goes to school, it is probably worse than home. She Fuchsia try to stay unnoticed by everyone else. But one teacher doesn’t care what Zoey wants, she cares about what’s best for her, so she puts Zoey on the debate team. Zoey isn’t happy about joining the club, but she has no choice not to. As you will see if you read the book, the debate club helps her more than she thinks it will. Infact, it helps her see things in a different way, and helps her find her own voice.

While Zoey is going through her problems, she thinks about the octopus, her favorite animal. She thinks about how if she were an octopus, it would make life much easier. She could do eight things at once, have unblinking vision, and best of all, camouflage. Thinking about this helps her cope with her problems throughout the book. 

In the middle of the book the abuse (from different people) gets to be a bigger problem for Zoey’s mom, Fuschia, and even Zoey herself. Zoey decides something needs to be done, so she takes action. In doing that, she saved Fuchsia’s life, and made her mom’s a lot easier. (You will have to read the rest of the book yourself to find out what happens.)

I really took a liking to this book. I like the fact that someone who doesn’t have a voice in the beginning finds her voice at the end. This is a touching story that I Really liked. I would recommend this book, especially to someone who likes to cry when they read books. I think girls would appreciate this book more than boys, but some boys would probably like it too. I hope you read the book!