This is a great book. It includes a bunch of research, but it isn't so much that it interrupts the flow. The stories are heart-breaking, but sometimes uplifting. It makes you want to go back and be a better person in junior high/high school.

Not that I didn't know this book would be good, just based on the topic and my previous great experiences with the author, but once it' over, I have to say I'm really happy. I feel vindicated, validated in my future career choice, inspired to get back to a novel idea I had, and generally happy that this book exists. The title is (awesome but) perhaps a little misleading, as it focuses more on quirk theory and how it functions IN high school than after it. It could use a sequel about college social grouping. Still, so, so good, and it should be required reading for teens and anyone who works with them or remembers what it was like to be one.

As a parent of two toddlers, I'm incredibly glad I read this now, instead of when they're in the midst of middle & high school.

Once again, Robbins has done an amazing job with her research and the people she chose as interview subjects to be the main "characters" in her book.

BLUF: Skip this. I kept waiting for this to get interesting. It didn’t. This was more a narrative of teen angst than about the title. I expected a whole lot more. There was some interesting teeny bits on cyber bullying, but the author completely lost me when she mentioned MySpace. In 2015. Which suggests she really didn’t know what she was talking about.

Fantastic!

After reading some of Robbins' previous work, I knew that I would want to give this a read especially with the intriguing title. Although non-fiction works can be difficult (ie boring) for me, I didn't fear that in this case due to my previous experience and interest in the subject matter. As you might deduce from the rating, I was right and I adored this book! It's everything I could want in non-fiction: well-written, gripping, practically like a novel.

We are introduced to seven people, representing different cliques and outlooks on life from across the USA. None of them know each other and outwardly they seem super different: the popular girl, the new girl, the loner, the nerd, etc. But each is dissatisfied with the role of cliques in their lives and at their school. Robbins follows them over the course of a year but she also hands each of them a challenge to see if they can change outsiders' perception of them to more truly reflect how they view themselves.

Besides following those seven personal stories, Robbins also shares psychological studies about how brains work, how to improve school life for the millions of schoolchildren, and examines "popularity" and "outcasthood." Of particular interest was how our brains use classifications to simplify the time spent thinking about other people. It's much easier to see a person once as a freak and to continue to think of them that way instead of spending time to get to know them. It can also take very little to get humans to conform, especially in the developing brains of adolescents. The science behind this was simply presented and easy to understand.

Robbins follows a handful of kids scattered throughout the US: the popular b______, the loner, the gamer... and in the course of a year, the reader learns how his/her life unfolds. She mixes things up with a challenge midyear for each kid to get him/her out of a comfort zone, too. This book is a good reminder for parents that no matter what, children should be embraced for their strengths. I would recommend this to many parents and friends in my community who sometimes forget that their children are living a life separate of their own.

This book is fantastic. I'm not sure how great it is on the scale of awesome nonfiction, but the way it is written will suck you in. It'll make you feel like you're going through high school again. If you dread that feeling, well, I think the book does a good job of explaining why this might be so. At 22, I think that I am still young enough to remember everything that happened to me in high school, and old enough to reflect on the emotions that I had back then. I don't think I would give myself a label, because I almost always felt comfortable in school, but I could relate to almost every one of the "characters" presented in the book.

At times I had to wonder if the scenarios were real, because it would read like some kind of teenage drama. This is not surprising to me, because...well, they're teenagers, with an exception here or there. Yes. Situations like this ACTUALLY happen. And yes. Teens CAN be that eloquent. Dialogue CAN be that dramatic. It's high school, people!

That being said, Robbins brings up some things that you probably already know but didn't have a name for. In fact, a lot of the book will seem like common sense. Preps will sit with preps, but might not actually like being a prep, everyone should celebrate their difference, all that great stuff. The point, though, is that schools to this day aren't stepping up to the challenge of actually integrating kids. Or even caring about the kids themselves.

Whether you agree with her or not, I think the book brings up a lot of valid points, and puts you in the shoes of those who felt like an outsider at some point in their lives. It's a great read for teens, parents, and teachers. Perhaps you might actually feel like thinking about how you were treated or how you treated others in high school...or even the work place.

Very interesting, but a few too many "characters" for me to keep up with, and a shaky "quirk theory" being presented, at that.

This was …fine but I’d be interested to see how it would be updated with 2023 technology, social media, and more widespread understanding of sexuality and gender identity, as well as race.