This Seat's Saved
by Heather Holleman
Hi! Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong? Have you ever walked into a room and not known if anyone would want you to sit with them? Have you ever felt like you didn’t quite fit in? I know I have! And let me tell you, it’s hard! Well, Elita Brown felt that on her first day in Middle School.
Elita is a nature lover who isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. She doesn’t really care about makeup or the newest brands or hairstyles. She’d much rather study the habits of a fox, for example, than get a new wardrobe. However, her friends Kee and Margo seem to be leaving her behind. They can’t stop talking about the latest trends and boys, and Elita doesn’t know what to do.
When beginning Middle School, Elita seems to distance herself from her friends more and more. First, she picks Nature Club as her elective instead of Fashion Design, like everyone else. Because of this, her friends won’t let her sit at the table with them, and she has to sit alone. She’s not technically “invited” to her friend Margo’s birthday party, and when she shows up, it turns out that she is completely underdressed! Elita comes in very casual clothes while everyone else is wearing nice dresses and makeup and perfume. While everyone else gifts Margo makeup and clothes, Elita gives her a stuffed animal. Because of this, she is constantly called a baby by everyone in her class.
One girl in particular seems to have it out for Elita. Lindsay is constantly talking behind Elita’s back. She calls her a know-it-all and even spray paints “Elita has rabies” in the girls’ bathroom. However, Elita is able to find some comfort in her life. She makes two new friends named Allie and Stephen, and together they work on a science project tracking a fox that walks by Elita’s house at exactly the same time every night.
Elita also loves outdoor work and she has been helping her neighbor, Mrs. Burgley, move out of her house. While there, she has to clean out all of the weeds and bushes and sticks that are littering the Burgley’s yard and she has to help move furniture and crates from inside the house. Mrs. Burgley often shares lessons with Elita and helps improve her mood. However, Elita just seems to keep sinking further and further into sadness and loneliness in her first year of Middle School.
There is nothing that I would change about this book. It was amazing and I loved every minute of it!
One of my favorite parts is when Elita becomes friends with Allie and Stephen. She realizes that she can make friends that aren’t in the popular crowd.
Will Elita be able to overcome her loneliness and realize that it doesn’t matter where she sits or who she’s friends with? Or will she move further into sadness and despair and never find her “seat.” As I always say, read the book to find out!
A few helpful things I like to say about the books I read:
“Run and Get Mom” (how I describe the scariness factor – zero being not scary at all and five being majorly scary): 0
“Yucky-Lovey Stuff” (how I describe the romance factor – zero having no yucky-lovey parts in it and five having major yucky-lovey parts): 0
I give this book 5 wands.
This book taught an amazing lesson and had an amazing story. It was really impactful to me as a young teen and I don’t think that you can walk away from this book without being changed. It teaches you the ultimate lesson: It doesn’t matter what other people think of you because God sees you as His beautiful child!
Source: Review Copy