It Wasn't Me

by Dana Alison Levy

Scott County Library paperback 320 pages

Published: 2018

Genre: YA realistic fiction

 

This is one of the 2021-22 Maud Hart Lovelace nominees and I decided to read them all so I can talk with middle school students about them.

 

Theo is a photographer who prefers to avoid the spotlight. When he agrees to hang a show of his photos and they're vandalized, five students seen in the vicinity are detained. Molly is an overachiever, Erik an athlete, Jax the "screwup," Andre the "nerd," and Alice the horror-movie "weirdo." Their teacher Ms. Lewiston believes in the power of Circle Justice and has them participate over a week of vacation.

 

I immediately thought about Touching Spirit Bear with the circle justice . . . . 

 

Mostly about stereotypes and how people perceive one another, the book felt quite predictable in some regards and delightful in others. It's no surprise that the author gives some credit to The Breakfast Club.

Page 110-111: I'm not going to replicate the text here, but when Jax is explaining why he likes hiphop and he defines "misogynist," the ensuing conversation (Molly's outrage, Eric's confusion) is well-written.

Page 115: "Flummoxed was a vocab word last month, meaning totally taken by surprise or caught off guard."  When Andre says that his band's YouTube channel has over 50,000 subscribers, Theo's use of a vocab word hits perfectly. Again, clever work by this author.

Page 125: "She says: 'Sorry my dad is so impatient.' I nod. 'Sorry my mom gave him the finger.' She shrugs. Together we walk into the school for day three."

This interaction between Alice and Theo just made me laugh. Parents. What can you do? Theo's mom had paused in the drop-off to make sure he was okay. Alice's dad beeped once, then leaned on the horn. "As I glance back, I see my mom waving wildly out the window before driving off." Then there's a description of Alice's horror makeup for the day, which includes a third eye on her forehead. Then the interaction above.

Page 126: ". . . Jax and Erik have their heads bent over an issue of Sportsballs and Sweaty Things (possibly not the actual title) . . . 

Again, laugh out loud line. This sounds like something one of my sons might have said as a teen.

Page 147: "(Also, I will note here that the motion of a cat gakking up a hairball, when set to dubstep, is oddly compelling.)"

It will be fun to talk with kids about this book and see what they enjoy most.

Page 242: ". . . all the good anger drains out of me so fast I'm dizzy."

When Theo loses it and yells at everyone and pours out all his frustrations, he drains himself emotionally. It's what he needed to do, yet he was very hurtful to others. It's a relatable scene, and his ability to apologize and make things right again . . . is well-written.