What Does it Feel Like to Be Different From Others?

Is being different in some way makes us a misfit? A question that came up while reading a book together. We at the Young Readers' Club, discovered something beautiful as we attempted to answer that question.

Auggie from the book Wonder by R.J Palacio, set us thinking. He looks different from the other children-- the result of multiple surgeries on his face to correct a defect that he was born with. He was homeschooled for this very reason. But that cannot be forever. He must go to regular school. He is just like anyone else otherwise.

As we read together about his apprehensions, we discussed that emotion. We drew connections with our own experiences of feeling different from others. One reader shared his love for nature and birds in particular. He said he has had a hard time finding a friend who shares the same unique interests. While the rest of us thought, that is a pretty unique interest, another reader shared that he loves sport. However, he finds himself in a class at school, in which none of his classmates likes sports! More readers started to share their experiences, some were about their love for certain kinds of books while for someone else it was a unique hobby which none of her friends were able to appreciate. What does it feel like to be different from others? Well, we discovered that we are a unique lot after all and share something so beautiful in common.

While we enjoyed that feeling, one of the readers was quick to point out that Auggie's situation was far worse. In his case it was his facial appearance which was hard to miss. What would it be like for Auggie to go to school for the first time in his life? Unlike him everyone around is accustomed to 'school life'. We are yet to find out...

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The Young Readers' Club is a book club for the 8-12 age group. We also do vocabulary building activities and mini writing lessons for a little variety!

Writing programs for the 9-12 age group- Young Writers' Club Jr.  

The Young Writers' Club program for the 13-16 age group offers a weekly platform to read and discuss curated articles from the news, observe writing approaches and practise one's writing skills.

Tween Tribune  is an online magazine for the Young Writers' Club (Jr.) program for tweens. Weekly updates of our discussions are published. Once in 6 months, the best of writing by the tween members is made available to read.

 Musings from the Young Writers' Club is an online magazine showcasing the work we do at the Young Writers' Club.