Courage. Perseverance. Strength. These are all the traits that 13-year-old Landon Dorch (who is deaf) has to pursue if he wants to fit in in his new home, Bronxville, after moving from Cleveland. In Bronxville, football dominates the attention of the people in the town and Landon wants to use his ginormous size to his advantage, but his teammates mock and bully him. Even the coaches ignore him because of his cochlear implants (which he calls his “ears”) and his garbled speech, like a lot of people at his old home. When he starts to play football, he is also struggling to keep up with the rest of the players, even the worst of them. His fiery and outgoing sister, Genevieve, tries to motivate him to muscle through his struggles, but Landon can’t find the courage to stand up for himself, also since things at school get worse. The majority of his teammates and even one of Genevieve’s new friends starts to bully and make fun of him physically, at school, and virtually, on social media. A major threat to Landon both at school and at practice are the star-player trio of Skip Dreyfus, Mike Furster, and Xander West, of which Xander and Mike are sons of two of the three coaches. Genevieve keeps on trying to motivate Landon over and over again, but he still can’t find the bravery to speak for and prove himself. That is until Brett Bell, the star lineman and fellow Double X player, starts to help him and coach him, and their friendship eventually develops into both of their families knowing each other. Will Landon be able to prove that he is a great football player just from Brett’s lessons? Will Landon find the courage that he needs to make him feel like Bronxville is a true home for him? Read Left Out by Tim Green to find out.
Throughout the novel, Left Out, the main character Landon struggles to fit in and feel like he truly belongs in his new home, Bronxville. After Landon starts to play football, the players only add insult to injury, when they start to mock and bully him. At one point Landon “wondered if he’d ever get respect like that. Or any respect at all” (page 87). This quote showed me that not only Landon, but so many other people have to go through terrible experiences once they move to a new place. Landon is not getting any respect from the players, which was definitely not what he expected. This quote made me learn that if I were to encounter anybody that is struggling to adapt to a new home, I should highlight that even though they are struggling to fit in, they are people just and should be equally included.