Middle school is a time of finding one’s identity. In The Real Us, Tommy Greenwald explores three different examples of kids in middle school and their search for who they really are. Damian is like many of our students who has something to hide from his peers so is quiet and hidden. Laura is friendly and known, but because of her weight is still excluded from most social activities. Then there is Callie. Who seems to have the perfect life, but even she learns through a bump in the road that perfection is not always what it seems. All three of these characters will resonate with readers either as a mirror or a window.

This was really well done. Often when you have books told from different perspectives it can be hard to keep track of things but this book worked. It also worked even though there were definitely some familiar middle school themes.
Calista is the pretty girl. She is popular and sporty. But in the first week of school she gets a pimple, a weird rash, and almost breaks her nose. When her face isn't quite so pretty she finds out who her real friends are.
Laura was Calista's friend for a long time but they have drifted apart. Laura isn't as "pretty" or as popular but she and Calista have always been a duo on the soccer team.
Damien is an artist but a physical issue keeps him from interacting much with other students.
Can the 3 of them learn how to see the real people around them and accept themselves as well?

A well written contemporary and relevant novel for middle grade that I recommend to readers right up until grade nine. Pulled into the story from page one and one I highly recommend because of the wide appeal I know this has.

Each chapter of The Real Us is written as one day of the week leading closer to the first dance of the school year, alternating between Calista, Damian, and Laura. Calista is pretty, popular, friends to Ellie and Ella, who follow her around and think that she and Patrick would make the cutest couple because they're the most popular kids in school. Damian was the new kid in school last year, he's an artist, kinda awkward and shy because of a medical condition called hyperhidrosis that causes excessive sweating. To compensate, he wears a red jacket all the time and visits the nurse's office to change out his shirt during the day. He ends up enduring quite a bit of teasing from Patrick's friend Will but tries very hard to not let it get to him. Laura and Callista used to be the best of friends, they still play soccer on the same team, but now Laura's friends with fellow soccer player Rachel, who she has more in common with. At first, I wasn't sure if I was going to like the alternating between Calista, Damian, and Laura's voice. The prologue sets things up as if this is a story about Calista, and yet it's also about the interactions and events that all three of them share. In the end, it really worked for me. Who would've thought a pimple could make things go so horribly wrong. Calista's cosmetic emergency leads her to try and conceal her pimple, but then the concealer causes her to break out in hives. To top things off, Damian ends up accidentally elbowing her in the face causing further bruising and swelling. Because of these events and the overall change in her looks, Calista's friends begin to shy away from her and now even nice guy Patrick isn't going to ask her to the dance. Calista begins to redefine who she thinks she is, who her true friends are and what is important to her in life, things like reading and playing soccer. I really liked Calista, she never came off as conceited or self-centered and seemed to genuinely care about those around her. Clearly, she was affected by Ellie and Ella turning their backs on her, but I liked that she found new friends, reconnected with Laura and the way she genuinely was being nice to Damian. The themes in The Real Us not only cover the idea of what a real friend is, it also shows how people are more complicated than they look on the outside, that our actions are important and that it shouldn't matter what other people think of us, they don't define who we are.

Favorite lines:

"These things don't know everything you know. I frown, "What things?" "Mirrors," she says. "They're just pieces of glass. They don't actually reflect anything about who we are. They're your friend one day, your enemy the next. You can't trust them."

Eight-grader Calista Getz has always been the prettiest and most popular girl in school. And she’s also a pretty nice person, even if she has somehow ended up being friends with stuck up, superficial Ellie and Ella. And Calista still likes to play soccer. Laura Corbett used to be Calista’s best friend, but that seems to have changed now, though they still play on the soccer team together. But Laura has a weight problem that makes her the brunt of mean jokes, some made Ellie and Ella, straining what it left of her friendship with Calista. Damian White is an artist and a longer who has been watching Calista, fascinated by her ever since she gave him a tour of the school when he was a new student the year before. Damian also has hyperhidrosis, which causes him to sweat excessively. Small wonder his is also obsessed with drawing pictures of deserts.

The new school year has begun and Monday is pretty uneventful. Just lots of talk about the First Week Dance. Naturally Ellie and Ella think Calista should go with Peter Toole, best looking boy in the school and basically nice guy.. Later, at soccer practice, Laura accidentally hurts Calista during a scrimmage.Uh-oh…

Tuesday, Calista wakes up to her first pimple, right smack in the middle of her nose and in her panic, she pops it. So she puts her mother’s concealer on it and and covers it with a bandage. At school, she begins to break out in hives from the concealer, and runs into Damian in the nurse’s office, where he goes to change his shirt a few times a day. Later at lunch, Calista finds out that Peter doesn’t want to go to the dance with her now that she isn’t perfect. And to make matters worse, Damian accidentally smacks her in the nose with his elbow, causing bleeding. swelling and black and blue eyes. And superficial friends Ella and Ellie turn on her.

Let’s face it, middle school can be drama personified until everyone works out who they really are and how to really be that person. What makes this book really interesting is seeing how how everything works out Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I love how Tommy Greenwald created main characters who defy stereotypes resulting in a much more interesting story. Normally, Calista who have been more like Ellie and Ella, but despite being so pretty, she is a smart, kind, and not afraid of getting dirty and sweating on the soccer field.

The Real Us covers the first week of school, up to the First Week Dance. Each day is narrated in the first person, alternatively by Calista, Laura and Damian, so the reader experiences how each one feels about the same set of events. Normally, I don’t like multiple narrators, but it really worked here, probably because there wasn’t a lot of descriptive passages, yet you really get a complete picture of what is happening.

A word about the adults in The Real Us - they really don’t give in to any of the middle school shenanigans that are going on. Calista’s mother tells her the pimple isn’t the end of the world, and makes her return to school on Wednesday despite the way her face now looks; the nurse sends her back to class because she is, after all, still a student. The art teacher doesn’t care what Calista looks like when she is asked to pose with Peter Toole for a poster for the dance, a poster drawn by Damian; and the soccer coach treats her like the other players, seeing her as a good player, not a pretty girl. I loved these adults.

The Real Us is a book every middle grade student should read.

This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was an EARC received from the publisher, Roaring Brook Press/mackids

I like the idea of reversal that plays out in this novel. Everyone has a chance to grow and change in the story. Believable characters and story great for middle school.

I rally enjoyed this little story. A wonderful gem that lets you on the inside of middle school cliques. Are you popular, nerdy, techy, just trying to survive another day of school? You can be smart and still have a trait that keeps you on the outside. You can have artistic talent and still be self conscious of you body. And you can be exceptionally beautiful and still have a bad day. This book covers it all. I love the characters of Damien and Laura. They are very believable and I know they both exist at the local middle school. Definitely a book for Reader's Advisory suggestions.

The Real Us by Tommy Greenwald is a fast-paced middle grade read! Thoroughly entertaining, this is a story told from the perspectives of three middle school kids trying to figure out who they truly are beyond the labels others give them. With the right mix of originality, humor, and heart, this is a story that will appeal to a wide range of middle school readers.