Here in the Real World
Here in the Real World by Sara Pennypacker is a middle grade novel published by HarperCollins Publishers in 2020, featuring 308 pages in English. The story follows Ware, a boy eager to escape into his own imaginative world filled with knights and adventures. However, his plans are disrupted when his parents enroll him in a Rec camp, where he is forced to engage in activities with other children. As he navigates this new environment, he encounters Jolene, a determined girl who is cultivating a garden in an abandoned church lot, leading Ware to create his own sanctuary amidst the chaos.
Readers will find a narrative that explores themes of family dynamics, social interaction, and the challenges faced by introverts and dreamers. As Ware and Jolene’s friendship develops, they discover their shared need for a refuge from the pressures of their surroundings. The story delves into their contrasting perspectives on reality and imagination, ultimately prompting questions about heroism and the power of friendship in overcoming adversity. This edition invites readers to reflect on what it means to be a misfit in a world that often values conformity.
Official synopsis Publisher
From the author of the highly acclaimed, New York Times bestselling novel Pax comes a gorgeous and moving middle grade novel that is an ode to introverts, dreamers, and misfits everywhere.
Ware can’t wait to spend summer “off in his own world”–dreaming of knights in the Middle Ages and generally being left alone. But then his parents sign him up for dreaded Rec camp, where he must endure Meaningful Social Interaction and whatever activities so-called “normal” kids do.
On his first day Ware meets Jolene, a tough, secretive girl planting a garden in the rubble of an abandoned church next to the camp. Soon he starts skipping Rec, creating a castle-like space of his own in the church lot.
Jolene scoffs, calling him a dreamer–he doesn’t live in the “real world” like she does. As different as Ware and Jolene are, though, they have one thing in common: for them, the lot is a refuge.
But when their sanctuary is threatened, Ware looks to the knights’ Code of Chivalry: Thou shalt do battle against unfairness wherever faced with it. Thou shalt be always the champion of the Right and Good–and vows to save the lot.
But what does a hero look like in real life? And what can two misfit kids do?
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