Berman, Ali. “Misdirected: A Novel”, Temple Square, 2014.

Finding His Place

Amos Lassen

“Misdirected” is a first novel by Ali Berman and it is wonderful. I am sure that it will find its place on many top ten lists this year. It is the contemporary story of Ben who is fifteen years old and never been kissed. He has been an atheist and when he and his family move from metropolitan Boston to a small and conservative Colorado town, the fact that he does not believe in a higher power is the only thing that people care about him. We do not get many novels about teen atheists and here it is surprising how much we learn about it through the eyes of a teen.

Ben does not fit in because no one wants him to—his classmates bully him; his teachers do not understand him. He is the only child at home in his family and this is the cause of his feeling loneliness and ill at ease. His brother is serving in Iraq and his sister is away at school so he really has no one to talk to aside from his parents. He is all alone dealing with his feelings.

We all know how difficult adolescence can be and when one has added problems, it can be a crucial experience. Growing up is never easy. It is never easy being marginalized and Ben has to struggle to find his place and at the same time maintain the identity that he has chosen for himself.

With adolescence also being a time of rebellion for many teens, it is not surprising that Ben rebels against his teachers and argues with his classmates. He rejects the beliefs of others just as they reject his. We are with him while he learns about challenging the beliefs of others as well as his own. I was brought back to my own teen years and I am certain that many other readers will have the same experience.

Ben also falls in love with Tess, one of his classmates but her parents will not let her see him because he does not believe in God and this forces them into hiding their “secret” romance. He is only able to have one friend at school, James, who has his own problems with his alcoholic mother. It is amazing to see how Ben keeps a good attitude with so much going against him. Ben has to decide for himself what the priorities are in his life— we all know how difficult it can be to be an outsider when everyone else in not.

Berman deals with serious issues here and sees them very much the way her teen hero does. He has to deal with so much at such a young age yet he is able to confront those who are not accepting of him while at the same time overcoming his own prejudices. I believe we shall see Ben enter that world of young literary heroes who have to find their ways and do. While he is not a Holden Caulfield, he is a boy looking at life seriously. Berman has created Ben in such a way that we cannot help but identify with him and see that a little kindness can go a long way and that it is often difficult to reconcile the way others think in terms of how we think. What a great swan dive into the world of literature.