
One of the things I talk about on my blog frequently is how our perspective changes what we take away from a situation. Our perspective helps us to see the good, or helps us understand another viewpoint, or teaches us something new. Perspective matters. In BenBee and the Teacher Griefer we get to see the perspective of four distinctly different youths and their summer school experience. Affiliate links will be used in this review.

The Basic Details
K. A. Holt in conjunction with Chronicle Books brings us a 344 page non-fiction read for youth aged 8-12. One youth identifies as other than their birth gender. Three boys, one girl, each having issues affecting their ability to learn easily within the school system. Summer school has been deemed the answer. BenBee and the Teacher Griefer is part of The Kids under the Stairs series featuring Ben Bellows.
K. A. Holt also wrote KnockOut, another book I reviewed. Reviewed for Raincoast books I received an Advanced Readers Copy.
BenBee and the Teacher Griefer, what you get
Each chapter goes through the four different perspectives of each of the youth involved in the under the stairs summer school class. Four youth, one teacher, one goal, learn to read. How will they reach that objective?
Enter in Sandbox. A game all four youth like to play. Enter a deal with their teacher. Can they find a way to make it work? You’ll have to read this intriguing book yourself! 🙂

Four Students: BenB, BenY, JordanJ and Javier. Each with their own style of communicating, through poetry, prose, or pictures. Each with their own home situations, learning challenges, and needs.
Through each student, despite how they communicate, the story progresses.
I loved how the book starts and ends with a report card. You can see their challenges, and through their conversation, by the end, see how their divergencies helped each.

Even as they played Sandbox, and got their teacher to play, we saw their growth as individuals.

Should you get it?
I thoroughly enjoyed reading BenBee and the Teacher Griefer. I loved reading the inner thoughts of the youth and then seeing their interaction with each other and their teacher. Ms. J was just what these youth needed, and they are just what she needed.
By the end, we saw how divergency can be something to celebrate, and therefore be turned into a strength. With that difference, we see self-esteem levels rise dramatically for each of these marginalized children. Well done by K. A. Holt.