A review by heykellyjensen
We Didn't Ask for This, by Adi Alsaid
Tonight is the night of the International School’s annual lock-in. It’s a beloved tradition and one that’s always legendary. All kinds of activities take place, from decathlons to dance parties, and this year, Peejay is eager to be the master of ceremonies. His brother earned incredible respect when he was in charge, and Peejay is desperate to top him.
Tonight, Amira wants to win the decathlon, keeping her passion for sports and her interest in other girls from her conservative mother.
Omar wants to finally kiss Peejay tonight.
Kenji wants to star in the improv show, proving acting chops are alive and well.
And Celeste? As the new girl in the school, she’s hoping tonight she can make her first real friend since moving to another country from her Chicago suburban home.
All of it looks like it should go on….until it doesn’t. Tonight, driven by her passion to make change in the world, Marisa Cuevas and a group of fellow environmentally-conscious students chain themselves to the doors of the school and refuse to let anyone else enter or exit the building until all of their demands are met. And those demands are many, ranging from the school banning single-use plastics to protective measures being enacted to protect a local island from destruction.
As the night drags on, it becomes Marisa and her team won’t back down until their demands are heard -- and not just heard, but met.
One night bleeds into the next and then the next, and the protest goes on for a full week before things reach a breaking point. Students once inconvenienced and angered by Marisa are now listening and even stepping up to help her. They know people who know people who can make change happen. So they do what they can now, hoping that meeting those demands not only gets them set free but also really does help change the world for the better.
It’s not smooth sailing, of course, as there’s a group within the school who are hoping to take down Marisa and her team, and they get closer and closer through the story.
Will all of her demands be met? How? And will everyone else be able to achieve the things they desperately hoped for when the lockin began?
Alsaid’s book is a smart look at standing up for what you believe in, and it’s really creative in execution. Marisa isn’t seen as a hero for championing these causes for a long time. She’s rather seen as the enemy until something drastic happens to her, and her peers not only begin to listen to her, but they begin to understand why it is she chose this as her hill to die on and why it is she chose to execute her protest during the lockin.
I’ve read a ton of books this year on student activism and student activists, and this is a worthy addition to that collection. It’s especially noteworthy for the lack of immediate agreement seen among students, though -- and this is an extremely diverse student body, as well as a student body with the means to make change happen, as they come from wealthier families. It’s a reminder that even though this generation of teenagers is vocal and stands up for their beliefs, it’s not universally agreed-upon or followed. It’s easy to forget that sometimes kids want to be kids and that in and of itself can be the challenge with making change. Are they supposed to be anything more? And why do we expect that?
A couple of things that didn't land as well for me: it was VERY hard to understand the layout of the school and how the chained students managed what they did. I would have loved an image of it in the book. I also thought at times it was especially slow, but I recognize a lot of that has to do with the fact the story's pace mirrors precisely what those teens were themselves experiencing.
Creative, thought-provoking, and timely.
Tonight, Amira wants to win the decathlon, keeping her passion for sports and her interest in other girls from her conservative mother.
Omar wants to finally kiss Peejay tonight.
Kenji wants to star in the improv show, proving acting chops are alive and well.
And Celeste? As the new girl in the school, she’s hoping tonight she can make her first real friend since moving to another country from her Chicago suburban home.
All of it looks like it should go on….until it doesn’t. Tonight, driven by her passion to make change in the world, Marisa Cuevas and a group of fellow environmentally-conscious students chain themselves to the doors of the school and refuse to let anyone else enter or exit the building until all of their demands are met. And those demands are many, ranging from the school banning single-use plastics to protective measures being enacted to protect a local island from destruction.
As the night drags on, it becomes Marisa and her team won’t back down until their demands are heard -- and not just heard, but met.
One night bleeds into the next and then the next, and the protest goes on for a full week before things reach a breaking point. Students once inconvenienced and angered by Marisa are now listening and even stepping up to help her. They know people who know people who can make change happen. So they do what they can now, hoping that meeting those demands not only gets them set free but also really does help change the world for the better.
It’s not smooth sailing, of course, as there’s a group within the school who are hoping to take down Marisa and her team, and they get closer and closer through the story.
Will all of her demands be met? How? And will everyone else be able to achieve the things they desperately hoped for when the lockin began?
Alsaid’s book is a smart look at standing up for what you believe in, and it’s really creative in execution. Marisa isn’t seen as a hero for championing these causes for a long time. She’s rather seen as the enemy until something drastic happens to her, and her peers not only begin to listen to her, but they begin to understand why it is she chose this as her hill to die on and why it is she chose to execute her protest during the lockin.
I’ve read a ton of books this year on student activism and student activists, and this is a worthy addition to that collection. It’s especially noteworthy for the lack of immediate agreement seen among students, though -- and this is an extremely diverse student body, as well as a student body with the means to make change happen, as they come from wealthier families. It’s a reminder that even though this generation of teenagers is vocal and stands up for their beliefs, it’s not universally agreed-upon or followed. It’s easy to forget that sometimes kids want to be kids and that in and of itself can be the challenge with making change. Are they supposed to be anything more? And why do we expect that?
A couple of things that didn't land as well for me: it was VERY hard to understand the layout of the school and how the chained students managed what they did. I would have loved an image of it in the book. I also thought at times it was especially slow, but I recognize a lot of that has to do with the fact the story's pace mirrors precisely what those teens were themselves experiencing.
Creative, thought-provoking, and timely.