A 9-Year-Old Reviews Kate Darnton’s The Misfits
by Hiyaa Atreya
Author Kate Darnton’s The Misfits is a book about an American girl, Chloe, who comes to India from Boston with her parents. Her mother is a journalist who came to find stories in India, and Chloe is not happy at all about spending a summer in Delhi. Chloe and Anne (her sister) start going to school in Delhi, but Chloe doesn’t really fit in. She makes many enemies in school and she is teased for being American. For her part, she dislikes India as well — she finds the country noisy and the people unkind. There is only one person she likes, who is the cook, Dechen. The other main character in the story is Laxmi, a girl who has no mother and a father who is alcoholic. Laxmi is Chloe’s classmate, as the school admitted her as a scholarship student. They become friends one day when Chloe is hit by a cricket ball and Laxmi takes care of her till her family members come to fetch her. After that incident, Chloe keeps calling Laxmi over to play and they become close friends.
Chloe also likes another girl called Anvi, who is very rich and moves around with bodyguards. Anvi thinks too much of herself and doesn’t call Laxmi for her birthday party, because Laxmi is poor. Things come to a boil as the school’s annual day comes up. Anvi practices difficult spins with her friend, while Chloe and Laxmi team up to do the same. However, Anvi talks to Chloe badly about Laxmi, looking down her nose at her, and Chloe — just to remain friends with Anvi — agrees with her. Laxmi over hears the conversation and their rehearsals go very poorly. Chloe apologises to Laxmi later and in turn Laxmi confides in her, Avni’s secret. Things turn out well in the end though, with the intervention of the parents.
The author worked out the characters of the ten-eleven year-old girls very well. Chloe’s character starts off very negatively, as she uses harsh words about the lifestyle in India, but it is developed very well as she slowly understands and adjusts to being here. By the end of the book, she is well settled and happy with her friend Laxmi. Laxmi was an honest and straightforward girl and I felt connected to her feelings, especially when her friend Chloe hurt her. Her life also brought out feelings of sympathy for poor and homeless people. Anvi’s character was written the best, as her arrogance and self-centeredness came through very well.
What makes this book good for me is that it shows you that you can always adjust to your surroundings even if you start off hating them. This book also focuses on the Right to Education, which makes it very informative. The storyline was well worked out and written, so it kept me reading further.
What makes this book not-so-good is that it took a long time to get to the main story, and the author has stretched the introduction too much. Speaking from an Indian’s point of view, I felt that she listed far too many bad points of India, neglecting some of the good that happens alongside, especially in the beginning of the book. Even when Laxmi was helped out, Chloe’s parents were the only ones shown to have any sympathy and affection for her.
Overall, it is a good book. It’s not suitable for all climates and not a book to read if you are on holiday and having fun. This book needs time and patience and I would recommend it only to children who have both. It is a serious book, focusing on the areas in India which need to improve and is not a very funny or light-hearted book. Still, when I reached the second part of the story, I quite enjoyed the story and the writing.
Hiyaa is an almost 10-year-old who loves to read and dance. She’s learning Bharatnatyam and just had her first successful stage performance.