Eighth grader Logan Palorey has just moved to a different part of town, which means a new school and new friends. But a new environment can't change the terrible thing Logan witnessed several weeks ago, an incident involving his best friend Zyler. Logan is tight-lipped about the whole thing. His parents want to help but don't know how, his brothers could care less and all the kids at his new school think he's a freak. All, that is, except an odd girl named Laurel who wants to change her name to Laral because she loves palindromes.
Logan's mom suggests going to see a counselor. Logan's dad suggests Boy Scouts. Logan has his own idea: trying out for the school musical Peter Pan. (After all, Laurel's in the musical.) Each of these three situations provides learning experiences for Logan, but none of them turn out to be quite what he expected.
This is What I Did: reminded me a lot of the Laurie Halse Anderson novel Speak, another book about a troubled teen who doesn't want to talk to anyone. This is What I Did: is a quicker read with more humor, but it's definitely not a "light" version of Speak for boys. It packs a real punch and a satisfying ending.
157 pages
