STANDING FOR ME

In Thompson’s chapter book, a young warehouse employee gets a second chance after suffering an accident at work.

Despite his shame in lying to his former high school teacher about being enrolled in college, young adult Clark is happy that he works at a warehouse instead of pursuing higher education: “I’m working, I make good money, and I get health benefits. I have a solid job with a real future.” He does have occasional problems, like his girlfriend breaking up with him because she goes to college 75 miles away, but apart from that inconvenience, Clark is confident in his work. That is until a careless forklift-driving co-worker crashes into him, leaving Clark with a broken foot. The healing process takes weeks, during which time Clark goes through a layoff scare, watches his unemployed father finally get a job, and mulls over an offer from his boss to take college classes paid for by his company. After his doctor tells him he needs to transition to a desk job, Clark reluctantly enrolls at Jasper Community College, despite a fear of traditional education. He worries about his poor reading and writing skills, but with the help of professors who believe in him, Clark is able to refresh his perspective on school and work toward a healthy, positive future. Teen readers who struggle with school and literacy like Clark will no doubt see themselves in this story, which is typeset in Open Dyslexic font and written in short lines and chapters, making it accessible to a variety of abilities. Clark’s perseverance in the face of insecurity takes center stage, sometimes to the detriment of stake-raising plot threads such as the layoff scare at the warehouse and his father’s unemployment, both of which get resolved a bit too easily. This is Thompson’s 13th book in the Finding Forward series, after Brady’s Way (2025).

A story of reinvention and education that fills a topical gap for young adult readers.