The Real Meaning

Out of Nowhere
Maria Padian

Reviewed by Chris Ashjian

“The first rule is respect. No matter what anyone says, we all have to listen and respect their contribution”(74). At Enniston high there are new Africans enrolling every day, and on a daily basis the theme stays consistent… Racism.

In the novel Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian, there is violence, sports, and racism. At the beginning of the portion I read Tom Buchard, the soccer team captain and Donnie, his irresponsible older cousin decided to paint the rock in front of the Maquoit school, Enniston’s rivals. They were painting the rock Enniston high colors and while doing so, they got caught by a security guard. Luckily the school did not press any charges on them because the principal at Enniston had reasoned with them. Tom had to repaint the rock in front of the whole Maquoit school and complete 100 hundred hours by the end of the year or else he couldn’t graduate. He was also suspended from school for a few days. Obviously he took this deal because he knew that if he went to jail he wouldn’t get any offers from colleges. When he came back after his suspension he was late to every class, and since all of the teachers had heard what he had done, they didn’t cut him any slack. When he was walking to class he saw this Somali kid sitting on the ground in a corner. He knew that the right thing to do was to help him so he did.”He looked like he had seen a ghost. I think he trembled. He didn’t answer my question. I don’t think he could”(43).The kid was crying and could barely speak English. Somehow Tom understood what he had said and helped him get where he needed to go. The kid had said that no one ever knew what he was saying and that all the kids were laughing at his accent. Tom then went to the guidance office and got a pass so he wouldn’t be considered late again. After that he started his first day of community service. He went to the K street center. It was basically a place where kids went after school to get help with homework and have a little fun afterwards. He helped this kid named Abdi with his homework. He had been struggling all week. They had a bond because they both loved soccer. After Abdi finished his homework they went outside and kicked a ball around. The next day at school, there was a fight. It was between two kids on varsity, and two somali kids on JV. There had been a lot of fights recently and so the principal. thought it was because of their race, but this time it was just all of them being jerks to each other. The teachers then decided that since there was a lot of racism going around that the students should have meetings. They made specific groups with different races and ethnicities in every one. Each group had two leaders and Tom was picked to be one. He was paired up with Liz Painchaud. She was the valedictorian of the class. Since she was a tryhard she led the whole meeting and Tom kind of just sat there. Next, the team had a game after school. It was the first game that Tom would be back since his suspension so he was hyped up. They played Whittier high school on a cold and wet day. They beat them 5-2 and they saw that some of the Maquoit players had come to watch and scout them out. The next morning Tom had to go and paint the Maquoit rock. Saeed stood up on the bus and basically explained with his little vocabulary that since they are a team they should all go and support him. The kids laughed at him because he could barely get the words out but they eventually realized that he was being serious and agreed to go. That day they all went and Donnie was supposed to go too, but as they all thought he didn’t show up. One of the kids stepped up and agreed to act like Donnie so that he wouldn’t be up there all alone. They finish painting and they are relieved and ready to go back to sleep on that early Saturday morning. That is the end of the portion that I read. There is still half of the book to be excited about.

My opinion on this book is very good. I really like it and it always keeps me interested unlike other books.I think I like this book because I generally like discussing big things in our society and one of the biggest themes is racism. Next, I like hearing people's stories and throughout the book Saeed explains how he got to America and what it has been like for him. The book states, “My family live in Somalia right? And in Somalia there is big, big wars and fighting… My uncle? He get killed. My friend he get killed”(96). Also I obviously like the soccer aspect of it since it is my favorite sport. Although I like it I don’t fully recommend it, because I feel that someone who doesn’t like sports as much will not feel be as interested in this book. 

I recommend this book to whomever likes books about sports that really aren’t about sports. It has a different meaning behind it. It shows that through sports people can come together. Unless you like shallow books that are very straight forward and you can see the real theme right from the beginning then you may really like this book.

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