[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-148689-en":3,"doc-seo-148689-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":94},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},148689,962075006959,"Anda","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/e0002397efbe92a78e?_k=1776741047341049297",2,"Literature","A Pessimist’s Reading List - 1st Place Stuckey Essay Contest - Addison Rinehart","An eighth-grade student reflects on finding escape from a bleak school experience through re-reading The Heroes of Olympus, using its humor, vivid scenes, and relatable protagonist Leo Valdez to cope with loneliness and social exclusion. The essay then contrasts that comfort with memories from Nemesis and renewed pressures in second semester. It further explores how Struck By Lightning offers another mix of sadness and comedy, following Carson Phillips as he faces betrayal, delayed enrollment, and the emotional cost of staying in a limiting hometown.","A Pessimist’s Reading List  \n1st Place Stuckey Essay Contest  \nAddison Rinehart  \nWest Platte High School  \nWeston, MO  \nTeacher: Helen Penrod  \nI didn’t enjoy eighth grade much. Maybe it was because of the dismal repetition of my class schedule. Or possibly that several of my friendships dissolved as my peers became obsessed with tiktok and boys with weird haircuts, and I with analyzing the themes of Lord of the Flies. Perhaps it was the revelation that the matriarchy of middle school was based on whether or not you were athletic, followed by that I was not, and once again followed by that my best friend was. Maybe it was simply because it was eighth grade, and nobody likes eighth grade.  \nWhatever the reason, I found middle school a bleak affair that I couldn’t be more eager to rid myself of. It was late second quarter, school wouldn’t be ending any time soon, and I needed a way out. So, I got the idea to reread The Heroes of Olympus, a series that I had loved back when I still thought school dances could be fun and that group projects could be fair. The plot centered around a group of seven friends, four boys and three girls, embarking on great magical adventures to save all of humankind. It was a pretty standard fantasy book. I absolutely loved it. The villains were incredibly well written. The protagonists felt so real and, suddenly, I wasn’t so lonely. The scenery had such a vivid description that I could forget that I was sitting in my math class whilst blatantly ignoring the lesson and trying to ignore the kid behind kicking my seat as if he were a toddler on an airplane. All of that coupled with some of the best humor known to the fantasy genre made the book a top choice for someone who didn’t want anything to do with reality for a few hours. Even the romance subplots, which I normally thought were highly unnecessary, added depth to the plot and contributed to the character arcs. And with that, let me introduce you to my dear, fictional friend Leo Valdez.  \nI found him to be the most relatable character for one reason only: he was kind of a loser. Leo watched all of his friends pair off, start dating, and ignore him completely. He got blamed for destruction of a village, which wasn’t event remotely his fault. He was constantly looked down upon by his best friend, Jason, even after he saved his life a few dozen times. Also, he was, quite literally, cursed.  \nBut the worst part, in my opinion, is a line spoken by a character called Nemesis who, if you hadn’t guessed, wasn’t an incredibly nice person. She rudely stated thusly,  \n“You will always be an outsider. A seventh wheel. You will find no place among your brethren.”  \nA bit over the top, but she was right. Leo moves on from this encounter, proceeds to save the world, and then sacrifices himself for the best friend that didn’t appreciate him. The end.  \nThe day before Christmas break, I found myself seated around a table in the science room with six other girls that I had formerly considered myself to be great friends with (until they discovered their love for tiktok and boys with weird haircuts) . They had all paired off and were talking about guys or horses or stock markets or whatever it is they talked about. As I  \npondered which would be more painful, trying to engage in a conversation or walking straight  \nout of the building and into oncoming traffic, I was reminded of the words from Nemesis,“You will always be an outsider. A seventh wheel.”  \nI certainly did not appreciate the symmetry. In fact, I found it quite rude that my memory should happen to bring up that particular quote.  \nSecond semester ambushed me with a host of new and interesting things to worry about- I got shin splints during track season, had a few dozen near-death experiences while trying to navigate the school parking lot, skipped MORP, got harassed for skipping MORP, prayed for the apocalypse. Basic stuff-and I didn’t have a whole lot of time to think about Nemesis. I actually found mysel","cbCaid2dOjbYrP7b","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaid2dOjbYrP7b","pdf",72027,1,3,"English","en",105,"# A Pessimist’s Reading List\n## Eighth Grade and Escape Through Fantasy\n## Leo Valdez: Outsider Relatability and Sacrifice\n## Nemesis’s Quote and Social Symmetry\n## Second Semester Pressures and Finding Other Books\n## Struck By Lightning: Carson Phillips’s Dilemma","[{\"question\":\"Why does the narrator feel eighth grade is especially bleak?\",\"answer\":\"The narrator cites dismal routine, friendships breaking apart, and social judgments tied to athletic status, culminating in the belief that nobody likes eighth grade.\"},{\"question\":\"How does The Heroes of Olympus help the narrator during math class and beyond?\",\"answer\":\"The vivid fantasy setting, strong villains, humor, and relatable characters make the narrator feel less lonely and provides an escape from school reality for a few hours.\"},{\"question\":\"What key line shapes the narrator’s view of being an outsider?\",\"answer\":\"Nemesis tells Leo, “You will always be an outsider. A seventh wheel. You will find no place among your brethren,” and the narrator later feels this message reflects their own experience.\"},{\"question\":\"What problem drives Carson Phillips in Struck By Lightning?\",\"answer\":\"Carson ends up blackmailing the school for his literacy magazine to gain college acceptance, but when his acceptance is destroyed and he misses enrollment, he must remain in Clover and fears a future of endless misery.\"}]","A Pessimist’s Reading List - 1st Place Stuckey Essay Contest - Addison Rinehart | PDF",1787783296,5,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":89,"head_meta":91,"extra_data":93,"updated_unix":28},"a-pessimists-reading-list-1st-place-stuckey-essay-contest-addison-rinehart","",{"@graph":36,"@context":88},[37,52,67],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,49],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",{"item":50,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":51},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/a-pessimists-reading-list-1st-place-stuckey-essay-contest-addison-rinehart/148689/",4,{"url":50,"name":13,"@type":53,"author":54,"headline":13,"publisher":56,"fileFormat":59,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":60,"datePublished":61,"encodingFormat":59,"isAccessibleForFree":62,"interactionStatistic":63},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":55},"Person",{"url":41,"name":57,"@type":58},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-06","2026-08-26",true,{"@type":64,"interactionType":65,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":66},"ViewAction",{"@type":68,"mainEntity":69},"FAQPage",[70,76,80,84],{"name":71,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":73},"Why does the narrator feel eighth grade is especially bleak?","Question",{"text":74,"@type":75},"The narrator cites dismal routine, friendships breaking apart, and social judgments tied to athletic status, culminating in the belief that nobody likes eighth grade.","Answer",{"name":77,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":78},"How does The Heroes of Olympus help the narrator during math class and beyond?",{"text":79,"@type":75},"The vivid fantasy setting, strong villains, humor, and relatable characters make the narrator feel less lonely and provides an escape from school reality for a few hours.",{"name":81,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":82},"What key line shapes the narrator’s view of being an outsider?",{"text":83,"@type":75},"Nemesis tells Leo, “You will always be an outsider. A seventh wheel. You will find no place among your brethren,” and the narrator later feels this message reflects their own experience.",{"name":85,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":86},"What problem drives Carson Phillips in Struck By Lightning?",{"text":87,"@type":75},"Carson ends up blackmailing the school for his literacy magazine to gain college acceptance, but when his acceptance is destroyed and he misses enrollment, he must remain in Clover and fears a future of endless misery.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":50,"og:type":90,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":57,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":92,"canonical":50},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":95},[96,100,103,107,111,116,121,126,131,134,138],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},80,"literature",{"id":51,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":104,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":106},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":113,"show_sort_weight":114,"slug":115},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":118,"show_sort_weight":119,"slug":120},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":122,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":123,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":125},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":129,"slug":130},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":129,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":132,"show_sort_weight":129,"slug":133},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":135,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":136,"show_sort_weight":135,"slug":137},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":139,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":140,"show_sort_weight":29,"slug":141},19,"General","general"]