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One of Us
Roberta is welcomed by different groups on her first day at a new school, only to be told she does not fit in with them for some reason, but by the next day, members of each group have begun to see that they do not have to be alike in every way.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2010
2 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Peggy Moss
9 books1 followerPeggy Moss, children's author of Say Something, Our Friendship Rules, and One of Us,worked as an assistant attorney general in Maine in the civil rights unit and as associate director of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence. Peggy now works with schools across the US and Canada, helping students and educators from kindergarten to the college level create school environments that feel safe for everyone. A freelance writer, Peggy lives in Toronto with her husband and two daughters. "
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 22, 2020
Peggy Moss, whose previous title,
Say Something
, is one of the best picture-book explorations of the topic of bullies and bystanders that I have seen, returns to the world of schoolyard and classroom dynamics in One of Us. A simply told story, it follows newcomer Roberta James through her first day at a new school, where she finds herself continually joining and leaving different cliques, welcomed at first because of some quality or behavior - wearing her hair on top of her head, playing on the monkey bars - and then rejected because of something else - carrying a daisy lunch box, eating a pita roll-up sandwich. Finally, after much trial-and-error, Roberta discovers a group where she truly belongs - a group of individuals!
Moss has a clear didactic purpose here, in highlighting how limiting cliquish behavior can be, but she never descends to the level of preaching, allowing her story to do the teaching for her. Young readers, particularly middle-schoolers, will recognize many of the situations here, as Roberta struggles to find a group where she belongs, and will be encouraged by the conclusion, to think about how important it is to be yourself, and how our differences should be a source of interest, rather than hostility. Penny Weber's colorful illustrations feature a diverse cast of students - of all races and ethnicities, various religions (one girl is wearing a hijab) and abilities (another is in a wheelchair) - and are utterly charming, full of movement and fun! All in all, One of Us is an engaging and helpful book, one I highly recommend to children struggling with issues of peer pressure, and to the adults in their lives.
Moss has a clear didactic purpose here, in highlighting how limiting cliquish behavior can be, but she never descends to the level of preaching, allowing her story to do the teaching for her. Young readers, particularly middle-schoolers, will recognize many of the situations here, as Roberta struggles to find a group where she belongs, and will be encouraged by the conclusion, to think about how important it is to be yourself, and how our differences should be a source of interest, rather than hostility. Penny Weber's colorful illustrations feature a diverse cast of students - of all races and ethnicities, various religions (one girl is wearing a hijab) and abilities (another is in a wheelchair) - and are utterly charming, full of movement and fun! All in all, One of Us is an engaging and helpful book, one I highly recommend to children struggling with issues of peer pressure, and to the adults in their lives.
March 28, 2012
This is a great book to use when teaching about individual differences and diversity. Roberta is new to the school and at first is unsure she will fit in since she is different from the other children. However,she soon discovers that not just her, but all of her classmates are different in many ways and thats okay.
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January 30, 2023Late in the afternoon at the Book Blogger Convention, I struck up a conversation with Sarah from Tilbury House Publishers. She recognized my blog (thank you, Sarah!) and then asked if Betty and Boo would be interested in reading the galleys of two of their newest children's books. I happily accepted and brought both home, explaining the concept of a galley to the kids.
One of Us is a new release, just published on June 1, 2010. It's a delightful story about Roberta, a new student at Baker School who arrives two weeks after classes begin (because of her family's move). In her class, Roberta seeks to find friends who accept her for who she is, not for who others think think she should be.
It's harder than she thought. Roberta plays with the Monkey Bar Gang at recess, but at lunch, they shun her because of the kind of lunchbox she has. At the table where kids have similar lunchboxes, Roberta is mocked for the ethnic food her mother packed for lunch. But, they're all wearing the same kind of shoes. Will Roberta ever fit in?
One of Us is suggested for grades 2-6. Betty and Boo just finished 2nd grade, and I think they're at the perfect age range for this one. (Not quite so sure about a sixth grader.) The book's message about handling peer pressure and the perceived need to conform to others' expectations is one that is especially important at this young age.
Betty and I read this together (Boo is in a phase right now where he will only read and listen to biographies) and she said she "loved it." When I asked why, she said that she liked Roberta's curly hair. Prompted further, she added, "Everyone should be allowed to do what they love and not worry about what other people think."
Yep. What she said.
Among the great aspects of Tilbury House is the Teachers Take Note section for several books on their website, including One of Us. Author Peggy Moss has written extensively on school bullying, a topic that is close to home for our family. I would definitely recommend this book for kids in a new school or just trying to figure out where they fit in.
Thanks so much, Sarah and Tilbury House, for giving me (and my kids!) the chance to review One of Us!
One of Us is a new release, just published on June 1, 2010. It's a delightful story about Roberta, a new student at Baker School who arrives two weeks after classes begin (because of her family's move). In her class, Roberta seeks to find friends who accept her for who she is, not for who others think think she should be.
It's harder than she thought. Roberta plays with the Monkey Bar Gang at recess, but at lunch, they shun her because of the kind of lunchbox she has. At the table where kids have similar lunchboxes, Roberta is mocked for the ethnic food her mother packed for lunch. But, they're all wearing the same kind of shoes. Will Roberta ever fit in?
One of Us is suggested for grades 2-6. Betty and Boo just finished 2nd grade, and I think they're at the perfect age range for this one. (Not quite so sure about a sixth grader.) The book's message about handling peer pressure and the perceived need to conform to others' expectations is one that is especially important at this young age.
Betty and I read this together (Boo is in a phase right now where he will only read and listen to biographies) and she said she "loved it." When I asked why, she said that she liked Roberta's curly hair. Prompted further, she added, "Everyone should be allowed to do what they love and not worry about what other people think."
Yep. What she said.
Among the great aspects of Tilbury House is the Teachers Take Note section for several books on their website, including One of Us. Author Peggy Moss has written extensively on school bullying, a topic that is close to home for our family. I would definitely recommend this book for kids in a new school or just trying to figure out where they fit in.
Thanks so much, Sarah and Tilbury House, for giving me (and my kids!) the chance to review One of Us!
May 10, 2025
One of Us by Peggy Moss delves into themes of finding who you are. The main character finds herself in a new school and fits in quickly. However this does not last long as she keeps being dragged into groups based on what she is like on the surface. The book shows how people can't be grouped based on one characteristic and how we are all deeper than that. Solid book with a good theme, I would recommend it.
October 26, 2018
Nice storyline. This book made me think at school in a different light.
March 24, 2013
One of Us – by Peggy Moss (Illustrated by Penny Webber)
I came across this book during my second school based training and it is clearly written for purpose. That purpose is to get across the message that bullying can come in many guises, some of them subtle, including excluding people from your group. It follows the first day at school for Roberta who meets a number of different groups at school, all of which have their own rules for playing with them. The result is that Roberta feels frustrated and excluded.
Personally I think this book is almost entirely valueless. It spends so much time shoe-horning opportunities for group discussion into the story it ends up missing the central point of what it sets out to achieve. At no point during the story is an adult involved to help remedy the problems Roberta encounters and she never resolves them herself. By the end of the book she has essentially joined a group with their own set of very specific rules for being part of their clan.
The fact Roberta is never supported nor has anyone to talk to is at odds with the kind of environment anyone would wish for within a school. Moreover, no models for individual resolution are proposed so the book neither provides suggestions for independent resolution nor structural support of children suffering bullying. Perhaps this is the point, allowing yet more opportunities for discussion and suggestions for resolution.
As an aside, I find the illustrations anodyne and functional at best doing little to enhance the tedious experience of ploughing through a book that I find utterly patronising and unfit for task.
In the classroom, I would rather make up my own story or seek out another book to stimulate a PSHCE discussion around bullying. In the event I were forced to use this book I would spend a great deal of time highlighting the faults within the school in which the story is set to engender a sense of a supportive community rather than the one put forward in the book.
I came across this book during my second school based training and it is clearly written for purpose. That purpose is to get across the message that bullying can come in many guises, some of them subtle, including excluding people from your group. It follows the first day at school for Roberta who meets a number of different groups at school, all of which have their own rules for playing with them. The result is that Roberta feels frustrated and excluded.
Personally I think this book is almost entirely valueless. It spends so much time shoe-horning opportunities for group discussion into the story it ends up missing the central point of what it sets out to achieve. At no point during the story is an adult involved to help remedy the problems Roberta encounters and she never resolves them herself. By the end of the book she has essentially joined a group with their own set of very specific rules for being part of their clan.
The fact Roberta is never supported nor has anyone to talk to is at odds with the kind of environment anyone would wish for within a school. Moreover, no models for individual resolution are proposed so the book neither provides suggestions for independent resolution nor structural support of children suffering bullying. Perhaps this is the point, allowing yet more opportunities for discussion and suggestions for resolution.
As an aside, I find the illustrations anodyne and functional at best doing little to enhance the tedious experience of ploughing through a book that I find utterly patronising and unfit for task.
In the classroom, I would rather make up my own story or seek out another book to stimulate a PSHCE discussion around bullying. In the event I were forced to use this book I would spend a great deal of time highlighting the faults within the school in which the story is set to engender a sense of a supportive community rather than the one put forward in the book.
February 14, 2012
One of Us by Peggy Moss is about a young girl, named Roberta James, who begins going to a new school. Roberta encounters a variety of groups of people, including a group that has girls with similar hair styles, a group of kids who like to play on the monkey bars, a group that has the same style of lunch box, and more. Roberta goes from group to group based on her interests. I really enjoyed this story because I loved the moral that it teaches to it's readers; this story describes how everyone is different and that it is ok to be different. A quote directly from the book says, "We aren't the same," and another girl replied, "That's the best part!" This is a great thing for children to learn; children need to learn that there are characteristics about everybody that make them unique, and you cannot base your opinion about someone just because of one quality that they possess (i.e. liking to play on the monkey bars or what they are eating for lunch). This message really spoke to me and I think it is important for all children to hear this story! The illustrations in this story were realistic, containing bright colors which draws the reader in. The book contained a montage, where there were some pages that contained several illustrations on the same page. The illustrations and text worked together to create a lifelike story, making it realistic fiction, that allowed readers to experience situations that occur in everyday life. This story presented a real-world challenge and showed how young children solve the problem, and showed readers that they can conquer their problems as well!
October 20, 2014
One of us is a fictional story focused on trying to fit in. The main idea is being true to yourself. Roberta James is the central character; she has just moved and is starting her first day at her new school. While reading this book I noticed it had a lot of silent "E" words. I would use this book to teach about silent "Es" as well as peer pressure and what is lost when we try to fit in. The students would interact with the text by relating it to things they do at their school (eating lunch, playing on the playground). The author and illustrator do not belong to the culture depicted. The author, however, works in a center to prevent bullying and teasing. I felt the author did a great job of depicting a strong main character who was able to stand up for herself. This book can teach that fitting in is not always the best thing and it important to not give into peer pressure that is trying to change you. Roberta did a great job of walking away from people who were trying to change her into something she didn't want to be.
July 29, 2012
One of Us explores the inner-workings of a child's first day at a new school- a potentially stressful and scary time. This engaging book's hero is an individual, a child who refuses to conform to her classmates of definitions of where she belongs. She spends the book flitting from one group of friends to another, looking for the place where she is "one of us." Read to find out if she will conform to her classmates ideas of where she belongs or whether she will stay an individual. This book is great for children who are starting a new school and looking for the "place' where they belong. It encouraged individuality and deals with the issue of bullying and excluding new students. It is a great read for both new students and any classroom where a new student is joining.
September 2, 2010
Without rancor or harshness, this gentle book allows children permission to be themselves, while exploring different social situations. I also like the quiet confidence that Moss's main character exudes. Without drama, she decides for herself who she is. I also love the diversity and the clever drawings. There is a lot going on within each illustration that will engage readers. Wonderful book! Highly recommend it.
October 5, 2010
Grades 2-5. Roberta moves to a new school where different groups of kids tell her where she fits in... kids with certain lunches sit certain places, kids who wear their hair a certain way hang out together, kids who play instead of talk on the playground are supposed to stay together. With so many groups, Roberta ends up sitting alone. Nobody just like her. Until she discovers that she belongs to the biggest group of all.
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March 30, 2012I really enjoyed reading this book. It's a good book to use to teach children that we are all different in our own unique ways and that it is okay to be different. It would be a good read aloud during a discussion about friendship. It is one I would definitely consider reading again not only to my classroom, but my own children.
May 22, 2010
The combination of whimsical illustrations and message driven storyline....there is not a reader that could not benefit from what lies at this books heart. "One of Us" teaches children to embrace the differences in others and "bravely be yourself".
July 31, 2010
Great book about finding friends who accept and celebrate you for who you are. Themes might include: friendship, being unique, school, and diversity.
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February 9, 2011Rec. by Books That Heal: http://booksthathealkids.blogspot.com...
September 13, 2011
Fitting in is always tough, and this book reminds us what it's like to try to fit in as children.
September 28, 2011
This book has a great lesson about being yourself. This would be great to read to a class with a new student.
June 3, 2017
Great book outlining how everyone wants to fit in with a group, people can be excluded, but ultimately we must be proud to be who we are.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews