Standing for Socks

by Elissa Brent Weissman

Who knew that socks could cause so many problems? Twelve-year-old Fara Ross started wearing mismatched socks so she’d stand out from the crowd—but now instead of listening to her great ideas about recycling and school fundraisers, kids only notice her socks! And since she’s running for sixth-grade class president, Fara really needs to get the right kind of attention. If she could, she’d stop wearing socks forever, but how can she get rid of what made her popular to begin with? And what is she going to do about her best friend, Jody, who thinks Fara only cares about winning?

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Childrens, Contemporary, Middle Grade, Novels, Friendship

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 2009

About the author

Elissa Brent Weissman is an award-winning author of novels for young readers. Best known for the popular Nerd Camp series, she and her books have been featured in Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, NPR’s “Here and Now,” and more. Named one of CBS Baltimore’s Best Authors in Maryland, Elissa spent many years in Baltimore City, where she taught creative writing to children, college students, and adults. She currently lives in Christchurch, New Zealand with her husband and their two super cool nerds-in-training.

Reviews

[Aleta]

*Contains Spoilers



Welcome to Stockville, (AKA Socksville) Where young Fara Ross lives a ordinary life. That is until she makes the monumental mistake of wearing mismatched socks!
The people of Socksville are mesmerized, except for the evil Melodee Simon, who is evil because she utters snide comments to others—nevermind that others are unkind to her, that's not important— she says that Fara's socks are lame. *gasp*

Anyway Fara decides that wearing mismatched socks makes a statement about freedom and individuality. The only problem is now people only seem to see her socks! Allowing the evil Melodee to "steal" away the Harvy award (an award given to the best of students),leaving Fara to eat her own socks.

Sooo evil.

Fara decides to use her socks for good! She will use them to win the student council election, and become the perfect class president. The evil Melodee decides to run too, causing everyone to roll their eyes.

No one will vote for her! She's so evil, even the teachers hate her!

Meanwhile Fara's friend Jody writes an article about just how uhhhhmaaaazing Fara is for wearing mismatched socks. Fara soon starts to get letters from others who face sock related woes.

Could it be true? Fara had thought she was alone in the sock problem department, but now she's aware of the fact that there are others like her. Bolstered by this revelation, she forms the SOCKINENTAL CONGRESS, a safe place for those facing sock trauma.

Only problem is this gets on TV, which counts as outside publicity, which is against the rules of the student council election! Oh no! Poor Fara is disqualified, and loses her friends in the process, because... drama? The Evil Melodee wins by default and plunges Fara into despair.

Fara soon develops a Harry Potter book 5 complex, believing that no one can understand her suffering. Is mismatched socks her cross to forever bear? Will she be doomed to hear sock puns every other sentence?

Enough! She decides, this will not destroy her. She then wins back her friends easily, because that was a subplot.

At School she is called into the principal's office, where she learns that Melodee cheated! Or rather Melodee's mother did. Ms. Simon had alerted the press to the Sockinental Congress, to trick Fara into getting disqualified!

Melodee is then forced to give up her glorious title of class president, and neither she nor Fara may reign. Oh well. But wait! Fara has another friend, who also has good ideas for the school. Who knew? Anyway this friend runs, and wins, leaving Fara free to match her socks with pride.

The End.

Did this review intrigue you? If not avoid this book at all costs.

[Katie Zarzour]

Standing For Socks was a really good book where I really felt like the main character, Fara. Elissa Brent Weissman is such a great writer, and really made me feel like I was a part of the story. She really makes you enter this alternate universe that is so different, but I knew I belonged in. I gave this book 5 stars, because I didn't want to stop reading it, and Fara now plays a part in my life. This book stays with me in so many ways, whenever I put on mismatched socks now, I always think of Fara and the very first day she put on those two different colored socks. This book was a really good piece of text, and I recommend it to anyone who like to dive into books face first, and find where they fit in to a story. Standing For Socks was a great story, and I really enjoyed reading it.

[Kathy]

Good idea for the plot. Making a statement by wearing different socks. But the message drags on a bit too long.

[Kristi]

I had a love/hate relationship with this book.

I loved the idea, I hated that it veered toward the absurd.

Overall, it was a cutesy read and a girl in 3rd or 4th grade might find it enjoyable, but not memorable.

[Mahika Gupta]

Really Nice Book!!! May Look bad but is really really good

[Molly Lakritz]

The book Standing For Socks is a realistic fiction book by Elissa Brent Weissman. It revolves around a girl named Fara after she started wearing mix-matched socks to school everyday. She used that gained popularity to run for student council president, but problems arise from that. I liked this book, but it could have been a little better in my opinion. I felt like everything was just a little predictable, which caused me to not be too invested in the book. Also, it all felt very unrealistic. The reaction to her wearing crazy socks was way too enthusiastic. It was still a nice read because it gives you a feel of the mindset of a middle schooler, which was interesting.
So, I'd overall rate this a 3/5. It had a few points that turned me off like the unrealistic parts of it, but it was still a fun read.
-Molly Lakritz

[Susan Miller]

I picked up this book because it was about socks (which I knit) and because it was about mismatched socks (which my grandson is prone to do). The storyline was about making a difference in both your own life and in your community. It starts with mismatched socks as a way to express independence and freedom. As the story continues it becomes more than that and especially the importance of friendship. This book would be appropriate for later elementary and middle school students.

I donated this book to a Little Free Library in my Savannah, GA neighborhood.

[Celina Seuranen]

This was a book of a sock-time! It had a funny start to the story, but it soon became less sock-tastic! It started to fail and Fara Ross didn't really like the idea anymore! But soon enough it was the only thing she hated. I won't spill any more details but just so you know, this book is sock-tacular!

[AlessaReads]

I think it was very nice.

[Raisa]

It’s a nice book, some moment long.
For girls it’s good, have some moments funny,j joke for kids.

[Kristen Strocchia]

A quietly cute slice of middle school life, built around a hyperbolic take on the originality of mismatched socks.

[madalyn ( polaroid books )]

Standing for Socks is about a girl named Fara Ross and she accidentally comes to school wearing mismatched socks. She got her other sock all dirty and you know, nobody wants to wear a dirty sock for seven to eight hours.

After when Fara comes to school, nobody can't stop talking about Fara and her mismatched socks, so she started to wear a different pair of mismatched socks every single day to school, including her first few days of middle school.

When the class election is coming up, Fara has great and amazing ideas for her school, but her mismatched socks get in the way of everything; her life, her friends, and her class election. Will she become class president or will everything sock?

Well I just want to say that this could happen in real life if you lived on another planet. I wear mismatched socks ALL OF THE TIME and guess what? Nobody ever says anything to me. It is completely normal to wear two different pairs of socks on both of your feet. I do it all of the time and I bet you do it too. That is the only major problem I had with the book. It was halfway unreal to me.

On the other hand, I really loved how Fara was passionate about making the world, starting with her middle school, a better place. She has been wanting to make a difference ever since she was little. I love Fara's determination and strength. I also love how Fara sets a great example for young girls everywhere in the world.

Standing for Socks really rocks, so I am giving it three stars. I loved this book, but it isn't a book that I would read 24/7. ★★★✩✩

[Ashley Saunders]

Weissman, E. (2009) Standing for socks. New York. Atheneum Books for Youth Readers.

Choice Fiction- Contemporary Realistic

Bank Street Best Books of the Year recipient

This book is a humorous tale about a girl and her socks. Fara is a normal child who happens to have a passion for saving the environment. In the fifth grade Fara makes a mistake one morning that turns her entire fifth grade experience around. She accidentally wears mismatched socks to school one day and it becomes her trade mark at school. She quickly realizes that the socks might be more popular than herself. When she arrives at middle school she wants to start fresh and run for class president to help the school become more eco-friendly. Could the socks that she is getting so tired of help her win? This book is best suited for students between grades 4 and 6. I would partner up with the art teacher in the school for students to do craft creating their own socks that reflect their interests and personalities. The socks of course should not match.

[Jennifer Wardrip]

Reviewed by Jane Kinner for TeensReadToo.com

STANDING FOR SOCKS is the quirky and fun tale of Tara, a sixth grader who makes a statement. This book shows the reality of middle school - one little nuance and you could be branded for life.

In Tara's case, wearing mismatched socks opens up a whole can of worms.

At first a statement of personality and individuality, it soon inspires her to run for student council president, a goal many kids today would not be confident enough to aspire to.

This is truly a cute story about making a difference. It is real and fresh, and I really enjoyed reading it, as I could relate to a lot of the events in the tale. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a light, enjoyable read.

[Sandra Stiles]

Fara Ross accidently wears two different socks to school. Everyone takes it to mean she is expressing her individuality. She starts a whole trend she wasn’t trying to start. She has become very popular and believes if she runs for Student council president she stands a chance of winning. Inadvertently she closes out her best friend. Suddenly everyone is becoming more focused on her socks and not on her issues such as recycling. Fara learned some valuable lessons through the experience. This was a fun book full of “sock jokes and puns”. I think my students will really enjoy it.

[Jamies]

This was a really good book and I enjoyed it a lot. It's about a girl named Fara who one day accidentally wears mismatched socks. Then she starts a school phenomenon! Fara is now known as "Sock girl" and according to some people is famous. But things get more complicated when her nemesis Melodee Simon is also running for student council president. Fara really wants to make a difference and for people to remember her not just for her socks. This book was really funny and I definitely recommend it!

[Fashiongirlgoldberg]

Not a bad book, more like three and a half stars. I thought it was kind of weird how she invited all these total strangers (who for some even weirder reason hated socks) to "the sockinental congress". It was lame how the mother of the little spoiled rich girl got Farra disqualified on purpose. I mean come on, no parent who is supposedly president of the PTA is that stupid and immature. But it wasn't a bad book, a nice easy read.

[Ellen]

What happens when a "seriously popular" girl simply wants to be taken seriously? Fara is known far and wide for her mismatched socks, the result of a hasty accident on the way to school one morning. She enjoys her notoriety at first, but when it starts to define who she is, it begins to sour the fun. This middle school quest for student body president is a blast of humor and includes characters readers will easily relate to.

[Rebecca Heywood]

I liked this story. I especially liked the message. That you can make a difference without having to get all the credit, or be in charge of something yourself. I also liked how she expressed that sometimes we can be so unique and different that we then become stuck in always being that way, because that is what people expect from you. So, in expressing your freedom, you have lost your freedom.

[Christine Crawford]

This book was not unenjoyable, but the plot is kind of lame - I can't imagine people caring this much about socks. And it seems like it's really trying to teach a lesson, but I'm not even sure what that is. I guess it's that you're supposed to be yourself, but I don't think it does a great job of it.

[Addison Children's Services]

Fara has a sock mishap and is late for school so attends with mismatched socks. This attracts so much attention that she makes it her thing. When she runs for class president, everyone knows who she is, and she is a shoe-in (so to speak). Ultimately the sock gig gets in the way of her presidential bid.

[Kristopher Jansma]

OK I'm absolutely biased here because Elissa is a friend of mine. But in any event, I high recommend this book! Great gift for a younger reader, or for those of us who have not thoroughly given into adulthood.

[Sandy]

I really enjoyed this book. I liked progressive, thoughtfully spunky Fara and her socks. Would definitely give to middle-grade readers. This is a better-than-average school-and-friendship story, largely because of its fun, quirky premise.

[Lynn]

A good enough middle grade book. A bit didactic at times -- especially at the beginning -- but it grew on me. OMHO, I think a better book about being your own quirky self is "A Crooked Kind of Perfect" by Linda Urban.

[Rosa]

This book was pretty good, despite being targeted toward readers a bit younger than me. It surprised me a couple times and the idea is cute and original. It was definitely an interesting book to read, and it has changed my view of socks. :)

[Juliana]

I really liked the book. it had parts where there were problems and happy parts, but like all books, it ended good. There was a lot of drama and emotion, which was one of the reasons I liked it so much.

[Sharon]

i read this book back when it was a wee l'il manuscript and thought it was just about the cutest book ever. i look forward to sharing this one with my (many) little cousins

[Niasia]

very great

[Lynda]

Interesting story about a young girl and her friends learning to stand up for what they believe in and that you do not need to be the same as everyone else.

[Deirdre]

This was a good book! I really liked the plot, and I felt like I could relate to most of the characters.