Worser

by Jennifer Ziegler

Overview

A bullied 12-year-old boy must find a new normal after his mother has a stroke and his life is turned upside down.

William Wyatt Orser, a socially awkward middle schooler, is a wordsmith who, much to his annoyance, acquired the ironically ungrammatical nickname of “Worser" so long ago that few people at school know to call him anything else.

Worser grew up with his mom, a professor of rhetoric and an introvert just like him, in a comfortable routine that involved reading aloud in the evenings, criticizing the grammar of others, ignoring the shabby mess of their house, and suffering the bare minimum of social interactions with others.

But recently all that has changed. His mom had a stroke that left her nonverbal, and his Aunt Iris has moved in with her cats, art projects, loud music, and even louder clothes. Home for Worser is no longer a refuge from the unsympathetic world at school that it has been all his life.

Feeling lost, lonely, and overwhelmed, Worser searches for a new sanctuary and ends up finding the Literary Club—a group of kids from school who share his love of words and meet in a used bookstore– something he never dreamed existed outside of his home. Even more surprising to Worser is that the key to making friends is sharing the thing he holds dearest: his Masterwork, the epic word notebook that he has been adding entries to for years.

But relationships can be precarious, and it is up to Worser to turn the page in his own story to make something that endures so that he is no longer seen as Worser and earns a new nickname, Worder.

A New York Times Best Children's Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Editors’ Choice Selection

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823449569
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	03/15/2022
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	661,408
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Jennifer Ziegler is an author of books for young adults and middle graders, including How Not to Be Popular, Revenge of the Flower Girls, and Revenge of the Teacher’s Pets. She is on the faculty of Vermont College of Fine Arts’ MFA program on Writing for Children and Young Adults. Like Worser, she is a lover of words, word play, puzzles, libraries, and bookstores. Unlike Worser, she was never sent to the principal’s office. Jennifer lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, author Chris Barton. Visit her at jenniferziegler.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/04/2022

In this memorable depiction of grief, loss, and life-altering change, white 12-year-old word aficionado and contrarian William Wyatt Orser, nicknamed Worser, struggles to accept the help of others in the aftermath of his mother’s stroke. Seeking a refuge to focus on his “Masterwork”—a lexicon years in the making—and escape his prying aunt Iris, the creative and emotive younger sister to his no-nonsense college professor mother who moves in to provide care, Worser becomes a regular at a quiet used bookstore run by a standoffish bookseller. When his longtime crush Donya Khoury, cued by her surname as Middle Eastern, also needs a place to escape, Worser suggests the bookstore and finds himself letting others in for the first time since his father’s death eight years earlier. Ziegler’s (Revenge of the Teacher’s Pets) compassionate characterization of Worser, whose unaddressed fear and grief often cause him to lash out and deflect from his own shortcomings, and nuanced portrayal of his changing relationships with his family and friends make this character-driven narrative a cathartic and emotionally charged experience. Ages 9–12. Agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 2021-12-24
A standoffish human thesaurus learns lessons beyond his hallowed knowledge of words.

Following his widowed mother’s stroke, bookish seventh grader William “Worser” Orser is obligated to endure his artistic, emotional aunt as caretaker for them both. If life at home before was sensibly beige, now it’s obnoxiously purple. His one haven is the school library, where he avoids people and develops his Masterwork, an over-300-page lexicon (he is truly the child of professors). When the library hours are restricted by budget cuts, he relocates to a secondhand bookshop. Happily, his new refuge allows him to help his crush, Donya Khoury, who is desperate for a literary club meeting space. Joining the club by default, Worser feels needed and appreciated and avoids having to see his aunt, her dreadful cats, and (guiltily) his mother’s severely altered state. But nothing is forever. He must face change and learn that etymological accuracy isn’t directly proportionate to compassionate communication. Worser is abrupt and precise with his words, but this wonderfully layered story unfolds its many facets gently: finding refuge, garnering peer appreciation, questioning the way things were, and facing the toll of untreated trauma. Worser reads as White; Donya is presumably of Middle Eastern heritage, and the literary club seamlessly includes racial diversity and queer representation. The author has developed her main character so well it’s hard to believe it’s not biography—but it can certainly pass as the most entertaining New York Times crossword artillery you’ll ever read.

A lexical story of emotional evolution. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews

"Funny, clever and compassionate, Jennifer Ziegler’s 'Worser' is a brilliantly constructed account of a journey to self-knowledge."—The New York Times

★ "This wonderfully layered story unfolds its many facets gently: finding refuge, garnering peer appreciation, questioning the way things were, and facing the toll of untreated trauma. . . . The author has developed her main character so well it’s hard to believe it’s not biography—but it can certainly pass as the most entertaining New York Times crossword artillery you’ll ever read."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

★ "Full of SAT-worthy vocabulary and wordplay, this is a touching story about grief, trauma, and embracing change. This story is especially powerful due to its sensitive depictions of non- death-related grief, which Ziegler accurately captures."—Booklist, Starred Review

★ "Although his voice suits his age and emotional development, Will's prolific vocabulary and witty linguistic games—such as arranging state abbreviations into longer words or appreciating the perfect wetness (and etymological origin) of galoshes—should delight more advanced readers and inspire others to word play, too. A compelling and semantically delightful story for lovers of language and flawed protagonists."—Shelf Awareness, Starred Review

★ "[A] memorable depiction of grief, loss, and life-altering change. . . . [Ziegler’s] nuanced portrayal of [Worser’s] changing relationships with his family and friends make this character-driven narrative a cathartic and emotionally charged experience."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"[Ziegler] has created characters that are so real readers will readily connect and empathize with every one of them. . . . With themes of friendship, kindness, loss, forgiveness, and acceptance woven throughout the well-written chapters, this is the quintessential middle school story. Middle school librarians, teachers, and students will love this this well-crafted coming of age tale."—School Library Connection

"Ziegler ably delineates how words help Worser to find a place in the world and evolve from Worser into ‘Worder,’"—The Horn Book

"Worser . . .  possesses a charming awkwardness that will endear him to readers, and his character arc is satisfying. Outcasts and oddballs of all sorts will find Worser’s story relatable, and fellow word nerds will be especially thrilled by his thoughtful observations on the many eccentricities of the English language."—BookPage

"With tenderness and authenticity, Ziegler delivers an emotional gut-punch for language-loving readers."—Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher

Narrator Daniel Henning creates a matter-of-fact voice for William, nicknamed Worser, a seventh grader who has such passion for words that he's been compiling them into a lexicon. When his mother suffers a stroke, his aunt steps in to help them. Worser has a tough time adjusting to the changes in his mom’s personality and being under the care of his aunt. He seeks refuge by joining a literary group through which he discovers new friends who are eager to help him with his lexicon project. Henning captures Worser’s emotions while also emphasizing his unique personality. Realistic fiction fans will enjoy this coming-of-age story about the importance of family, friends, and acceptance. M.D. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2022 - AudioFile