Misdirected is the story of fifteen-year-old Ben, who moves to a small conservative Colorado town where his atheism seems to be the only thing about him that matters to everyone. His classmates bully him for not fitting in, his teachers don’t understand him, and with his brother serving in Iraq and his sister away at college with problems of her own, Ben is left on his own to figure things out. Being a teen is tricky to navigate when you’re an outsider, and Ben struggles to find his place without compromising who he is. He rebels against his teachers, he argues with his classmates, and he rejects what others believe, bringing the reader with him on his enlightening journey as he learns the value of challenging accepted beliefs—including his own. Gr 6–10—Ben's parents believe that private schools provide better educations, so, despite being part of a nonreligious family, he has always attended a Catholic school. The summer before his sophomore year, the family relocates and the teen is enrolled in Christian Heritage Academy. He is used to prayers and theology classes, but his former school had a diverse student body from a variety of religions. He is totally unprepared for the fundamentalist Christian beliefs that define every student and aspect of life at the Academy. Ben tries to be respectful but refuses to lie about his own beliefs, admitting that he is an atheist, inadvertently turning himself into the school pariah. Only his new girlfriend, Tess, who must sneak time with him because of her disapproving family, makes his life bearable. Ben deals by focusing on maintaining a high GPA, believing college will be his ticket out of the narrow-minded town. He is tasked with supporting creationism over evolution, and he's unwilling to sacrifice scientific evidence to what he believes. When his well-documented paper receives an F and he is subsequently physically accosted by the school bully, his frustration boils over into a tirade of expletives and Christian-bashing aimed at students and teachers. Realizing afterward that his behavior displayed the same level of intolerance as theirs, he struggles to find a way to make amends. Berman tackles religious intolerance from an unexpected angle that will hit close to home for many and spark interesting discussion.—Cary Frostick, formerly at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA "Berman tackles religious intolerance from an unexpected angle that will hit close to home for many and spark interesting discussion." — School Library Journal "There's a lesson for us all in there - atheist and religious alike - to what extent should we tolerate the intolerant? ... Misdirected has an easy, colloquial style and it's a pleasure to read. Its characters are credible and well-rounded and I really did love Ben, who tells the odd white - and sometimes a shade of grey - lie but who is, at heart, honest and open with himself as well as others. I really wanted him to find a way to cope with his troubles and come out smiling." — The BookBag (UK) "What a great swan dive into the world of literature."  —Amos Lassen ALI BERMAN is the author of  Choosing a Good Life: Lessons from People Who Have Found Their Place in the World . Her writing has appeared in  Unsaid Literary Journal, Elimae, Used Furniture Review  and  Puerto del Sol,  among others. She works as a humane educator for HEART, teaching children about issues affecting people, animals, and the environment. Berman resides in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two cats.  Misdirected  is her first novel.