When sophomore Kristines Tran was in elementary school, classmates would invite her to see some new movie. The answer was no.

Every time.

Tran wanted friends, but she was always the new kid struggling to find some common interests with the other students. She was uninterested in mainstream movies.

The same was true for festivals, farm activities, exploring the city and trips to the mall. Playing childhood games was near impossible. The rules were different as she bounced from town to town.

She simply could not relate. 

As a result, her classmates, unintentionally, left her out, and Tran knew she was a misfit. 

“These moments were frustrating and upsetting as a kid,” Tran said. “I didn’t have the means nor the understanding for many years on how to connect with those my age because of these experiences.”

Plotholes 

Tran constantly moved between California and Texas for her dad’s military service.

“You move around so you’re not really shaped by your environment so much as you are by the people,” Tran said. “And the people are all so diverse. So you just kind of become an amalgamation of a bunch of different cultures.”

As a kid, Tran had an epiphany that her experience was unique after a classmate told her she had been at the elementary school since first grade.

“I had to consciously realize as a kid, ‘Oh, not everyone moves around every two to three years,’” Tran said. “Some people stay in one place forever and that was the craziest realization for little me.”

Social isolation became an emotional maze that Tran found herself wandering through. Lost. But everything changed with one student and one graphic novel.

“Wanting to relate in some way and finding the art of the book intriguing, I got the book during the book fair that year and subsequently fell in love with it and graphic novels in general,” Tran said.

A New Chapter

Picture books were just the first page of her newfound passion. Tran’s classmate got her hooked on chapter books through the series “Warriors” by Erin Hunters.

But, even in literature, Tran felt alienated. She read critically while her peers read casually.

“Most elementary schoolers weren’t going to talk to me about things like characterization, in depth analysis of a character, the themes in a book or the message the author wanted to convey,” Tran said.

Her dad’s military service finally settled down over the summer, allowing both the family and Tran to grow roots. Now, Tran gets to explore her new school and herself.

“If it was like any other time we’ve moved, like, ‘Oh, gonna be gone in like two to three years,’ I’d probably just do what I normally do,” Tran said, “which is do my work and get out of school. ‘What are clubs?’”

Sitting alone at the cafeteria tables, Tran heard something about library passes. Visiting the library became her morning routine, which is when Tran stumbled on The Book Club, people like her.

“Oh, God, I can be a nerd,” Tran thought.

Tran befriended Club President Samara Gibson and other members that were “weird people like her.”

“There’s been a couple times where we bring up something that we enjoy and then we both like dig into it,” Tran said. “And that’s always super fun.”

The deepest conversations unfold with Book Club sponsor Elizabeth Main. 

“I have a lot of conversations about very nerdy subjects that my peers would not be interested in the slightest,” Tran said.

“Star Trek,” grammar differences between languages and centuries-old, Chinese novels made Tran feel that she belonged after trying for years.

Gibson wants Tran to take her spot next year. Though leadership intimidates her because of her lack of experience, Tran feels optimistic.

“I’m fine with it because I can usually try and put it into a perspective of, ‘OK, this isn’t as big of a deal as I’m making,’” Tran said. “If I just treat it like a group project where I’m the one who knows mostly what to do, then it’s a lot easier to handle than, ‘OK , I’m the president of a club now.’”

Now that Tran found a home in Book Club, she plans to recruit to make that home big enough for everyone that needs it.

“I’m definitely going to try and encourage more people to join because I like books,” Tran said. “I want other people who like books to have the opportunity to talk about them.”