Heaven

This is not an easy read. It's actually quite heartbreaking. But it was very good.

The unnamed protagonist has a lazy eye and is bullied horribly. He becomes friends with a girl in his class who is also bullied. The reasons for the bullying are different. His is not a choice, but Kojima, the girl, chooses to present herself in certain ways in order to connect with her father, whom she misses, and whom her mother divorced. There is much discussion of weakness as strength, finding meaning in one's abuses, and how people view abuse. One character, a bully named Momose, is basically a psychopath. He never participates but watches from afar. When the protagonist asks him about it, his response is pretty nihilistic.

The extremes are represented by this Momose and Kojima. She seeks meaning in everything; he sees meaning in nothing. These middle schoolers have massive existential crises and manage to elucidate their thoughts in language that most kids their age wouldn't necessarily have. But that isn't a problem here. Even without the necessary vocabulary, a young teen still might feel these things.

There is a modicum of hope. Just a little, for our little hero. But he'll probably have to wait a bit.