Way of the Warrior Kid

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying.

The narrator, Marc, has finally reached the last day of fifth grade, and it has been a terrible year. He’s bored at school, and he hasn’t been doing well in classes, which makes him think he’s not smart. The school lunches are unappetizing, and gym class has been terrible: He’s humiliated because he can’t do a single pull-up, making him “a disgrace to ten-year-olds” (3). Marc embarrassed himself again during a field trip to a lake, when he wouldn’t enter the water because he couldn’t swim. The biggest reason for Marc’s unhappiness is a bully on the playground named Kenny Williamson, the self-described “King of the Jungle Gym” (4), who bosses around the other kids despite the school trying to get rid of bullying. 

Marc is worried that sixth grade won’t be much better, but he that his uncle, Jake, will be visiting over the summer. Jake is a Navy SEAL, and Marc idolizes him: “[H]e is the COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF ME. I am weak—he is strong. I am dumb—he is smart. I can’t swim—he can swim with a backpack on. I’m scared of bullies—bullies are scared of him!” (6).