In The Only One Club by Jane Naliboff, a little girl discovers she is the only Jewish child in the class, so starts a club to make herself feel special. She soon learns that everyone wants to feel special, and that everyone is special in their own way. The entire class ends up in the Only One Club, each for their own, special reason.
My kids are not the only Jewish kids in their class, but they are one of only two Jewish kids in their class. This has always been the case for them, it is not surprising to them, it is their normal.
Their normal is so different than mine was. At least a third of my class (and school and neighborhood) was Jewish where I grew up. I was able to car pool to Hebrew School. A large number of my Hebrew School friends went to elementary or high school with me.
Where we live now is obviously different. My kids will get used to being the only ones, until they get older and make more friends through Hebrew School.
I guess my Only One status hinges on having lived in Africa for a few years. No one else I know here has even visited the continent of Africa.
How about you? What would get you into the Only One Club?
Brooke Rousseau 
I’m going to see if I can get this book from the library. A great topic. I love mustard – maybe that will be my pass into the Only One Club. I am a twin, so I feel kind of insulated from the “only one” issues. I always had a buddy and thankfully, my sis and I remain so. (P.S. I traveled for three weeks to several countries in Africa in 2006. That’s not a unique feature in our “circle” as Hubby served in Peace Corps and there is always someone who served in Africa.)
The only one whose skirt fell down, to her ankles, when she was right up against the stage at a Springsteen concert. Definitely.
I’m the only one who, as a child, decided a good plan for keeping an ice cream cone from melting on a sweltering day was to hold it out the car window… did I mention we were traveling 60 mph at the time? guess who got to wash the car 🙂
Oh, please keep these coming, folks. You have all brightened my day. And Stacy, in the book, a pair of twins gets to join the club because they are the only identical twins in the school.
I can’t wait to read THE ONLY ONE CLUB! I was the only Jewish girl in my grade, and the fictional Penina (in my book Penina Levine Is a Hard-Boiled Egg) is the only Jewish girl in her grade, too.
Neat post, Brooke. It’s never fun to feel left out, so good thinking to start an Only One Club in the book. I was probably the only one in my class who had curly hair that looked messier if you actually combed it. Still remember one of my elementary school teachers insisting on combing my hair for school pictures. The result was a lot of frizz…but it was memorable 🙂
Sounds like a great book. I can’t think of what would get me in the club. Hmmmm, I’ll keep thinking about it.
Love this post and will be looking for this book! I’ve always been the only one, I mean really, there is only one me! lol