The Out Crowd is a work of fiction featuring interpersonal drama and social issues and was penned by author Michael A. Kirby. Written for a young adult audience, the work contains some mild profanity but is generally accessible for the full age range of the intended reading audience. The action centers on teen protagonists Hallie and Isaiah, whose lives are turned upside down when their senior year of high school is swamped by rumors and misinformation. As they struggle to get ahead of the rumors and set the record straight, this only causes more confusion, and the whole social hierarchy of Gates High School is sure to come crashing down because of it.

The ins, outs and social intricacies of modern-day high schoolers are something that many of us may not fully understand, or indeed have tried to forget since leaving, so it’s both accurate and harrowing to be thrown back into the lion’s den by author Michael A. Kirby. The text sometimes feels really invasive of Hallie's and Isaiah’s lives, which fits perfectly with the tirades of gossip which they face and the rumors that threaten to suffocate who they really are. For a short read, there’s a lot of issues packed in, which makes this both an entertaining drama and a book that could be used as a valuable teaching aid to show kids how quickly conjecture and opinion can spiral out of control. Overall, The Out Crowd is an emotionally intuitive work and a high-quality teen social drama read.

In The Out Crowd by Michael Kirby, when high school seniors Hallie Flynn, cheerleader, and football hero Joel Boudin take it upon themselves to flaunt their self-imposed royal ranking of the In Crowd, a horde of wannabes compete to be next in line. The school newspaper begins a gossip column at Hallie’s insistence, further dividing the student body at GHS and forcing the underdogs to create their own school rag in retaliation. It isn’t long before the Gates Times and the Gates Sentinel take precedence over academia that results in unprecedented campus regulations having nothing to do with mandated educational curriculum. When Hallie and Joel are unable to enforce their many rules of proper conduct, their henchmen Antenor, T-Bone, and Farouk (flunky former football players) use brutal force as punishment.

The Out Crowd by Michael Kirby brings a fresh twist to the theme of social class superiority. In this satirical take on high school life, the toxic environment ridiculed by reporters from both newspapers demands careful inspection. Michael Kirby uses realistic bully techniques common in many schools today. Two classes of students fight to expose the faults of the other, drawing attention to a dictatorship alien to America. As the desire for social acceptance runs rampant at Gates High School, literary symbolism fills the pages of this disturbing tale of two sides of the track. Fast-moving sentence structure and vivid detail keep the story moving steadily to a satisfying conclusion. Principal Terrence announces mid-way through the story: “As far as this toxicity stuff goes, though, it seems only right for me to step back and let you kids lead the way forward.” The nature of this comment adequately represents the faulty structure of empowerment in today’s society.