[Delacroix]

I'm looking for books or stories about characters who initially are ridiculed or ostracized for being different, but by the end of the story, their difference is in fact a strength. So far I've come up with the story of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and the Ugly Duckling. Stories of late bloomers I'm also interested in, for example, I'm making this up, a story of a tree that is ridiculed for being tiny winds up towering over the other trees because s/he was born a redwood and the others were oaks or something

 

[Delacroix]

I'm also interested in discussing one of the impressions I have of the Ugly Duckling, that of the Swans being superior to the ducks. I'm not sure that was an intended theme of the story, but it's certainly one that I came away with. It's been a few years since I've read it though!!

 

[shyvr6]

My name's Forrest Gump. People call me Forrest Gump.