In the short story “I Go Along” by Richard Peck, a boy named Gene finds himself on an English class field trip he didn’t expect to go on to hear a poet reading. While on the bus, he is trying to avoid other students and keep a low profile, but a girl from his grade named Sharon Wills sits beside him. They go to the poet reading, and even though Gene seems to disagree with what the poet is saying, some of the time he seems to actually enjoy it.
The story is called I Go Along because Gene is a conformer. He seems to like doing what everyone else is doing to fit in, and does not want to speak out much. He likes to keep a low profile and avoid drawing attention to himself, but it seems that the poet actually brings up some emotions in him and
