There was a war. This is where it ended.
I can't tell you exactly when it changed, when it spiraled out of control like a kite twisting in the wind. When it stopped being something funny and clever and became something else. Maybe there was no single moment. Maybe underneath all the squares plastered on the walls and notebooks and windows there was the same message over and over. We just ignored it because it was easier to stomach that way.
I know what you are going to say: sticks, and stones, and broken bones. But words can kick you in the gut. They wriggle underneath your skin and start to itch. They set their hooks into you and pull. Words accumulate like a cancer, and then they eat away at you until there is nothing left. And once they are let loose there really is no taking them back.
I can't tell you exactly when it changed, when it spiraled out of control like a kite twisting in the wind. When it stopped being something funny and clever and became something else. Maybe there was no single moment. Maybe underneath all the squares plastered on the walls and notebooks and windows there was the same message over and over. We just ignored it because it was easier to stomach that way.
I know what you are going to say: sticks, and stones, and broken bones. But words can kick you in the gut. They wriggle underneath your skin and start to itch. They set their hooks into you and pull. Words accumulate like a cancer, and then they eat away at you until there is nothing left. And once they are let loose there really is no taking them back.
What people are saying...
"The characters, both adult and teen, are vivid, flawed, and approachable. Anderson dives into the world of middle school with a clear sense of how it works and what it needs. Kids, and the rest of the world, need more books like this one."
- Kirkus, starred review
"Anderson captures the tumultuous joys and pains of middle school with honesty, creating characters with whom readers will find common ground and insight. Words have lingering and persistent power, Anderson makes clear, but so does standing up for others and making one’s voice heard."
- Publishers Weekly, starred review
Written with understated humor and fine-tuned perception, Frost's first-person narrative offers a riveting story as well as an uncomfortably realistic picture of middle school social dynamics....This rewarding novel should resonate with many readers." - Booklist, starred review
"Acute observations about social media and school life and a smart, engaging narrator make this a journey well worth taking. Readers might even want some Post-it notes to mark the good parts."
- Horn Books
"A forceful book that focuses on bullying and the development of friendships in middle school amid exploration of the power of words."
- School Library Journal
Meet the characters...
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I'm still not sure what it was about that day, that trip, that moment. Maybe it was the four of us daring each other to pee in the Muskegon River, or Bench climbing a tree and getting his undies snagged on a branch, or Deedee claiming to have found a print in the mud that he swore was from a velociraptor. Or maybe we all just subconsciously realized that there was strength in numbers. Looking back on it, I think it had to be something like getting lost in the woods. Otherwise we might have just gone on ignoring each other. I don't want to make it out to be some big gooey, sappy thing. We didn't share the same pair of traveling pants or promise over spit shakes to be BFFs. We just kind of glommed together. And we managed to stay that way for two whole years. Just the four of us. Pretty much perfect.
Then she came along. And the war started.
And everything came unglued.
Then she came along. And the war started.
And everything came unglued.
The Sticky-note Challenge
The challenge is simple: Go get a pad of Post-it notes (twenty, fifty, a hundred) and vow to use every single one of those notes to say something kind or complimentary about someone you know. Keep the pad of notes in your backpack so that you can leave messages of gratitude, admiration, encouragement or support whenever the occasion arises. Give yourself a set amount of time to use up all your notes (a day, a week, a month); then kick back and bask in the warm, fuzzy karma, knowing you helped lift up the spirit of the world.
The challenge is simple: Go get a pad of Post-it notes (twenty, fifty, a hundred) and vow to use every single one of those notes to say something kind or complimentary about someone you know. Keep the pad of notes in your backpack so that you can leave messages of gratitude, admiration, encouragement or support whenever the occasion arises. Give yourself a set amount of time to use up all your notes (a day, a week, a month); then kick back and bask in the warm, fuzzy karma, knowing you helped lift up the spirit of the world.
