Totally Middle School Read online

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  How lucky I am! I’m deeply grateful to Beverly Horowitz, dear friend and brilliant VP and editor in chief of Delacorte Press, for offering me this awesome project. My formidable agent and longtime friend Doe Coover brought it home painlessly (for me, anyway) and in record time. Thanks also to editor Kelsey Horton, who jumped on the TMS train and never let go!

  Emily Meyer at the Cambridge Public Library and Sam Musher and Anna Marsh at the Cambridge Public Schools—on the front lines of middle school every single day—were so helpful to me. Chris Krones provided technical assistance without which this collection wouldn’t have happened. Really.

  As for gratitude for the generous and talented contributors, each of whom agreed to be part of this worthwhile collection without a moment’s hesitation? I am, ironically, without words, but with clear eyes and a full heart.

  I’m thankful every day for the love and support of friends and family (you know who you are) but will mention by name my remarkable daughters, Phoebe and Hilary. I suppose you already know that everything I do is for you.

  ABOUT THE EDITOR

  Betsy Groban grew up in a leafy (sometimes lethal) suburb outside New York City and is a proud graduate of Barnard College, with a degree in English literature. She has always worked at the intersection of culture, commerce, and community—specifically in book publishing, public broadcasting, and arts advocacy. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has two awesome grown daughters, Phoebe and Hilary.

  TOP 10 THINGS TO DO BEFORE MIDDLE SCHOOL

  Surround yourself with the things that make you feel most like yourself: your favorite outfit, pair of shoes, music, hobby.

  Choose a new and very cool nickname for yourself.

  Make sure you know where your bus stop is.

  Learn your way around school, since you’ll be changing classrooms all the time.

  Memorize the combination of your lock.

  Find out as much as you can about what happens in gym. And at lunch.

  Bring a favorite book the first day, just in case.

  Stick a preschool or kindergarten picture of yourself inside your binder to remind you how far you’ve already come.

  Memorize this quote from author/screenwriter/actor/dancer Tim Federle: “Everything that got me picked on as a middle schooler gets me paid now.”

  B-R-E-A-T-H-E.

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