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Author: John David Anderson
Age Range: 8 - 12 years
Grade Level: 3 - 7
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Walden Pond Press (May 2, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 006233820X
ISBN-13: 978-0062338204
Grade Level: 3 - 7
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Walden Pond Press (May 2, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 006233820X
ISBN-13: 978-0062338204
Book Description:
From John David Anderson, author of the acclaimed Ms. Bixby’s Last Day, comes a humorous, poignant, and original contemporary story about bullying, broken friendships, and the failures of communication between kids.
In middle school, words aren’t just words. They can be weapons. They can be gifts. The right words can win you friends or make you enemies. They can come back to haunt you. Sometimes they can change things forever.
When cell phones are banned at Branton Middle School, Frost and his friends Deedee, Wolf, and Bench come up with a new way to communicate: leaving sticky notes for each other all around the school. It catches on, and soon all the kids in school are leaving notes—though for every kind and friendly one, there is a cutting and cruel one as well.
In the middle of this, a new girl named Rose arrives at school and sits at Frost’s lunch table. Rose is not like anyone else at Branton Middle School, and it’s clear that the close circle of friends Frost has made for himself won’t easily hold another. As the sticky-note war escalates, and the pressure to choose sides mounts, Frost soon realizes that after this year, nothing will ever be the same.
In middle school, words aren’t just words. They can be weapons. They can be gifts. The right words can win you friends or make you enemies. They can come back to haunt you. Sometimes they can change things forever.
When cell phones are banned at Branton Middle School, Frost and his friends Deedee, Wolf, and Bench come up with a new way to communicate: leaving sticky notes for each other all around the school. It catches on, and soon all the kids in school are leaving notes—though for every kind and friendly one, there is a cutting and cruel one as well.
In the middle of this, a new girl named Rose arrives at school and sits at Frost’s lunch table. Rose is not like anyone else at Branton Middle School, and it’s clear that the close circle of friends Frost has made for himself won’t easily hold another. As the sticky-note war escalates, and the pressure to choose sides mounts, Frost soon realizes that after this year, nothing will ever be the same.
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Praise for POSTED
Kids, and the rest of the world, need more books like this one —Kirkus Reviews
EXCERPT
pp. 35-6
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 came from a velociraptor. Or maybe we all just kind of subconsciously realized that there was strength in numbers. That four was better than two and two.
We rode the bus together that afternoon, talking the whole way back to school. About everything. Favorite band. Lame movies. Best video games. Lousy parents. Worst teachers. The smell on the bus (gasoline, damp leaves, sweat). The odd fact that we had never talked to each other before even though we had a few classes together. How strange it was for us to get lost at the same time, to just run into each other in the woods like that. How Deedee’s farts sounded like a dying baby elephant. How Principal Wittingham looked like he was going to pop when he found out the four of us had wandered off on our own. How none of us really liked our first names.
I remember laughing hysterically and eating most of Deedee’s goldfish crackers. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, feeling like I was part of something.
The next day at lunch we found each other and just picked up where we left off.
Mom was right. You make your tribe. Sometimes I hate it when she’s right, but not that time.
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 ting. 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 else came unglued.
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 came from a velociraptor. Or maybe we all just kind of subconsciously realized that there was strength in numbers. That four was better than two and two.
We rode the bus together that afternoon, talking the whole way back to school. About everything. Favorite band. Lame movies. Best video games. Lousy parents. Worst teachers. The smell on the bus (gasoline, damp leaves, sweat). The odd fact that we had never talked to each other before even though we had a few classes together. How strange it was for us to get lost at the same time, to just run into each other in the woods like that. How Deedee’s farts sounded like a dying baby elephant. How Principal Wittingham looked like he was going to pop when he found out the four of us had wandered off on our own. How none of us really liked our first names.
I remember laughing hysterically and eating most of Deedee’s goldfish crackers. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, feeling like I was part of something.
The next day at lunch we found each other and just picked up where we left off.
Mom was right. You make your tribe. Sometimes I hate it when she’s right, but not that time.
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 ting. 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 else came unglued.
About the Author
John David Anderson is the author of Sidekicked, Minion, Standard Hero Behavior, The Dungeoneers, Ms. Bixby's Last Day and Insert Coin to Continue. He lives with his patient wife and brilliant twins in Indianapolis, Indiana, right next to a State park and a Walmart. He does not wear ties but will wear sandals in the snow. He enjoys hiking, reading, chocolate, spending time with his family, playing the piano, chocolate, putting off the dishes, watching movies, and chocolate. Those aren't his real teeth. Seriously. The middle four on top? Lost 'em in a car accident. It's all right, though, the plastic ones look nice and he can still eat corn on the cob.
There are lots of ways to contact him. Telepathy, for example. Carrier pigeon. Alien distress beacon. Sky writing. Failing those, you can always e-mail him here. Be sure to tell him how his book has revolutionized your life, or, barring that, how you used it to smash a bug or something.
There are lots of ways to contact him. Telepathy, for example. Carrier pigeon. Alien distress beacon. Sky writing. Failing those, you can always e-mail him here. Be sure to tell him how his book has revolutionized your life, or, barring that, how you used it to smash a bug or something.
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ReplyDeleteMy most memorable time in middle school would be the basketball games!
ReplyDelete