What I Learned from Books in Middle School

6th grade (I don't remember the titles of most of these books, which is kind of sad)

* Trivia contests lead to strong friendships and a deep student-teacher bond.

* Being blind and stranded on an island with a stranger sucks at first, but in the end you become really insightful.

* WWII really, really, sucked for Japanese civilians. (So Far From the Bamboo Grove)

* Utopian societies have a very high potential to squash human rights. (The Giver)

* Being away from home is sad. (The Little Prince)

7th grade: 

* Pirates are really mean, but generally let preteen wannabes join them. (Treasure Island)

* People can change after being scared half to death by visions three ghosts. (A Christmas Carol)

What else did I read that year? I really don't remember. We spent a lot of time learning grammar through Schoolhouse Rock videos.

8th grade:

* Greed is a powerful thing. (The Pearl)

* WWII really, really, sucked for European Jews. (Friedrich)

Those are the only two books I remember reading (and there must have been more… we were an honors class). We did a lot of poetry reading/writing, had a Holocaust unit for 1-2 months, and had a biography project at the end of the year, so maybe that took up the rest of class time?

Looking Good… on the Farm?

When I went to an all-girls equestrian summer camp out in the boonies, where the only guys around were the camp director and very old farmhands, there was still a strong expectation that you made yourself look good. 

Having previously gone to a coed nature camp in the Rhode Island boonies, I was used to wearing casual t-shirts and shorts or pants at camp. We had daily showers, but the days were so highly scheduled, with most of the activities outdoors, that there was very little time to worry about looking pretty. So the fanciest things I brought to the equestrian camp were a yellow tank top and a pair of capris. The riding helmet I had was the kind that looks like a bike helmet with a visor, rather than the black velvet-covered ones. 

At the equestrian camp, showers were limited to twice a week (ten minutes each), because the camp relied on well water and we were sharing the water with 45 horses. Yet this was when I got my first "makeover." The girls who instructed me had brought along hair straighteners and massive makeup kits, along with multiple "going out" outfits (we went out to the movies/ice cream parlor about 1-2 nights a week). After plucking my brows, doing my face, and straightening my hair (which I don't need at all), they wrote a list of clothing and shoe stores.

I wonder what became of these girls in college, where it's socially acceptable to go to class in a hooded sweatshirt and yoga pants (or even leggings). Perhaps they got the fancier hoodies at the campus bookstore and wear velour track pants instead of baggy sweatpants or plain yoga pants. Maybe they still bring a copy of Seventeen or Cosmo to the gym to read at the treadmill. But mostly I wonder if they still offer to curl their roommates' eyelashes and give them fashion-oriented shopping lists.