Carolyn Mackler

“Never underestimate yourself”

“The one thing I do remember is that as I retraced my steps through all the familiar streets of my life, Inow felt completely lost.”

“I miss CDs. I miss listening to a whole album, even the lame songs that sometimes grow on you.”

“I think that being bullied is a shameful experience.”

“Hey, I wish we hung out more in high school. Why didn’t we?”“I was hiding,” Jake said thoughtfully.“Me too.”“You?”“In my own way.”Hearing that made Jake wonder if they’d all been in hiding, if he hadn’t been the only one who’d felt alone for so much of high school.”

“My own experience being bullied - it made me a more compassionate person. It made me more sympathetic to the adolescent experience.”

“Prior to being bullied, I was a very footloose sixth-grader. You know, I was quirky, I was creative - I really felt good in my own body. And when I was bullied in seventh grade, my self-esteem tanked.”

“Everything you do to other people affects them, and how you treat people affects them.”