I see how easy it could be to slip through high school and not have to say much, not have to put yourself out there. If you don't play on a team or the chess club or write for the school paper, people might never have to notice you. But maybe that's not a good thing. Maybe you really should put yourself -- your doubtful, curious, hopeful, nervous-but-willing self -- out there. To see what happens.

Ella Kessler, Age 15
Day 11
Dallas, Texas

 

From "Throwing Like a Girl" by Weezie Kerr Mackey

Throwing Like a Girl, nominated for Best Young Adult Book, 2007, by the Texas Institute of Letters.