Ms. G. set the form on my desk. “It probably would’ve been easier if you’d remembered to bring it, right?” But she didn’t say it mean. It was more like she was giving my mom some invisible mom points for bringing the form to school when her kid had left it home.

I didn’t say anything, but I knew that Ms. G. knew that I’d heard her.

I went back to the morning message. Without any mistakes, this really was just copying, which now seemed a little boring.

Ms. G. rang her bell. “I have an announcement,” she said.

Bertie’s hand shot into the air.

“Yes,” Ms. G. said, “it is about the Safety Squad.”

Bertie put her hand down.

“I am pleased to announce the members of next year’s Fifth-Grade Safety Squad. I’ll read the list in alphabetical order by first name. Drumroll, please.”

The kids tapped the edges of their desks. I did, too.

The yellow jackets started waking up, but this time they didn’t feel all that tricky or sticky or stingy. Maybe they weren’t yellow jackets after all. Maybe I just had a couple of butterflies in my stomach.

Ms. G. motioned for the drumroll to end.

“Congratulations go to Austin, Bertie, Bodhi, Carlos, Charlene, David A., David C., Dee, Destiny…” I didn’t even hear the end of the list.

Ms. G. had written each name on its own card. She’d done them in fancy, old-fashioned letters and all the colors.

One by one, she stuck the names on the bulletin board where the calendar used to be. I was next to Bertie, not too far from Dee, and right up there with everybody.

When I turned to Bertie, her eyes were extra twinkly-crinkly, and she was smiling her pacific blue smile all the way to the rubber bands.

And I smiled back.

Acknowledgments

Thank you!

Jennifer Weltz and the team at JVNLA for believing in me; Phoebe Yeh, Elizabeth Stranahan, and everyone at Crown for believing in Austin and the value of telling his story; Connie Burton, Adriana Castro, Charlene Kohler-Britton, Jacqueline Mendonsa, Rebecca Mir, Lorraine Mondesir, M. E. Morganteen, Lauren Thomas-Paquin, and all of the inspiring educators it has been my privilege to learn from; and my family.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jennifer Swender was a classroom teacher for many years before writing full-time. Her debut middle-grade novel, Solving for M, was the winner of the 2020 Mathical Book Prize as well as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection and finalist for the Land of Enchantment Book Award, the Georgia Children’s Book Award, and the William Allen White Children’s Book Award. Together with Paul DuBois Jacobs, she is also the author of many picture books and early chapter books. When she’s not writing, Jennifer develops curriculum materials for students and teachers. She lives with her family in Massachusetts.

jacobsandswender.com

What’s next on
your reading list?

Discover your next
great read!