Chapters (68)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Chapter One
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Chapter Two
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Chapter Three
- Ten
- Eleven
- Chapter Four
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Chapter Five
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Chapter Six
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Chapter Seven
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Chapter Eight
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Chapter Nine
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Chapter Ten
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Chapter Eleven
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Chapter Twelve
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Chapter Thirteen
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Chapter Fourteen
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Chapter Fifteen
- The Following Summer
- About the Author
- About the Publisher
“Team one is Alfie, Ashok, and Carolyn. They’ll argue for lowering the voting age and against school uniforms. Ali, Cassie, and Murray will do the opposite. I realized when I pulled the names out of the hat that it’s a bit of the newbies versus those with experience, but I have faith in you, Cassie and Ali! Any questions?”
Ali raised a trembling arm. “I’m not sure I can make it on Saturday.”
Cassie spun around and glared at her.
Ms. Ryder was more understanding. “It’ll be too bad if you can’t make it. Please just let me know before end of day Friday so I can adjust the teams, okay?” Ali nodded.
Ms. Ryder clapped her hands. “Let’s divide into groups and work on your arguments.”
Ali followed Murray and Cassie to the back of the classroom.
Cassie didn’t try to hide her unhappiness. “You said you would go. My mom’s gone to a lot of trouble to organize this.”
Ali swallowed hard. “I need to ask my parents.” She didn’t want them to be mad at her.
“But—”
Murray jumped in. “Stop bugging her, Cass. I told you I have to ask my parents, too.”
Cassie gave a begrudging nod. Drama over, Murray opened his notebook to take notes. “We need to make a list of reasons the voting age should stay at eighteen. Go.”
Ali’s mind was a blank, but Cassie jumped right in. “Eighteen-year-olds are more responsible than sixteen-year-olds. They know more about life.”
“And eighteen is the age that the government considers people adults,” Murray added as he wrote. “Eighteen-year-olds can marry without their parents’ permission—”
“And there’s research that proves that our brains are still developing when we’re teenagers,” said Ali, relieved to add a point. “The closer to adulthood a person is before they can vote, the more they’ll understand what’s important and not important to vote for.” She was happy to see Murray write down her point word for word.
“What kind of arguments do you think they’ll use to counter?” Murray asked.
“I think they’ll argue that if you can drive a car at sixteen, you can vote,” said Ali.
“And that teens have interesting opinions and could shake up politics,” Cassie added.
Murray got excited. “Yeah! Like the kids fighting for gun control and the environment or against racial profiling. Think of the difference they’d make if they could vote.”
“We should do some research on other countries’ voting ages,” Ali suggested.