Luke Reynolds - Break These Rules. 35 YA Authors on Speaking Up, Standing Out, and Being Yourself

Copyright 2013 by Luke Reynolds

All rights reserved

Be a Jock or a Nerd. Pick a Side. Were at War. Copyright 2013 by Josh Berk; Shhhhh Copyright 2013 by A. S. King; Its Better to Be Safe Than Sorry Copyright 2013 by Matthew Quick; Listening Is a Waste of Time Copyright 2013 by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich; Never Be Alone Copyright 2013 by Francisco X. Stork; Dont Tell Copyright 2013 by Neesha Meminger; Dont Quit Copyright 2013 by Carl Deuker; Be Clean! Copyright 2013 by Gary D. Schmidt; Never Talk About Religion Copyright 2013 by Sara Zarr; Follow the Money, Not Your Heart Copyright 2013 by Lisa Schroeder; Look Like a Magazine Cover Copyright 2013 by Sayantani DasGupta; Dont Tell Lies Copyright 2013 by Leslie Connor; Pretend the Dark Stuff Isnt True Copyright 2013 by Carol Lynch Williams; Dont Daydream Copyright 2013 by Wendy Mass; Go to College After High School Copyright 2013 by Chris Barton; Be Cool Copyright 2013 by Kathryn Erskine; See Yourself Through the Eyes of Others Copyright 2013 by Jennifer Reynolds; Speak Up! Copyright 2013 by Mike Jung; Always Sit in Your Assigned Seat Copyright 2013 by Lyn Miller-Lachmann; Be Normal Copyright 2013 by Jennifer A. Nielsen; Dont Clash with the Crowd Copyright 2013 by Anna Staniszewski; Compare Yourself to Others Copyright 2013 by Luke Reynolds; Be Productive Copyright 2013 by Jennifer Ziegler; Always Know Where Youre Going Copyright 2013 by Brian Yansky; Dont Get Fat Copyright 2013 by Lisa Burstein; Two Is Better than One Copyright 2013 by Natalie Dias Lorenzi; Follow the Directions Copyright 2013 by Tamara Ellis Smith; Grow Up. Be Serious. Copyright 2013 by Tara Lazar; Boys Dont Cry Copyright 2013 by Chris Lynch; The Boy/Girl Rule Copyright 2013 by Pat Schmatz; Be a Man Copyright 2013 by Rob Buyea; Dress Appropriately Copyright 2013 by Margo Rabb; There Are Firm Rules in Life Copyright 2013 by Thanhha Lai; Dont Let the New World Change You Copyright 2013 by Mitali Bose Perkins; Me First

Copyright 2013 by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated

814 North Franklin Street Chicago, Illinois 60610

Cover & interior design: Andrew J. Brozyna

Library of Congress

Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Break these rules : 35 YA authors on speaking up, standing out, and being yourself / edited by Luke Reynolds.

pages cm

Audience: Grade 9 to 12.

ISBN 978-1-61374-784-1 (trade paper)

1. Teenagers--Conduct of life--Juvenile literature. 2. Self-realization--Juvenile literature. 3. IndividualityJuvenile literature. I. Reynolds, Luke, 1980

BJ1661.B725 2013

155.519--dc23

2013011885

Printed in the United States of America

5 4 3 2 1

For the future rule breakers and status quo shakers. (For you.)

JOSH BERK

A. S. KING

MATTHEW QUICK

OLUGBEMISOLA RHUDAY-PERKOVICH

FRANCISCO X. STORK

NEESHA MEMINGER

CARL DEUKER

GARY D. SCHMIDT

SARA ZARR

LISA SCHROEDER

SAYANTANI DASGUPTA

LESLIE CONNOR

CAROL LYNCH WILLIAMS

WENDY MASS

CHRIS BARTON

KATHRYN ERSKINE

JENNIFER REYNOLDS

MIKE JUNG

LYN MILLER-LACHMANN

JENNIFER A. NIELSEN

ANNA STANISZEWSKI

LUKE REYNOLDS

JENNIFER ZIEGLER

BRIAN YANSKY

LISA BURSTEIN

NATALIE DIAS LORENZI

TAMARA ELLIS SMITH

TARA LAZAR

CHRIS LYNCH

PAT SCHMATZ

ROB BUYEA

MARGO RABB

THANHHA LAI

MITALI PERKINS

LYNDA MULLALY HUNT

W hen I went to high school, every 49 minutes a bell would go off, signaling to all of us students that we could now ransack the hallways, notice each others clothes, look cool in front of gobs of other students, andeventuallygo to our next class. When I became a teacher, the bell (or buzzer, rather, in this school) went off every 43 minutes, and I was surprised to see that life in the hallways was exactly the sameexcept for a few minor details: guys wore their pants even further below their ulterior cheeks, girls wore their skirts even shorter, and I saw more people making out in the hallways. But the same mixture of coolness, insecurity, desperate hope, and perspiring fear still imbued the hallway scene.

Becoming a teacher made me start wondering if life had to run according to bells like thisbells that tell us when to sit and when to stand, when to speak and when to remain silent, when to laugh and when to cry, and when to simply run away.

Recently I learned that one of my past students had committed suicide. It had been two years since he was in my English class, and yet the vividness of his laughter and his readiness to launch from his seat and volunteer to play the role of Mercutio in Romeoand Juliet or to share his original ideas for what makes an ideal school were all still so tangible to me. In truth, my student had an enormous love for life, but finding a way to live life as the person he really was had become impossible for him. He had gotten to the point where it seemed easier to let everything goall the voices and all the messages and all the tunnels that lead to What You Are Supposed to Be and Want in Lifeand instead to stop trying. Because the rules are everywhere, and theyre crushing so many people the same way they crushed my student: rules for how a man must act, how a woman must look, who to be friends with, who not to be friends with, how to talk, how to dress, how to think, what to buy, what not to buy, how to feel good, how not to feel good, what grades to get, what college to attend, what to care about, and what love is.

Every day, youre bombarded by what you are supposed to be and its always something other than what you are. Be tougher, be thinner, be smarter, be sexier, be funnier, be quieter, be louder, be better dressed, be more aware of whats cool, be better at: everything. When you flip through the pages of a magazine, watch a movie, see a television commercial, play the latest video game, and go to school, the messages are waiting, ready to leap out at you with fangs and claws and devour you.

But heres the thing. The fangs and claws of this Rule Creating Beast arent sharp and they arent scary and they dont even look threatening. No. Instead, they look tantalizing and tempting. They look like bean bags and couches you sink into and human-sized pillows that will give you comfort. Thats the trick of the Rule Creating Beast. It lunges at you and says, quite clearly, This is what real life is all about! Do this and you will be happy, cool, and respected. And because the system of rules is so strongand because even parents and teachers often obey themits hard to find another way to live. Its hard to find out the other option if you stare long enough at the rules facing you and start to see them for the life-sucking, status quo-enabling mechanisms that they really are.

Ill never forget the day when I was a high school sophomore, sitting in Mrs. Van Aulsbergs history class, and she said the name James Meredith. He was the first black student to be admitted to and then attend the University of Mississippi. The day James Meredith walked onto the college campus, President John F. Kennedy had to call in 500 US Marshals, members of the US Army Military Police, the National Guard, and the US Border Patrol. And all of this military personnel was needed to break one ruleone massively unjust, racist, cruel rule that said that because Mr. Meredith was a black man, he didnt deserve the opportunity to earn a college education at the University of Mississippi. So what did he do? He broke that rule; he said, effectively,