The Year I Stopped Trying

YA fiction 

"The first time was a mistake.  I don't like to admit that because I think this whole thing would be cooler if I'd meant to do it from the beginning for some good reason or even a reason.  

     But the truth is that day, after ten days without incident, I just forgot."

     Mary, protagonist of Katie Heaney's The Year I Stopped Trying, is a high school striver, a guidance counselor's dream come true.  She goes for all the extra credit to maintain a straight A average.  She's in student government.  She works to put away money for college.

     Then one day when her class is told to turn in their history essays Mary is chagrined to realize that she hasn't done hers.  Despite her anxiety the world doesn't come to an end.

     Mary begins to wonder why she's obsessed with achieving a perfection that may not even matter in the end.  What would happen if she slacked off on school work, got less than stellar grades, broke a few rules, or dated a boy with a bad reputation?  What would her relationship with her parents be like if she no longer was the perfect daughter?

     Many teens ponder similar questions.  But Mary is casting caution to the wind and going all out to discover the answers.  You'll want to join her on her risk taking voyage of self discovery.

On a purrrsonal note, one of my internship responsibilities is developing assessments and reporting results to higher ups.  I have so far developed two assessments and had them approved by my supervisor.  I ran them both last Friday.  I did the first at our popular First Friday Bagels and Coffee.  I ran the second at an event I collaborated with the International Students office on.   But that's for my next post.  (Jules)

Now it's getting nice out.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to Eugene who had to spend a lot of his weekend plowing snow instead of having fun.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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