Attack of the Black Rectangles

by Amy Sarig King

They seem to believe that rules equal safety—by making more rules, they are keeping us all safe and keeping the town’s reputation spotless.

Ms. Sett thinks that if we even think about “bad things,” our whole town could fall right into the toilet of the world. “Just like all those other towns,” she says.

The adults around here don’t just keep our town safe from unsavory words and thoughts. They keep our town safe from unsavory people, too. And if we believe what the adults around here say, then unsavory people are anyone who doesn’t go to church, anyone who doesn’t pledge the flag louder than the person next to them, and anyone who eats junk food. Most of us have to go to the next town over to do our grocery shopping so we can buy Cheetos.

No one is ever just one thing. And not everyone is telling the truth. That’s the closest anyone will ever get to perfect.

It’s not that I don’t respect the founding fathers, but I do have some problems with how they did stuff. Mostly how they bought and sold people. I definitely have a problem with that.

I raised my hand and asked, “How many of the guys who signed the Declaration of Independence owned slaves?”

“Forty-one out of fifty-six signers owned slaves.

Loud grace looks like attending protests and writing letters to the president about veterans’ benefits and civil rights.

Being around people who pretend something didn’t happen when it did happen requires grace.

My motto is: If it’s not interesting, I don’t care.

the girls look really uncomfortable because they’re not allowed to wear shorts.

when you pretend a thing didn’t happen, that means it can happen again.

!!!!!

“Why would anyone be afraid of a book? There are guns and snakes and all kinds of other stuff for sale that could actually kill you.”