In the novel The Second Coming, the book's protagonist, a man named Will Barrett, struggles with finding happiness in his life.  Sure, Will has had a lot of tragedy in his life--as a child, his dad committed suicide while hunting and also tried to shoot and kill Will to keep his son from experiencing life's pain.  (Uhhh...thanks, but no thanks, Dad!).  Then, Will later lost his wife to an early death.  However, Will had a lot of great things going on too--he made a ton of money at his job, allowing him to retire at an early age to just take it easy and play golf. Clearly, Will is a guy who's been able to overcome a lot of emotional challenges in his life and become an American-made "success".  But then why do we find him depressed and alone, in a cave, taking drugs and contemplating death?  Who, or what--if anything--can help him figure out how to be successful at living a happy life?  

Walker Percy dealt with similar issues of success and happiness in his own life.  His grandfather committed suicide when he was a baby, his father killed himself when Percy was 13, and his mother drove her car off the road and died two years after that.  Not exactly a picture-perfect childhood, huh?  Yet despite losing loved ones and constantly being shuffled around to live with different relatives, Percy found success in school, graduating from college and getting into the prestigious Columbia medical school.  

Things were looking up for a hot minute until, as a med student, Percy contracted tuberculosis when he was performing an autopsy on a corpse that had the disease.  Unfortunately, this happened in the 1940's when there was still no treatment for the disease, so Percy had to take several years off of school to rest and recover.  It's during this time of healing that seriously began to question the meaning of life through reading, writing, and religion.  

As both Will Barrett's and Walker Percy's lives show, you can be smart and successful and still unhappy.  Learning to be happy is a life-long process.  Just like Math or English, happiness is a subject that many people struggle to master. 

Renegade Thought of the Day:  What do you think it means to "flunk life"?


What do you think it means to do well at "life"?  


Renegade Challenge:  What is one thing you need to work on this year that will help you do well in life beyond school?  (i.e., practice staying positive and patient during hard times)

Bonus Video: Watch Stephen Colbert's farcical video making fun of celebrity life style blogs that try to tell us that if we just buy what they like, we'll be happy.  

There are two types of parents in the world:  those who, when they find out they're expecting, plan the baby's name before it's born, and those who, on the other hand, wait until they meet their baby before they make their final decision.  

What do you think? Do you think that a name matters? For example, could you look at a new baby boy and tell whether he should be named Bob as opposed to William?  How would you know if the name you picked was the right one?

One of my favorite novels, The House on Mango Street by Mexican-American writer Sandra Cisneros, is about a young Latina girl named Esperanza who doesn't think her name quite fits her.  She was named after her great-grandmother, who was forced to marry a man against her will.  Esperanza, however, wants a better life for herself, and wishes she could pick her own name--something that would show who she really is inside, the part of her that "nobody sees." 

Renegade Thought of the Day:  How did you get your name?  

Do you think your name fits you? 

What do you think Esperanza means when she talks about her real self inside of her, "the one nobody sees"?

Renegade Challenge:  If you could name yourself, what name would you pick and why? 

Bonus Link: Click here to see what your name means, how many people have your name in the US,  and what you did in a past life! 

Well, it's that time of the year again--welcome back to your second (or 3rd!) week of school!!!  Hopefully your eyes are somewhat open, your brain is somewhat operational, and the school cafeteria is serving something that is somewhat edible!


What better way to start off the first month of a reading blog for teens than with one of America's most famous teen authors, the one and only Judy Blume. I know, I know--before you freak out and yell, "Who in the heck is she?  We want John Green!" well, just calm yourself.  Sure, she's a little old school (I will admit that I read her books a billion years ago when I was in school) but she is awesome--she's a renegade writer whose books have even been banned in some schools for dealing openly and honestly with subjects such as racism, divorce, bullying, and sex (OMG!).  Her books include Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret,  Superfudge, and Blubber.   (Fun-fact for teen slang users: she even wrote an adult novel called Wifey in 1979!)  But enough history already!  (I mean, you're probably already scheduled to have History Class sometime today anyway. . . ).

So let's talk about her quote.  It's the beginning of the school year, a time when everyone is giving everyone else advice--advice on how to pass the hardest math class ever, how to make friends, how to step up your style game, and how to check your phone without getting caught.  Re-read Blume's quote again.  (Go ahead--I'll wait here.)  She says her "only" advice is 3 things: being aware, listening, and reaching out for help.  However, did you notice in the next sentence she sneaks in a little more advice?  She adds that common sense and humor can also be pretty useful tools to help you get through life.  Most of us do a decent job of listening and seeing what's going on around us, but how many of us ask--or even dare to "yell"--for help when we need it?  And do you remember to find the humor in tough situations? 

Renegade Thought of the Day: What do you think of Blume's advice?  Do you take it or leave it?  What would you add?  


*It might be interesting for you to know that Blume wrote this advice for parents of teenagers.  It's on her blog under a section titled "Tales of a Mother / Confessor."  Do you think her advice to parents is good?  What advice would you give to parents for how to deal effectively with their teens?  (Feel free to post your answers down below for others to read!)  

Renegade Action: Dare to be bold and ask for help when you need it. (And who knows--if you speak up, you may even empower others to do the same).  


Bonus Bandit Soundbyte!   Click on the video below to check out director Baz Luhrmann's song "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen," based on an essay by newspaper columnist Mary Schmich.  Yup--it's an advice track.  What advice stands out to you the most?  

When I was a kid, I spent lots of hours riding my ten-speed bicycle with my friends and family.  One of the best things about growing up in a small town is you can ride fast and crazy down any street and not really worry about traffic.  I popped lots of wheelies, rode through tons of mud puddles at top speed, and could ride half a mile with no hands.  But one thing I didn't do was change gears.  Nope.  Not me. I tried to change gears once, but I wasn't peddling fast enough (I know, I know--riding 101, right?), so my chain jumped the track and I fell over.  Well, after that,  I kept it in first gear--the gear with the hardest push--and always rode fast. 

 My plan worked pretty well for the most part, except for one thing--going up hill.  To go up a steep hill, you need to shift to the lowest gear, so the peddles turn faster and easier and you can make it up.  For me, a person who was always riding in the highest gear, I'd have to stop half way up and walk because there came a point where I couldn't turn my peddles fast enough on the incline.   Yup, just little me and my bike, both walking up the hill together as my friends rode on past me peddling in their low gears, waving goodbye.   It wasn't my proudest moment. 

I recently just got a new bike as a present.  It's green and beautiful and so much fun.  When I got on it for the first time, I said to myself, "You know what? I'm an adult now.  I'm braver.  I'm going to change my gears once in a while and go up hills without stopping."  So when I saw my first hill approaching, I shifted to the easiest gear and went to the top.  And it was so much easier  than walking.  Lesson learned!

But back to the quote.  As you know, Schultz's quote isn't really about a bicycle--it's a metaphor about life.  My bike riding did actually teach me about life, though.  I learned that one of my "gears" that I wasn't using very often was bravery.  And once I started using it, it actually made my life a heck of a lot easier and a little more rewarding, too. 

Renegade Thought of the Day:  What about you?  What are the "gears" in your life that you use on a regular basis?  


What are the "gears" that you need to start using?  What's holding you back from using them?  Does it hurt or help you to not use these gears? 

Renegade Challenge: Practice using a new gear! 


Bonus:  Watch this video to see one place where I'm still not brave enough to ride my bike!  (Can you guess the country?) 

Quick trivia question:  What is Henry Ford known for inventing?  


Answer:  First-generation American Henry Ford (1863-1947), is the inventor of the first affordable automobile--called the Model T--manufactured in an assembly line in Detroit.  

The model-T is the great-great-great grandfather of the Ford cars many of us drive today.  Because it was the first car that most Americans could afford, he sold millions of them, and became a very, very wealthy man and business tycoon.  
Cha-ching!  

Take a peek at this 5 minute video of the creation of the Model-T, which started being produced in 1908. I remember my grandma telling me that it was a BIG DEAL when the first person in their town got a car--everyone wanted a ride.  Until then, it was horses and buggies all the way.  When you watch the video, you'll see that the drivers haven't exactly, uh, had a lot of driving practice!

I choose today's quote because it has a special meaning for me today.  The Seattle teacher's strike has finally ended, and I have a kindergarten substitute job for tomorrow (yup, some teacher got sick on the first day of school!).  At first, I was a little nervous about agreeing to the job.  After all, I've taught inner city high school New York kids for 10 years.  But I thought, "Oh well, why not--they'll be good on their first day."  But then I found out that there was a catch:  it is a class for Spanish-speaking kindergarteners.  
And....yeah, I no hablo espanol.  (At least, not yet!)

My first reaction was, "I have to call the school and tell them I can't do it.  It's too crazy to teach kids who barely speak English how to behave in school for the first time!  What will I say?"  But then I came across Ford's wise words and I took his quote to heart.  Now, I think it will be fun. Well, at least until someone can't find the bathroom! 

Renegade Thought of the Day:  Examine your beliefs.  What things do you think you can't do?  


Why do you think this?  

Renegade Challenge:  Encourage yourself to do the impossible! 


Bonus Video: Watch the video below to find out what happens when an orangutan thinks he can be a mommy tiger.  (This is also what it will probably look like in my class room tomorrow!) 

Hello from Seattle!  As you may know, the teachers in Seattle's Public Schools are on still strike today in order to get a work contract that is fair.  It's been an exhausting fight for everyone, but it looks like it may be over soon!  Most of us in Seattle are getting a little anxious about heading back to school and getting the year started, but we must remember today's quote and be patient--just like Pooh must be patient when his head gets stuck in the honey pot.  Oh, Pooh Bear!

Winnie-the-Pooh is a classic children's tale written by an Englishman named A. A. Milne (1882-1956).  His life illustrates how you never know what can happen because he went to college on a math scholarship and was an officer in World War One, but ended up becoming a writer!  Who would've expected that an officer/mathematician would end up writing children's stories?  

Milne's children's stories aren't just written for children, though. They're very philosophical and apply to people of all ages.  Take today's quote, for example.  In my family, we're always rushing around.  We rush to put our coats and shoes on to run out to the car to go to the store.  When driving to store, someone suggests a faster way to get there.  Then, at the store check-out, we try to find the shortest check-out line so we can get back and rush through making dinner. But why?  So we can get to bed a few minutes sooner? So we can wake up sooner and rush through another day?  

Pooh suggests we take time to slow down a bit.  Maybe our life goals shouldn't be so focused on hurrying up and achieving the next big thing.  Maybe instead we should be a 
bit like Pooh and take the time to slow down and enjoy a little of life's honey. 

Renegade Thought of the Day:  Do you live your life one step at a time or in a hurry to reach the next big thing?  What are the pros and cons of each?  

Renegade Challenge:  Take a moment to slow down and enjoy each part of your journey.   

Bonus Video:  Meet Tigger, someone who manages to both rush around and enjoy life!

Bonus Video:  Try this calming 5 minute meditation and go to your next class feeling rejuvenated!  

Do we today, in our modern world of science, still believe in the magic of wishes? Today's quote is from one of my favorite teen novels, The Fault in Our Stars.  I lost my mother, who had never smoked, to lung cancer, and I know silently and quickly it can kill (my mom seemed totally healthy and then died only 3 weeks after we found out).  It's also notoriously tough to treat--there just aren't many good options.  So, of course, I immediately had a soft spot for the story's protagonist, sixteen-year-old Hazel, who carries around an oxygen tank because the thyroid cancer she once had has spread to her lungs.  Her team of doctors are doing what they can to treat it, but as anyone who has ever lost someone to lung cancer knows, the percentage of a pill or a treatment working is always pretty low.  But what seems to be even worse for Hazel than thinking about her cancer destroying her is how her loved ones, particularly her parents, will handle the pain of her loss.  

Without giving too much away (even though I'll bet most of you have already read it!), Hazel has many ups and downs in the book.  Today's quote is from one of Hazel's low moments, when she's sitting on the run-down swing set her dad built for her when she was little, wishing that she could trade in all her sick days for a few healthy ones. But she knows she can't wish away her cancer and she has to make the best of the life she has left.  

Even though most of us are fortunate enough to not be struggling with life-threatening illnesses, we all probably have some hardships in our lives.  We all probably have a few things we wish could be different and better.  But what do we do when we know we must live our lives and we can't count on our wishes to magically come true?  

Happy Monday, and welcome back to school. . . for everyone except those of us living in Seattle, that is! It's been such a crazy few days for us here since school was supposed to start five days ago!  But the amazing Seattle teachers here are still on strike!  Without standing on my soap box for too long, it doesn't doesn't make sense why the district would ask teachers to do more work but refuse to pay them more money.  Of course, in some ways, it does make sense--the school district wants to save money and is hoping that teachers won't be able to make them pay them more. 

It always comes down to money, sigh.

Sooo...That's why today's literary quote--the first line from the novel The Princess Bride-doesn't make too much sense at first, either. When you first read the quote, you're like, "What?!? How can you love a book you've never read? That's a contradiction!"  But then you wonder, "Hmmm. . . well, I suppose it could just refer to a story someone HEARD being read aloud and didn't actually personally read it."  And if you thought that, you'd be exactly right.
The protagonist of the book, William (or young Billy), hated reading as a kid.  However, when he got stuck in bed for a month with pneumonia and a broken radio, his dad brought in a book called The Princess Bride--a fantasy "tale of true love and high adventure"--and it was so good that Billy couldn't read enough after that.  

Billy's experience with reading makes us wonder--do kids really hate reading or do they just need to find the right book?  For instance, if someone said, "I hate food," do you really think that he or she hates eating or is that he or she just needs to try something new?  I mean there's a lot of food--and books--in the world, so you just have to find what works for you.

When I was a kid, my family took a trip to New York City, and it was love at first sight.  The subways, Central Park, the bright lights of Times Square, the hot dog carts--I loved the energy of it all.  
I even remember standing outside on the top of one of the World Trade Center on a windy gray day, feeling the building sway underneath me and hoping my little nine-year-old body wouldn't be blown off.  I had no idea then (no one did) that these giant buildings would ever collapse into nothingness. 

After college, I was lucky enough to fulfill my dream of living there in 2004, a few years after the attacks.  While the September 11 attack affected Americans living in every part of the country, many of the people living in Washington, DC and NYC had to also deal with the horror of witnessing the attacks.  While living there, I met people who told me about their memories of that tragic day--teachers who were at school teaching and suddenly saw smoke rising from the collapsed towers, friends who saw workers jump to their deaths out of the burning buildings, a student who had an aunt who worked at the Trade Center and who had randomly called in sick to work that day, and people who had worked in the city and who had to walk over one of the bridges and then many more miles home that night in the dark wearing uncomfortable fancy work shoes since there was no public transportation or electricity.  Yet despite that tragedy, which affected all Americans in every state--I remember how people also told me about how the city truly came together that evening, with shop keepers handing out water or cold beer or melting ice cream out to the workers walking home and neighbors sitting outside on their apartment stoops lighting candles, hanging up American flags, comforting each other, and trading stories.     

When I left ten years later to move to Seattle, I'll admit it: for the first year, I was utterly heartbroken.  Over the city.  Sure, I was sad about missing my friends, quitting my job, and losing my Brooklyn apartment with a pretty spectacular view of the skyline, but I also missed just being apart of the magic of New York--the magic that happens when people from all over the world live together in one city and bring all of their different foods, ideas, musical tastes, outfits, personalities, and dance moves with them.  As you know, I'm a self-professed Wordy Girl, and in NYC, there's a story happening every time you step out onto the street.  It's intoxicating.  

I don't have a literary quote for today.  Instead, I thought it appropriate to share a quote from the wife of Pilot Jason Dahl, who was killed by hijackers on Flight 93.  While the other three hijacked flights from that day all crashed into their targets, this flight was different.  The passengers courageously and heroically fought back against the hijackers and the plane ended up crashing in a deserted field in Pennsylvania.  Everyone on board was killed, but no other lives were lost.  

One reason I find this quote so powerful is because Sandy (Pilot Dahl's wife) had a lot of reasons to hate.  One of the sad ironies of her story is that her husband wasn't even supposed to be flying that day.  At the last minute, he switched with another pilot so that he could take Sandy to London for their fifth wedding anniversary the following week. Instead, Sandy was left without a husband, and his Jason's teenage son was left without a father.  Yet rather than giving in to anger and hatred, Sandy was motivated to honor her husband.  She set up a scholarship fund in his name and also became an advocate for remembering the people who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, as well as supporting their families.  Even though she never really recovered from her heartbreak (she died in 2014 with a lot of drugs and alcohol in her system), she didn't let the pain in her heart stop her from showing love or from helping to make a better future for others affected by the tragedy.


Renegade Challenge:  Ask the adults in your life to share their memories of September 11, 2001.

Bonus Content: 

Today's quote comes from one particularly unstoppable woman, Ayn Rand (1985-1982).  Not only did she create her own philosophical viewpoint, Objectivism, but she also wrote many novels and screenplays, the most famous of which are The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.  Both novels illustrateher Objectivist philosophy, which simply put, believes that people should be self-reliant and responsible for finding their own happiness, which can be found through working hard at noble jobs and making your decisions based on the rational, logical reality around you.   Of course many people disagreed with her, especially people who believe in a religious view of life or who believe that sometimes we must sacrifice ourselves to help others or that the government should help people who struggle.  But Rand didn't let her critics stop her from sharing her philosophy, which is why one of her guy friends, Ludwig von Mises, complimented her as "the most courageous man in America."  Luckily for him, it was the 1940's so she took being called a "man" as a compliment. 

Ishita Malaviya also didn't ask anyone permission to start surfing; she just did it.  In some ways, she was following Rand's philosophy of taking charge of your own happiness. Some people tried to stop her because she was a girl and girls in India don't surf.  Other people said she should stop spending time in the sun because she would become too dark-skinned and wouldn't be attractive.  And yet others, such as her mother, wanted her to stop surfing and spend more time pursing her degree in journalism.    Despite her obstacles and lack of support, though, Ishita did what she wanted to do and now not only inspires others to surf, but she also owns a successful surf business with her boyfriend.  (See the video below to hear her story). 

Renegade Thought of the Day: What do you believe that you should do to find happiness in your life? (Warning: this isn't an easy question! Most people spend their whole lives trying to figure this out!)

Who or what is going to stop you from finding happiness?  

Do their opinions and actions truly matter? 

Renegade Challenge: Think about how you can use this school year to start figuring out what will lead you to living a life of contentment and happiness.  What new things do you need to learn? What new skills do you need to master? What nay-sayers do you need to ignore?

Bonus Video!  Listen to Ishita's inspiring story: