Starfish

She's the first person to smile at me today. The first to make me feel wanted. Understood. I blink back tears. It's unknown how many students' lives librarians have saved by welcoming loners at lunch.

I'm a starfish, taking up all the room I want.

It’s unknown how many students’ lives librarians have saved by welcoming loners at lunch.

The fat on my body never felt as heavy as your words on my heart.

Every kid needs one place they can escape to when life gets to be too much.

every kid who’s ever been told, “You’d be so pretty or handsome, if . . .” You ARE beautiful. Now. Just as you are. You deserve to be seen, to be heard, to take up room, to be noticed. So when the world tries to make you feel small, starfish!

DNA doesn't make you family. Love does. Actions do.

Why aren't kids allowed to tell grown-ups when they're wrong? They don't know everything Sometimes it's as if they don't know anything.

That’s what the best books do. They make you think, and rethink how you see yourself, others, and the world. Most of all, they make you feel. Feelings toward people who aren’t like you. Feelings you didn’t know you had.

It would be great if people realized that we’re all different, in all kinds of ways, and different is okay.

The universe should warn you when something horrible is about to happen, give you a chance to take a deep breath before your breath gets taken away.

Stereotypes stink. They give people an excuse to hate people who are different instead of taking the time to get to know them.

But it's a lot easier to toss into the trash the thoughts others have about you than the ones you have about yourself.

No matter what others say or do, embrace what makes you, you.

The library is my safe harbor since I dare not go into the cafeteria alone, a whale surrounded by starving sharks.

I learn big girls, even obese ones, were once seen as normal, preferred, beautiful. I can't imagine a world so... safe. As I flip through the pages, I start thinking that if I'd lived back then, it could have been me in the pictures, as sculptures, as art.

The best way to be understood is to learn and speak someone else's language.

It's unknown how many students' lives librarians have saved by welcoming loners at lunch" -Ellie

Mom always says, "You'd be so pretty" - and all the big girls in the world can finish this sentence in unison - "if you lost weight.

Take out the garbage. Stop junking up your mind with stinky things bullies have said to you. Toss them into the trash, then pick up a good thought to replace it.

That's what the best books do. They make you think, and rethink how you see yourself, others, and the world. Most of all, they make you feel. Feelings toward people who aren't like you. Feelings you didn't know you had.

As I walk away, I realize I've been starfishing-starting to claim my right to take up space in this place.

It's not what a mom should do!" I collapse onto the couch. Hug the pillow to my chest, hiding my heart, not my stomach. "Moms shouldn't do that." Tears flow as I rock back and forth. "She's supposed to love me." My voice is a whisper. "Just love me.

Write down the hurtful words people say so you don’t have to carry them around in here.” She taps her head and heart.

When grown-ups fully understand technology, kids will be in big trouble. Until then, we rule the planet.

At first I think being ignored is better than being humiliated. But then I wonder. Because when people look right through you, it's like you don't even matter. Like you don't exist. And everyone is fine with that." -Ellie

A friend hears what you say with silence." -Ellie

You replay the moment in your mind from every possible angle, trying to understand why. Why the rules exist and who. Who came up with them and how. How does anyone have the right to tell you how to live just because of your weight?

DNA doesn’t make you family. Love does. Actions do.