I had a teacher in fifth grade that was one of those once-in-a-lifetime teachers who take the class into the library, and she would pull out a bunch of books that she would say, “These are the ones you would like.” And it was always very specific to each kid. And she was always right. I loved the books she picked out for me. She had us write a short story every three weeks, which in fifth and sixth grade, to have someone doing that was pretty exciting. It’s a real loss that that’s not part of the curriculum as much as it should be. They teach writing now to a rubric, which is a great way to get kids to hate it.

 Joan Wickersham