The image in this post didn’t make it into the final version of the book. The illustration is of Maddie Harper standing in front of her classmates trying to gain control so they can get the discussions started. In her hands is the rain stick — when shaken it rattles to let everyone know it’s time to be quiet and listen.

The rain stick is one of the items brought into the book from the Tweets from the Exploris Middle School @7thGradeRevolt account. Reading through the stream allowed the characters to come to life in my head and I used as much material from the Tweets as I could to give the book a solid background of real life. The scene from 7th Grade Revolution:

     Maddie Harper jumped to her feet and strode to the front. “Should we make a circle so we can all see each other?”
     Leave it to Maddie to take control. She wasn’t bad, not like some others, but always had to be in charge. Rhonda hauled her chair to the forming group.
     As the circle assembled, Maddie grabbed the rain stick and clutched it to her chest. “Um, where should we start?” Her eyes darted to the back where the teachers sat.
     Pfft. They weren’t gonna help.
     Unsure, Maddie let her arms droop when no one paid attention or stopped their conversations, which was kinda funny to see.
     She laid the stick across the table and clapped her hands.
     So much for the rain stick.

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The post 7th Grade Revolution: When Things Change appeared first on Be the Cat.

Timmy and the Golden Lion Tamarin will be released Spring of 2015 with True North Publishing.

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