{"id":5937,"date":"2026-08-24T22:10:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T22:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=5937"},"modified":"2026-08-24T22:10:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T22:10:27","slug":"an-ode-to-middle-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=5937","title":{"rendered":"An Ode to Middle School"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"An<\/a><\/p>\n

Recently, my young kids and I were shopping at Target, when I turned a corner and took in the scene in front of us: a group of preteen boys, dancing in the aisle and singing Miley Cyrus\u2019s Party in the USA<\/a>. They looped through the store, then skipped out through the sliding doors and burst into laughter. <\/p>\n

The term \u201cmiddle school\u201d usually makes me cringe. The pimples. The body odor. The shifting friendships! But seeing these carefree boys reminded me that middle school also holds some of life\u2019s most affirming moments. First crushes. Goofy dares. Experiencing independence for the first time. To celebrate the highs<\/em> of adolescence, I asked friends to share their favorite preteen memories\u2026<\/p>\n

\"an<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn seventh grade, my best friend and I had massive crushes on two ninth-grade boys. Of course, they never talked to us. So, we channeled our pining into writing a romance novel about fictionalized versions of ourselves who fell in love with high-schoolers. We\u2019d take turns writing chapters, trading a green notebook back and forth. Whenever one of us would finish a chapter, we\u2019d say, \u2018The writing is so<\/em> bad! You can read it if you want, but it\u2019s burnable!\u2019 Obviously, the book ended with the two couples getting together. We titled it Burnable<\/em>.\u201d \u2014 Gabby Llewellyn<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Jordan<\/p>\n

\u201cIn middle school, I had really thick eyebrows. One day, my friend came over and plucked them \u2014 ultra-thin, Y2K style. I knew my mom would be mad, but I didn\u2019t care. As soon as she saw them, she grounded me. But honestly? I would do it again today.\u201d \u2014 Jordan Sondler <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Miranda<\/p>\n

\u201cOne afternoon, my seventh-grade English teacher pulled me aside, along with another girl. He told us that we were the best writers in the class but we were both guilty of overwriting. Before that moment, I hadn\u2019t realized that critique and praise could (and often should) be intertwined. Realizing that he trusted us to handle that feedback was one of the first times I felt grown up. I still think of him when I\u2019m writing. Thirty years later, my former classmate and I both have books coming out next spring.\u201d \u2014 Miranda Featherstone<\/a><\/p>\n

\"an<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn seventh grade, I had a boyfriend, and for my birthday, he gave me the VHS tape of my all-time favorite movie: Universal Soldier<\/a>. After handing it to me at school, he gave me a peck, and everyone saw it. My friends started screaming, and I remember thinking, This is what life is all about<\/em>.\u201d \u2014 Ruth Chan<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Brooke<\/p>\n

\u201cHalfway through sixth grade, our teacher announced that she was going to reassign our seats. She passed out notecards so we could write down a friend we\u2019d like to sit next to. Everyone else schemed excitedly, but I was really shy and couldn\u2019t think of anyone I\u2019d want to sit by \u2014 or who\u2019d want to sit by me<\/em>. I left my card blank. The following week, I walked in to class to find my teacher had put me at a table with the five coolest girls in our grade. I thought, This is terrible.<\/em> I figured they\u2019d ignore me, but as soon as I sat down, they all said, \u2018Brooke!\u2019 and made me feel like part of their group. One girl gave me a Christmas present, and another invited me to her birthday party. You hear stories about mean kids at school, but these girls were so kind. They made my whole year.\u201d \u2014 Brooke Barker<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen Jurassic Park came out, my grandma took me to see it at the theater. I was obsessed<\/em> with dinosaurs, so the next week, I needed to see it again. And the next week. And the next. Thus began our weekly routine of her dropping me off at Northtown Cinemas to watch it every Saturday, until Jurassic Park stopped playing in theaters. Spending time at the movies by myself, reciting every line, and seeing dinosaurs rampage for two hours taught me how to enjoy my own presence and kick-started my love for movies. To this day, there\u2019s nothing I love more than watching a movie by myself in the middle of the afternoon.\u201d \u2014 Ira Madison III<\/a><\/p>\n

How about you? Do you have any favorite middle school memories?<\/strong><\/p>\n

P.S. How to talk to teenagers<\/a> and 10 things Joanna loves about parenting preteens<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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14<\/span> COMMENTS<\/p>\n

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