Sticks and stones may break our bones, but names will break our spirit.

I never thought I could write this much and now that it's coming to an end, I feel sad that I have to stop, sort of the way you feel at the end of a really good book and you know you're going to miss the main character. But in this case, the main character is me! Myself. Joe (formerly JoDan) Bunch. —Joe Bunch

Another Thing I'm Sick of Hearing: If I started that gay rights group, I must be gay. So if i start an animal rights group, what does that make me? A giraffe?

Banning books is just another form of bullying. It's all about fear and an assumption of power. The key is to address the fear and deny the power.

Sometimes kids just act impulsively, but it's because we have strong feelings, not because we're trying to make trouble.

We all start out thinking that there is such a thing as perfection and that there's something wrong with us if we settle for less. First we won't eat the food with the brown spots. Then we hate ourselves because we have our own brown spots—pimples or ears that are too big or legs that are too skinny.

So does being cool mean you get to go around calling other people names?