Fallen In Love

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I’ve fallen in love with the character
called Stolly in my book, a boy of
about twelve, I think, he is forced
to attend practical workshop while
he actually plays the violin, cannot
tie his shoe-laces

Says things like ‘rightie-tightie, leftie-
loosie’ to remember in which direction
to turn a screw, he writes stories, keeps
a dairy - why should anyone try to make
Stolly into a handyman with his dad an
attorney, his mother a fashion diva

Yet he has to attend school in the bizarre
fashion in which schools are run – I think
I love him for his shortcomings, I felt the
same in domestic science - I was even
worse than he is, broke sewing needle
lost my cotton reel, making a mess of

Every dish we prepared, yet Stolly and I
were forced to do things we could not
master so we could forget about the
things we were actually good at, to
become mediocre for all time, that
is what school is about

To make everybody average at
everything, carefully stamp out
individuality!


“Up on Cloud Nine” by Anne Fine
Corgi ed. 2003, quotes taken from
pages 61 and 62
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