The Backpack Drop Zone: One Sixth-Grade Truth That Exposed Our Quiet Crisis

pocket like he was holding himself together from the inside.

“Was it… because of me?” he asked.

My heart cracked.

“No,” I said quickly. “No, David. It wasn’t because of you.”

He blinked fast. “Because I didn’t… I didn’t write my name.”

“That’s okay,” I said.

He took a step inside.

Then another.

And then, in a voice so small it almost disappeared, he said, continue reading …