Excerpt from Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

It wasn't long before I wasn't afraid of being up so high and found the spot that became my spot. I could sit there for hours, just looking out at the world.

It was magic.

And I started marveling at how I was feeling both humble and majestic.

How was that possible?

How could I be so full of peace and full of wonder? How could this simple tree make me feel so complex? So alive.

……I tried to convince the kids at the bus stop to climb up with me, even a little ways, but all of them said they didn't want to get dirty.

……I'd never told my mother about climbing the tree. Being the truly sensible adult that she is, she would have told me it was too dangerous.

……So I kept quiet, kept climbing, and felt a somewhat lonely joy as I looked out over the world.

…… Sure, there were kids I knew at school, but none of them were close friends.

They'd have no interest in climbing the tree. In smelling the sunshine.