Even though parents don't want to admit it, school isn't about what a kid absorbs while she's sitting at a cramped desk, but what happens around and in spite of that.

More from Jodi Picoult

• Actually, I’m probably the only person who’s qualified to let you know exactly what a jerk you are. But that’s okay right? Because if everyone thinks you’re a jerk, no one will bother getting too close.
• It is the things you cannot see coming that are strong enough to kill you.
• Kids think with their brains cracked wide open; becoming an adult, I’ve decided, is only a slow sewing shut.
• Maybe who we are isn’t so much about what we do, but rather what we’re capable of when we least expect it.
• … the year I realized love doesn’t follow the rules, the year I understood nothing is worth having so much as something unattainable.
• You don't love someone because they're perfect. You love them in spite of the fact that they're not.