Jasper, Indiana, was a perfect little town. The streets were perfectly paved, the buildings perfectly built. Perfect houses sat on perfectly manicured lawns, while perfect cars rested in perfect driveways. It was in the perfect town of Jasper that the Scott Family resided.
	Like the town they lived in, the Scott Family was perfect. They had perfect American values, and each member knew his or her place. Every morning, the family left the house in their perfect cars at exactly 7:22 in the morning. They did their work, and came home by 7:00 in the evening, where they had a perfect family dinner. Such was a perfect day in the perfect Scott family.
      Richard Scott was a doctor in the Jasper Family Health Clinic. He was a tall, balding man. What was left of his hair was wispy and turning gray from the golden blond of his earlier years. He walked with his chest puffed out, not so much that people would think he was vain, but enough so they would see that he had a sense of pride and value.
      Georgina Scott, unlike her husband, was very short. She was once the most free-spirited young girl in Jasper, but now she was settled down and knew her place. She was always covered in flour from her short auburn hair to her toes, given she spent her whole day at the corner bakery she owned.
      The trophy son of the family was known as Jamie Scott. He had inherited his father’s golden hair and height, as well as his brains. Jamie was the handsome star of his high school baseball team and valedictorian of his senior class. 
      At fourteen years old, Mara Scott was the baby of the family. Her chocolate hair covered much of her face, but her large round brown eyes still shone through. She stood nearly a head shorter than her brother, with a crouched back that showed she was trying very hard to be invisible.
* * * * * *
	Mara watched as tears streamed down Mara’s mother’s face, turning faint traces of flour sticky as she squeezed the life out of her son. Jamie finally managed to pry her arms from around his torso and held her at an arms length.
	“Don’t worry Mom. I’ll be fine. I promise I’ll visit a lot.”
	“Every weekend?”
	“I can’t promise that. Jasper is a three-hour drive from Indiana State. I’ll be back for Thanksgiving, though.”
      Mara’s mother sighed in defeat. She once again squeezed the life out of her son, and then handed him over to her husband.
	As Mara’s father beamed at his son, an emotion burned behind his eyes. Pride. It was an emotion Jamie saw a lot in his father. Mara’s father cleared his throat – a difficult feat since there was a lump there – and stuck his hand out to shake.
	“Well son, you’ve made us proud. Go out into the world and make us even prouder.”
	Jamie smiled. “I will dad.” He turned away from his father and towards the last member of the family.
	“Stand tall Mara. You’re the kid of the family now.” He reached down to lift her chin, and she automatically straightened up. A small smile graced her face.
	“What will I do without my favorite brother? I’ll just have to make do with one of my other brothers.”
	Jamie laughed. “I’m your only brother, squirt! In fact, I’m your only sibling!”
	Mara and Jamie laughed for a little while, before Mara’s face turned solemn. She reached up, and pulled her brother into a tighter hug than even her mother could give.
	“I’m going to miss you, Jay-Jay. Come home soon.” Her voice broke and even Jamie’s eyes became wet at the sound of her old name for him. He blinked twice, then smiled a halfhearted smile.
	“Be good without me, Mara.”
	As he got in the car and drove towards his new life, Mara’s back became more hunched over, as she tried to become invisible again. Her father turned, his smile becoming more halfhearted by the second, as he turned towards his only daughter.
	As she looked into her father’s eyes, Mara saw none of the pride that shone towards her brother. She was not at all surprised at this fact. She had long given up trying to make him proud, knowing it was no use. In his eyes, no one could to compare to Jamie.
* * * * * *

	Several months later, in room 496 at Jasper High school, Mara sat at her desk, waiting for English to begin. She was particularly anxious, as this was the last class of the week. Thanksgiving was in two days, and Jamie would be coming home that very day.
	“Settle down,” Mr. Ways called as he sat at his desk. “Now, I know that you all are very excited for the break, but I have something to keep you from becoming too bored with yourselves.” He held up a book. “This is The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. I expect you all to have read the first two chapters by the time we come back to school.”
	The class groaned collectively. A book was the last thing they wanted over break.
	Mr. Ways looked at them reproachfully. “Now, come on. Toni Morrison won a Nobel Prize for her writing. This is a highly acclaimed book and I won’t hear any of this nonsense about someone not wanting to read it. It does have harder themes that other books I’ve assigned, but I think that you all are mature enough to handle it. Now, take out your journals and write about this prompt…”
	Mara wasn’t groaning with the rest of her class. She was excited. Jamie always talked to her about the books she read. If she had to read this book, she was glad it was when Jamie was home.
* * * * * *
	“How have your professors been treating you? If you want, I can write a letter to the school and explain the situation – ” 
	“Mom, I’m fine. My classes, professors, and my entire life are all fine. You don’t need to worry.” An exasperated Jamie replied.
	“I should think not!” Mara’s father boomed, slapping his hand on the dinner table. “With a 4.2 GPA, there’s no reason for anyone to worry!”
	Mara said nothing, pushing her mashed potatoes around with her fork. She was getting quite tired of her father going on about Jamie’s GPA, as well as her mother worrying about his wellbeing. It was something she was expecting, but she still felt invisible.
	As if he felt her annoyance, Jamie looked at Mara. “So Mara, how are you doing? What’s the latest news?”
	With a grateful smile towards her brother, Mara started talking. “Well, nothing much is new, besides what I’ve told you over the phone. We did get assigned a new book today in English, though.”
	“What book did you get?” Jamie asked, looking highly interested.
	“We got The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.” Mara told him.
	All sounds of eating came to an abrupt halt as both her father and mother looked at her. “What book did you say?” Mara’s father asked.
	“The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.”
	Mara’s father’s face turned angry. “Why would a teacher assign such a book to ninth-graders? It’s ridiculous!”
	“Why dad?” Mara asked.
	“Because that book covers subjects that I don’t want you reading!” he boomed.
	“Like what?”
	“Never you mind! There are subjects in there that are inappropriate and don’t reflect real life. I don’t want my kid thinking that the stuff that happens in that book is true or acceptable. You are not allowed to read it, and Monday morning I want you to walk into English and hand that book right back!”
	“But why can’t I know what’s in it?” Mara questioned.
	“Because I said so!” Mara’s father slapped a hand on the table. “You’re not reading that book, end of story!”
	And Mara knew, no matter how much she wanted otherwise, that was the end of the conversation.
* * * * * *
	Later that night, Mara heard a knock at her bedroom door.
      “Can I come in?”
	Mara looked up from her pillow at the sound of her brother’s voice.
	“Sure.”
	Jamie opened the door quietly, slipping into Mara’s room. “Are you okay?” he asked.
	“I guess so. I wish that dad would tell me what kind of stuff is in that book that’s so bad.”
	Jamie sat at the edge of her bed. The normal carefree air about him was gone. “Mara, I’m not going to lie to you. There are things in The Bluest Eye that are pretty gruesome. Things that mom and dad would rather you not know about.”
	“But why?” Mara asked.
	“Because mom and dad don’t want to admit to you that the things that happen in that book can happen in real life. They think that if they don’t talk or think about them, those issues will cease to exist.”
	“But why would they pretend? Can’t they try and solve the problems?” Mara asked, now curious.
	“They don’t want to solve the problem, because doing so takes them out of the perfect bubble that is Jasper, Indiana. The world isn’t as perfect as Jasper is. The rest of the world has many problems. I learned this when I got to college. It was hard for a while.”
	Mara looked puzzled. “But you’re perfect Jamie! You can handle anything!”
	Jamie laughed. “I’m not as perfect as mom and dad think I am. I’m about to declare my major for college. I want to be an artist. Imagine how dad will take that!”
	Mara and Jamie’s dad had wanted Jamie to be a doctor since before Jamie could walk. He always talked about how Jamie was going to join him in his practice. Mara thought about what her father’s reaction would be if he knew that his trophy son wanted to become an artist.
	“Wow. I guess you’re right. But what does that have to do with my book?”
	“It has to do with the fact that you’re fourteen now. You’re in high school. Soon, you’ll have to make decisions for yourself. I understand if you want to obey dad and hand in the book, but I would be really uneasy if you went out into the world not knowing the problems that are out there.”
	Mara sighed. “I just don’t want to break any rules. I’ve never broken a rule in my life!”
	“That is true. But would you rather you stay by the rules and go out into the world not knowing what’s out there? I’m not saying that the problems in The Bluest Eye happen all the time, everywhere. That doesn’t mean they don’t exist, though.”
	Mara looked down. Her school copy of The Bluest Eye was in her lap. She knew that if she read the book, she would be breaking rules. She would know about gruesome and scary subjects, and the concept scared her. She looked up.
	“I don’t know, Jamie.”
	Jamie smiled. “I’ll make you a deal. You read the book out loud to me, and we can discuss it together. If it gets to be too much, we can stop.”
	With her mind made up, Mara looked down again at the book. She picked the book up and opened it to the front cover.
	“The Bluest Eye,” she read, “by Toni Morrison.”

The Book, 6-8, p.1