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America for the following year. Even though Danielle had expressed interest, the teacher said she was concerned that Danielle might not get much out of the trip if she couldn’t talk to the locals. The teacher was surprised when Danielle’s mother told her that Danielle had no problem speaking to adults in various countries. On a flight home from Ireland a few years before, Danielle had stood in the galley for hours talking to a woman who was too claustrophobic to sit down. When Danielle returned to her seat, she’d chatted for another two hours with a man from Northern Ireland about the problems in his country.

“Once again, class participation is your biggest issue,” Danielle’s mother said.

“It shouldn’t be important if I can do the work!” Danielle argued, scowling. She had gotten straight As so far this year.

“Danielle, I might have agreed with that when you were a freshman, but now that you’re getting close to college, you have to be very comfortable talking in class.”

“I don’t like the kids at my school,” she said. “I don’t feel comfortable talking to them.”

“Why?”

“They’re stupid.”

“Well, you’re ranked at about the tenth percentile in your class, so apparently some of them are pretty smart,” her mother said.

“They’re academically smart, but stupid in how they act,” Danielle replied. She slouched further into the sofa. “They’re immature.”

“If you really feel they’re immature, then you should feel more comfortable with yourself,” her mother said. “Maybe you should even have some sympathy for them.”

Danielle rolled her eyes.

“Danielle, I’ve thought a lot about getting counseling for you so you can talk to someone.”

Danielle grew adamant. “There is no reason to go to a counselor to talk about getting along with people I have absolutely nothing in common with,” she retorted. She tromped back into the dining room to finish her homework.

DANIELLE’S CHALLENGE

Designing a challenge for Danielle was easy; hers would be the most straightforward one in this book. At the same time, it was important that all of the challenges focused on improving the students’ circumstances by changing other people’s perceptions of them without directly altering their uniqueness. Danielle’s solitude was an important part of who she was. But she wasn’t content with her tiny social circle, and her diffidence was threatening her grades. I challenged Danielle to make a strong effort to converse with people other than Camille, Paige, Mona, and Nikki, with the goal of finding one new friend to socialize with outside of school.

While she tried to pretend to be up for it, Danielle was “uncomfortable about the implications that making new friends has,” she said. “If I can avoid talking, that’s what I do. I don’t really need any help in the conversing-with-adults area, but I can’t relate at all to people my age.” Her pushback made me realize that the most straightforward challenge of the book could be the most personally difficult.

NOAH, PENNSYLVANIA | THE BAND GEEK

Noah was convinced that if he was going to qualify for the swimming district championships, he had to do it early in the season. To qualify, individual swimmers had to beat preset times at official meets. For Noah, qualifying was more than just a résumé line. Making the cut would validate that he was an athlete, even though he didn’t always feel like one, and prove that he wasn’t “just all about studying and school.”

At warmups for the second swim meet of the season, Noah tried to psych himself up. He gave a pep talk to a nervous sophomore. “In order to swim like a district swimmer, you have to be a district swimmer,” Noah said. “You have to think and act with confidence.” When the sophomore’s race was called, Noah cheered from the end of the pool. Less than a minute later, the sophomore had qualified.

As Noah stepped behind the block in lane five for the 50 Meter Freestyle, he realized his preparation for this race had been inadequate. He hadn’t slept enough. He hadn’t trained enough. The cut to make districts was 23.60; Noah’s fastest time this year was 24.20. Swimming practices