Surviving Middle School by David McGrail

We have two wonderful daughters, Macy, 15, and Delilah, 11, who generally tolerate my reindeer games. I am a beneficiary of the Quaker matchbox, married to Lauren Basta McGrail ’98. Tell me a little about yourself: your family, work background, etc. The books promote values that are important to me-empathy, tolerance, and inclusivity-and hopefully (subtly) foster those values in young readers. I hope readers will come away from the books able to identify and weigh the choices they have, to recognize the long-term consequences of their decisions, and to choose wisely (in real life). What do you hope readers gain from these books? Also, Hanbom “Terence” Lee ’97 makes some cameos. There are a few semiautobiographical storylines in the book, most notably the firecracker/firework obsession, the jobs weeding gardens and selling pet insurance, and, alas, just about every single encounter with a girl.

I was a pretty straitlaced kid, but I had my moments of recklessness and idiocy. Do any of the scenarios draw from your own personal experiences? While the books address serious issues such as the treatment of girls/women, internet porn, and homophobia, the interactive format, conversational tone, intermittent illustrations, and interspersing of lighter dilemmas (e.g., your run-of-the-mill school dance quandaries) are all designed to make the books accessible and fun. My books are also interactive, written in the second person, with a light tone to keep tweenagers engaged.

The storylines were fanciful, and books included The Cave of Time and The Abominable Snowman. The most renowned interactive books may be those in the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series, which was extremely popular in the 1980s. The reader often has to make choices and enjoy (or suffer) the consequences. Of course, like any good Swattie, I did my academic research along the way. I love writing, and before I knew it, I had a good chunk of the raw material for the first book. One day, I plucked a few of the more thought-provoking dilemmas from the journal and started expanding on those.

Some of the stories they come home with are absolutely hilarious, while others are outright disturbing.

I keep a daily journal about what’s going on in our girls’ lives, assuming I can get more than “Fine” out of them at dinner. What inspired your Surviving Middle School books? Here, McGrail-a lawyer and father of two-shares how these survival guides came to be. Which is why Dave McGrail ’97 created Surviving Middle School, a pair of interactive “Choose Your Own Adventure”-style books-one for girls, one for boys-that allow preteens to see where their decisions could lead.

Surviving Middle School by David McGrail