Cheers and jeers erupted throughout the classroom as I read the last two pages of MYSTIC. My emotions were running deep. It had been a long time since I read the ending of my own book. Surprised at my reaction and theirs, happy they were emotionally invested in the story and had opinions on the ending, and teary because the ending…the theme…is about self acceptance and the story hits close to home. I opened up a discussion on why MYSTIC ends as it does, trying to get them to see deeper into the story. This particular class was a high energy class. A mixture of 6th through eighth graders; the most challenging class…