By Sophia Spencer, Margaret McNamara
The true story of a girl teased for loving bugs, until a whole crowd of real scientists came to her side.
Sophia Spencer loved bugs, grasshoppers most of all, and would carry them around and tell anyone who would listen. Then children at school started teasing her for it, day after day, until she went quiet and stopped bringing bugs at all. Her mom sent one email asking for help, and it reached scientists who study insects for a living. They wrote back by the hundreds, from all over the world, to tell Sophia that loving bugs was wonderful and that they were exactly like her. She ended up helping write a real science paper. Every word of it is true.
For a child whose love of bugs sets them apart, this is a mirror and a promise in one. It does not pretend the teasing didn't sting, but it shows a real girl coming out the far side with a whole crowd of grown-up scientists cheering her on. It also tells your child that the thing they are obsessed with can be a real job one day. That lands hard for any child who has ever been the only one at the table who cares about something.