Buddy Bench

When Mira notices kids sitting alone at recess, she decides to build a bench where lonely classmates can be invited to play. Can one bench change a whole schoolyard?

Mira liked the very edge of the playground, where the chain-link fence met the big oak tree. From there she could see everything: the four-square games, the jump-rope tournaments, the kids racing to the swings the second the recess bell rang.

But today she wasn't watching the games. She was watching a boy named Oliver, who sat by himself on the cold concrete, tracing circles with his finger. Nobody talked to him. Nobody waved him over.

'That can't feel good,' Mira thought, hugging her knees. 'Recess is supposed to be the best part of the day.'

The bell would ring soon. She had a whole week of recesses ahead of her, and a strange new feeling growing in her chest, like she was supposed to do something about this.