Dress Coded

This section covers Chapter 108: “If You’re Going to Be a Toad, You Might as Well Be Golden”; Chapter 109: “Bored of Education”; Chapter 110: “Dress Coded: A Podcast, Episode Ten”; Chapter 111: “The Opposite of a Campout”; Chapter 112: “The Tent Villagers”; and Chapter 113: “The Letter in My Head.”

In the library, Molly and Navya work on their two-minute speech to present at the board of education meeting. Mr. Beam, the librarian, passes them a folder with articles about dress code protests and laws stating that a dress code cannot be enforced unevenly. Molly and her friends, along with their mothers, arrive at the meeting held in the old Fisher Middle School building. The board spends two hours arguing over whether or not to convert athletic fields to artificial turf, followed by a debate on bear hunting. The board chair tells the girls that there is no time left to make public comments, and the meeting adjourns.

The mothers try to console the girls that they will be ready for September’s agenda. However, Olivia stays put and refuses to leave. Molly broadcasts a live podcast explaining that the girls are staging a sit-in because their petition was ignored and the board refused to hear them out. When the custodian arrives to clean and lock up, the girls don’t want to get him in trouble, so they decide to skip the camping trip and protest by camping out in the school garden instead. Molly informs the class what they are doing via the group chat, inviting others to join; 62 people volunteer to join. The girls camp out in the garden at night, while Molly’s mother sleeps in the minivan parked next to them. In the morning, the mothers bring snacks and refreshments, while other students arrive, including Tom, Will, and some other boys. Molly texts Ashley who professes she doesn’t care, which doesn’t surprise Molly.

Dr. Couchman arrives, and the students gather to greet him with signs protesting the dress code. Molly thinks about a letter she wants to write him, about the difference it would have made if he had greeted the students with encouragement and reassurance on their first day, instead of harping on the dress code—if he had treated them as individuals, rather than “covered or uncovered body parts” (254).

This section covers Chapter 114: “Couchman Uncovers Our Birthday-Suit Grand Plan”; Chapter 115: “The Camp-In Is More Fun Than We Thought It Would Be”; Chapter 116: “Terrible People”; Chapter 117: “Remember Friends”; and Chapter 118: “Creepy-Crawlers.”

Dr. Couchman demands to know what is going on, and Molly explains the protest. He calls it “absurd” and tells them to leave, but Olivia refuses, and bluffs that news reporters will arrive soon. He warns them that he will be speaking to the board of education, but students yell at him to leave them alone, and he leaves. Ms. Lane and Ms. Santos-Skinner show up with snacks, to camp alongside the students. Everyone has fun, eating, dancing, setting up a fire pit, and singing karaoke on a machine set up by some students. Dr. Couchman returns with Mr. Dern, Fingertip, and all the board members. The chair of the board, Mae Dunn, asks the students about the protest, and Olivia explains how the dress code is unevenly enforced. Mae Dunn offers to hold a closed meeting early next week to review the petition, asking the students to head home in return. However, Molly refuses, insisting they will stay until a decision is made. To Dr. Couchman’s indignation, the chair lets the students be, merely asking them to put the fire pit out, as it is a safety hazard. The party carries on, and the group is joined by seniors who show up after their prom.

The next morning, Molly and Olivia address the group, deciding to take turns staying so people can go home in batches. Many seventh graders leave, but the group gains girls from the Strawberry Hill trip who didn’t enjoy it because of Nick and his friends. Later, at Pearl’s request, Molly and Navya talk to Bea, who doesn’t reciprocate Pearl’s feelings. Molly and Liza reminisce about the past, and decide to make new memories together. Dr. Couchman and Mr. Dern keep driving back and forth past the gardens throughout the day, until students run up to the sidewalks with signs reading “LEAVE US ALONE” (268).

This section covers Chapter 119: “If You Ever Play Truth or Dare, Take the Dare. Trust Me.”; Chapter 120: “Even Frogs Have a Breaking Point”; Chapter 121: “The Letter I Slide Under my Brother’s Door”; Chapter 122: “The Milholland Plan”; and Chapter 123: “Bad Ghosts.”

The camping students play a game of Truth or Dare in which Pearl admits she only likes Will as a friend, and he walks away. Molly follows him, but Will is upset that she knew Pearl’s feelings, so Molly tells him that Pearl likes Bea, who also doesn’t reciprocate her feelings. A hurt Will goes home, wanting to be alone. Molly also goes home for dinner and her father, back home with Danny, praises her activism. Danny doesn’t come downstairs for dinner, so the rest of the family eat without him. When he appears in time for dessert, his father uncharacteristically chastises him. Danny is rude to Molly, and she stands up to him for the first time, before heading back to the protest. That night, she writes a physical letter to Danny, which she slides under his door, describing how much she loves him. However, she is done trying to improve their relationship.

The next morning, Ms. Lane comes looking for Molly with ex-principal Ms. Milholland in tow. Ms. Milholland has been following the podcast and protest, and asserts she will get an emergency board meeting in place for the next night. The group decides to go home, as they are confident of Ms. Milholland’s support, though they will protest again if necessary. Molly communicates this plan to Ms. Lane, and within an hour, all parents receive a letter from Mae Dunn inviting them and their children to speak at the meeting the next night.

Molly goes to Will’s the next day before school. He expresses his hurt and humiliation over Molly knowing Pearl’s feelings, and she apologizes. As they walk to school, they spot a baby bear hanging off a tree with its mother nowhere in sight. They quietly make their way past it, and the cub eventually lands on the ground. It is the second-last day of school, and the eighth graders watch movies in class, while Molly practices her speech for the evening’s meeting.

This section covers Chapter 124: “Really Bad Nerves”; Chapter 125: “Lip Balm on Friendship”; Chapter 126: “Dress Coded: A Podcast, Episode Eleven”; Chapter 127: “The Thing About Souls”; and Chapter 128: “Yearbook Day.”

Tom is quiet at lunch. Upon being prodded, he confesses that he is uncertain who to sit with the next year. The girls reassure him that at least one of them will always have the same lunch period as him. Molly is unable to eat because of her nerves. She notices that Fingertip is in a bad mood, and thinks that she, too, must have “bad nerves”—as without the dress code, she will lose a job.

Molly and her friends visit Ashley after school. They reassure each other that they still love each other, but to Molly, this reconciliation feels like lip balm: “It feels good for a few minutes, but the chapped lips are still there” (285). The girls tell Ashley about the meeting that evening, and her negative reaction makes Molly feel like the balm is already wearing off; she is uncertain if they will still be friends in high school. Pearl messages Molly, saying she is too embarrassed to go to the meeting because she heard about Bea’s lack of feelings; however, Molly encourages her to go anyway, and behave as usual with Bea, just like she has with Will.

Molly broadcasts a live podcast from the meeting. Mae Dunn addresses the crowd, which includes high school students who have flooded the hall. Molly holds onto the Kindness Rock that Violeta’s mother gave her as she speaks, reading out the dress code. It dictates that no cleavage, lower back, or midriff is to be displayed; no tight or revealing clothes are to be worn; and hems of shorts, skirts, and dresses, should fall at or below the knee. Then, multiple students share their stories, including Talia; when she speaks, the room goes silent. A boy steps up and asserts that girls’ clothing is not distracting to boys. A couple of adults call the protest disrespectful, but Olivia has the last word: She shares her experience and thanks Molly and everyone else who stood up for her. Molly reflects on how the pieces of soul that leave a person’s body can come back, after all.

Molly and Will sit in the treehouse, looking through their yearbook. Neither Dr. Couchman nor Fingertip was present on the last day of school. Liza messages the group, alerting them to a letter from Mae Dunn, which she posts on the podcast’s Instagram. The board found that the dress code is enforced unevenly in the middle school, and not at all in the high school. The discrimination against Talia was deemed particularly disturbing and warrants action, including the implementation of “programming and personnel changes, effective immediately” (295). The board apologizes for their lack of attention to the middle school, and has voted to remove the dress code from both the middle and high school handbooks. The dress code will be rewritten over the summer, with input from the girls who spearheaded the protest.

This section covers Chapter 129: “Princess Molliflower and Prince Willister Have Much to Celebrate”; Chapter 130: “Middle School Is Not That Bad”; Chapter 131: “Danny’s Letter”; Chapter 132: “Girls in White Dresses”; Chapter 133: “All’s Well in Bearville: A Podcast”; and Chapter 134: “The Amended Fisher Middle School Dress Code.”

Molly and Will celebrate the verdict in the treehouse. Molly’s mother comes over to congratulate Molly, before she heads off to call everyone and brag about her daughter’s accomplishments. Molly points out that Will never recorded a podcast episode, and he promises to do so if he ever gets dress coded. She lists the things that make middle school bearable, including “Squeezing too many adult-size bodies into a child-size tree house for giant quantities of junk food and a lot of hugging and singing” (299). Danny replies to Molly’s letter with his own, apologizing for having been a bad brother and asserting that she is a “solid kid.” He is going to stay with their grandmother because she can help him, but he promises to return if Molly ever needs him.

On graduation day, Molly takes pictures with her friends in Violeta’s garden. She watches Will, Pearl, and Bea interact normally with each other, and feels relieved. As the eighth graders file into the cafeteria, a sour-faced Dr. Couchman shakes their hands in welcome. He announces that Mrs. Aeyler will be handing out programs, and the girls realize that this is Fingertip’s real name. The eighth graders cheer on their friends as different students receive awards. Finally, Pearl reads a poem she wrote, titled “Olivia’s Tears,” about the defiance that grew from her friend’s tears and all they accomplished.

Mary Kate takes over Molly’s podcast and renames it “All’s Well in Bearville” (307). She plans to interview people about issues important to them, and one of the first things she will focus on is the bear hunting issue. The first episode features Molly as a guest, and she follows up on the dress code protest. Mary Kate was on the committee that helped rewrite the dress code, and she thanks Molly for everything she did. To Mary Kate’s questions, Molly asserts she will continue working to change things. She leaves the podcast with the advice that while middle school is not always easy, one will get used to it, be able to wear comfortable clothes, and find teachers who care like Ms. Lane, Ms. Santos-Skinner, and Mr. Beam. She also reassures the new middle schoolers that the high schoolers will always be there to help.

The amended dress code now directs students to wear a top, bottom, and footwear, and prohibits only “CLOTHING THAT DEPICTS HATE SPEECH, PROFANITY, OR ILLEGAL, LEWD, OR VIOLENT ACTIVITY” (309).