“Now I know that if I have problem, there are places I can go to find answers. I’m not alone.”

“This project gave us permission to talk about things with our mentors that we never would have talked about otherwise.”

“I loved this project. It was to fun to learn about my mentor’s life, but the best part was learning that she had been through the same things in her past that I’m going through now. It was like my mentor could give me tips about how to handle different situations.”

“Working with the website and getting a book at the end was a blast.”

“My favorite part was that we got to trust grownups besides our parents.”

“This project opened a door to a relationship that is never going to close.”

“It’s like you gave us a roadmap to becoming friends for life, and all we had to do was answer a few questions.”

“I never imagined that this project could have such a profound impact on my life.”

“I learned all kinds of things from the other mentors. I didn’t even think about that possibility when we started.”

“Giving the books to the kids at the end of the project was the best day I’ve had in 35 years as an educator – I could not believe their reaction.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this; I’ve never seen kids so into a project.”

“Usually with 6th or 7th graders it’s like pulling teeth to get them to respond to a question in class. With this project, every hand in the class was up.”

“The kids can’t stop talking about this project. They don’t want it to end.”

“You’ve given me a new son. I didn’t know he could function at this level.”

“Thank you – you’ve changed our family.”

“This is the first time since his father left when my son was five that he’s bonded with a man. He has so much more confidence; he’s opened up so much. You have no idea what that means. Thank you.”

“I’ve written the Metro Column for our paper for 32 years. I have never seen another story like this one, and I cannot imagine kids having conversations like this with adults any other way. I can’t imagine knowing how to begin such a conversation, how to formulate the questions, meaningful ones that go to the very heart of life itself.”

“As the host of the morning show (KRQE-TV), I’ve done lots of stories on kids and schools, but this is really unique. What these kids did with their mentors, and the way it changed all of their lives is amazing. The book is incredible. I still can’t believe 6th graders did it.”