After Sept.

11, 2001, Peachtree City resident Margaret Ross wrote a book called "Casey

and the Amazing, Giant Green Shirt." The book dealt with the power

of labels and how they can be used for good and for harm. The book was

aimed at elementary school students in an attempt to stop bullying before

it starts. The origin for most bullying is name-calling.

"Casey

and the Amazing, Giant, Green Shirt" was very successful. Programs

were launched in schools in Fayette and Cobb counties and both teachers

and students reported a decrease in name-calling. The book was also offered

for free to people in all branches of the military, including those stationed

in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Germany.

Now Casey is

back in an entirely new story, "Casey and the Growing Spurt,"

aimed at an older crowd. Casey is now an eighth grader and is waiting

for a growth spurt. He has been chosen to be the team captain for a project

on "Patriotism on the Home Front." Most of his team gets along

but for some reason they don't like the new kid, Edgar, and the project

appears doomed to fail. The team learns to find out positive things about

each other and the project gets back on the right track. In the second

part of the story, Casey helps stop his friend, Violet, from being ruined

Each of the

Casey stories clearly demonstrates to the reader how powerful words can

be. They also give the reader advice on how to handle situations when

name-calling and rumors start. Casey is an example of a good student,

citizen and friend and emphasis is placed on family and patriotism. The

lesson that Casey and the reader learn is that real growth happens on

the inside.

"Middle

school teachers and counselors were asking me for a book for their students

and when I asked what middle school students were facing, I heard stories

about the whisper wars," said Ross. "For Casey to be able to

help his friend through the whisper wars, he needed to be more mature,

so the first story was necessary for Casey to grow."

Ross's favorite

part of the new book is the description of Casey and his grandfather going

fishing on a foggy morning. "When you are growing up things are constantly

changing and I just thought it was really nice that something stayed the

same." Casey's grandfather has been a mentor to Casey in both books

helping Casey along. Both books, and all books that Ross has planned for

the future, will have flawed characters making hard decisions at different

ages.

After the success

of the first book, Ross and her company, the Kamaron Foundation, received

a thank you letter from the White House for their work in supporting literacy

and military families. Profits from the new Casey book will support the

educational work of the Kamaron Foundation, which includes Operation Pint

Sized Patriot and the Casey Citizenship Exhibit at the National Museum

of Patriotism.

Fayette County

schools have embraced Casey. Several buses throughout the county have

adopted the positive label program and sport bumperstickers declaring

"Only Positive Labels Allowed" and "Mobile Positive Word

Zone." Rising Starr Middle School will be staging a play version

of the new Casey book next month and Ross is busy writing the pay version

of "Casey and the Amazing, Giant, Green Shirt." She is also

writing the sequel to that book, which will be called "Casey and

the See Through Head."

No matter what

age Casey is, he and the reader will learn some valuable lessons.

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