The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Middle School

Appendix HOW TO PACK YOUR BACKPACK WITHOUT CRACKING YOUR BACK

1. Put your heaviest, biggest book in first, standing upright in the back of your bag, so you feel one big flat surface against your back, instead of a bunch of lumpy little things and book corners poking you.

2. Stack your other big, fat textbooks horizontally on the bottom of the bag.

3. Pack lighter stuff next: gym clothes, workbooks, paperback textbooks, and notebooks.

4. On the very top goes your lunch or snack, and anything else that’s ruined if smushed, like that clay project you’re taking home from art class.

• Secure pockets are for anything that you’re going to be toast if you lose: calculator, cell phone, keys, that little piece of paper you’ve got your locker combo on.

• Easy-access pockets are where you put things you’re going to need fast, like a pencil case or water bottle.