‘Welcome To Eighth Grade, People’

Ten Percent Happier
March 10, 2022

When you think back to your own middle school experience: do you cringe?  

In her latest creative project, author and podcaster Hillary Frank goes deep into the discomforts of middle school. Her audio drama, Here Lies Me, centers on an eighth grade girl confronting issues of harassment, bullying, all-around awkwardness, and the loss of her childhood. 


Hillary first conceived of the story some 15 years ago, long before she was a parent herself. But she only brought it to life as a fiction podcast last year – coincidentally at the same time that her own daughter entered middle school. We talk with Hillary about how she immersed herself in what truly goes down in the eighth grade, and how that has – and has not – prepared her for this stage of parenting. 

You can find Here Lies Me wherever you get your podcasts—and check out their website: hereliesme.com