answer:I’m by no means a grammar expert, but I’ll take a crack at answering a few of these. 1. I would use a comma in this instance. 2. I think it is actually spelled “bubblegum” (one word) and not “bubble gum”. A hyphen wouldn’t be needed in that case. I think “sixth grader” is also more concise than “sixth grade student” and fits better with colliquial English. 3. I’m not sure about the run-on sentences. 4. The semi-colon has no business being used in the first example. “I loved him; he hated me” – would work, but the two would work better as separate sentences. In the second example, I think the semi-colon is in the proper place, but the conjunction “and” should be deleted. I am in Kurt Vonnegut’s camp when it comes to semi-colons overall. 5. Here is an explanation about the use of “will versus would”. I cannot for the life of me put it into my own words. It was one of those tricky grammar sections that made my life as a tutor difficult. 6. That is purely an aesthetic decision. I personally use quotation marks because I reserve italics for titles and things. But it is very rare for me to include the thoughts of characters as I favour writing in first person. 7. I think the main issue with the sentence is there are too many pronouns. It makes it difficult for the reader (in this case, me) to follow your train of thought. I’m not sure how I would rewrite it. Sorry if I wasn’t especially helpful. Have fun with your story! :)