A CHOICE-FILLED ADVENTURE STORY
ELVIS PRESLEY & THE ROBOT ATTACK Written by Students of MS. PAWLOWSKI’S FIFTH GRADE CLASS at ABBOT ELEMENTARY
FIRST EDITION AN 826MICHIGAN DIGITAL PUBLICATION
Copyright © 2021 by 826michigan and Blotch Books. All rights reserved by 826michigan, the many whims of Drs. T & G Blotch, and the authors. The views expressed in this book are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of 826michigan. We believe in the power of youth voice and are thrilled that you picked up this book. No part of this book may be reproduced without express written permission from the publisher, except for small excerpts for the purposes of review or scholarly study. By purchasing this book, you are helping 826michigan continue to offer free student programs. For more information, please visit: 826michigan.org
You live in a normal building in a futuristic city. The year is 2050. It’s the morning and you hear on the news that Japan is being overrun by robots. This isn’t the first time that’s happened. It already happened in 2020 and 2021. But this is the biggest one yet! You go outside and find an abandoned graveyard. You find one that says “Elvis Presley” on it. You dig in the grave and find that it’s empty! You start to think that he might be one of the robots or maybe he faked his death. You go out and walk into a building. You see there’s a robot in command he’s hacking into the computers to control the robots. You could run up to attack the robot to stop him from hacking into the computers, or you could walk away.
If you decide to attack the robot, turn to page 2. If you decide to walk away, turn to page 3.
1
You decide to attack the robot when you realize it’s dressed like Elvis Presley and it’s dancing like him, too! The robot jumps up and attacks you. You pass out but then you wake up at the very bottom of the building. The robot has set up an obstacle course with many boxes. There’s a really bad stench coming from the obstacle course. It smells like fuel or electricity. It’s a dark, moist room like you’re underground. You do it, and halfway through, there are minions that come to attack you. They have an injection. You think it’s supposed to turn you into a robot. You start doing the obstacle course even faster. You see that at the end, there’s a weird machine in a dark room with LED lights. The machine has the words “TIME MACHINE” written on it in big, bold letters. You feel weird and very scared. Your eyes get really big, and your jaw drops. You aren’t sure if you should trust that it’s a time machine because you can never trust anything that is in big, bold letters. You don’t know whether to trust the machine. It may be too risky. You may want to stay and investigate Elvis Presley.
If you choose decide to go in the machine, turn to page 4. If you choose decide to stay back and hope the robots don’t get you, turn to page 5.
2
You slowly walk backwards, and you fall into a well. You fall back in time into a cottage in 1997. You find Elvis Presley there, who is in his early thirties. Elvis is making blueprints for the giant robot. Three robots are helping him. Elvis has already created many robots to help him. He gives the sense that he might be a villain or sorcerer. You walk over to Elvis and ask him what type of robot he’s building. He says that he’s building an evil robot to rule the earth. He asks, “Who are you and how did you get here?”
If you decide to lie about who you are, turn to page 6. If you decide to take the blueprints, turn to page 7.
3
You step into the time machine. When you get into the time machine you see a bunch of buttons and different years listed. There are big red buttons and some of the years listed are 1992, 1995, and 1915. You remember that robots are taking over in Japan. You decide to push the button that says the year 1992. When you push the button nothing happens. All of a sudden, a net drops down on you! Your jaw drops and you throw your hands in the air. Now you’re stuck and you’re struggling to get out. You try to kick the net off. Suddenly the robot Elvis opens the door to the elevator. He grabs you and takes you off into a different room. Another robot comes into the room and tries to hand you a drink. The drink is a mix of many colors, green, yellow, and brown and it smells like cotton candy. You think this drink will turn you into a robot. You look around and see a small window.
If you choose to drink the cotton candy, hoping it doesn’t turn you into a robot, write your own ending. If you choose to kick the drink over and escape out of the small window write your own ending.
4
(start again at page 1)
You decide to go back to attack the Elvis robot, but first, you need to finish the obstacle course. Once you make it to the top of the building, you ask the robot what it’s name is. The robot silently points to the door, almost like it’s telling you to leave now. You can tell he is the leader due to his size and armor. You say, “I won’t leave until you tell me who you are!” The robot points to the door again. You attack the robot in hopes of stopping the whole army, but he pulls you down and pins you. You grab a thin metal pole and throw it at the computers. This makes a large clanking noise. You can see metal and wires inside the computer. The lights go off, and the only light you can see is sparking lights from the broken computer. The robot falls to the ground and powers off. He must have been powered by the computer. The computer didn’t power all the robots, though. You can hear others clanking downstairs. To shut down all the robots, you’ll need to shut down the world’s power supply, which just so happens to be in your town.
If you decide to run for the door to shut down the world’s power supply, write your own ending. If you decide to stay and see if Robot Elvis powers back on,
write your own ending. 5
(start again at page 1)
You say to Elvis, “I’m your biggest fan!” The robots are made to look like Elvis and they have the same hip movements as Elvis when he’s dancing. They’re wearing the same black jean jacket as Elvis and have his same hairstyle. They’re called the Mini Elvis 3000. You grab a sketchbook, which is next to the blueprint and has all of Elvis’s information. You see that he programs the robots to act like him so that his legacy won’t die and he’s still remembered. “Can you show me what you’ve made?” you ask. Elvis explains about the robots in a very sweet and convincing voice, so you trust him. But he seems nervous. You get interested in building the robots with Elvis. But then, you start to question this because of the dark and tyrannical tones he’s using. He’s been using many different voices during your conversation.
If you choose to join Elvis as his evil sidekick,
write your own ending. If you choose to save Japan on your own, without the help of Elvis or his robots, write your own ending.
6
(start again at page 1)
First, you look at the blueprints before taking them. They say the evil robot will be 300 feet tall and have four arms. There are five robots in the room with Elvis. Two are guarding the entrance of the cottage. The other three are working inside with Elvis. A little yellow bird watches from a distance. You sneak around to the back and look in the window to see where the blueprints are. Luckily, you have a fishing rod in our backpack. You cast out the line and snatch the blueprints up on the hook. Success! One of the robots tries to grab the blueprint back. “Why are you taking the blueprints?” asks the robot in an angry voice. “What are you planning to do with these?” you ask. “I’m not making one 300 ft. robot. I’m making five 300 ft. robots!” the robot says. You want to get away. You see a hole you could step in, but you’re not sure if it will work. You could also throw a rock through the window to make a distraction.
If you choose to step in the hole, write your own ending. If you choose to throw a rock through the window,
write your own ending. 7
(start again at page 1)
(space to write your own ending)
THE END 8
(start again at page 1)
(space to write your own ending)
THE END 9
(start again at page 1)
inspires school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities. Our writing and tutoring programs uphold a culture of creativity and imagination and support students in establishing strong habits of mind. Through publication and community engagement, we provide students with an authentic and enthusiastic audience for their writing. Our programs provide an energizing creative outlet for students and meaningful volunteer opportunities for community members. We believe that with one-onone attention from caring adults, students improve their academic performance, develop a sense of belonging, and discover the unique value of their voices. We also believe that the more fun a student has, and the more directly we speak to a student’s interests, the more we can help students find the fun in learning. That’s why our programs are more than just extra homework. All of our programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in their individual voice. ONLINE LEARNING LAB In the spring of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we quickly transitioned all of our programs online. Our priority is to ensure the safety of our community, while continuing to offer engaging, high-quality opportunities to students. Each of our main programs—Schoolwork Support, Workshops, Field Trips, and In-school Projects—has been reimagined for the virtual space as part of our new Online Learning Lab. For the 2021–22 school year, our programs will remain virtual. When is it safe to return to our in-person programs, we plan to continue to offer virtual program opportunities as well! SCHOOLWORK SUPPORT The program formerly-known as tutoring has been given an updated name, but the same great foundations remain. We organize trained volunteer tutors to work with students one-on-one with their homework after school. Schoolwork Support is available for all subjects, for students ages 8–18. Generally, we offer this program at three locations: at our Liberty Street Lab in Ann Arbor, at the Michigan Avenue Branch of the Ypsilanti District Library, and at our Winder Street Lab in Detroit’s Eastern Market, though in-person programs are on pause this year. We have added a Virtual Schoolwork Support program. Students are paired with two tutors to work on assignments for school and writing projects of their choosing.
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