Copyright © 2022 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 are visiting some relatives in Distopelo, a spicy salty ocean city on a tiny unnamed planet. After a long journey to get there, there’s only one spaceship landing port, so you have to drive halfway across the planet. It’s a five year drive, and at some point you think you see Barack Obama and the Geico gecko. Maybe it was a dream.
You finally make it to your relatives’ home, and then you see your Uncle Geico driving past in a super fancy car. It’s a limo! You get worried because he doesn’t have a license. He failed his driving test seven times (that’s more times than SpongeBob). You walk into your relatives’ house, but it’s empty–there is no furniture inside and you realize your relatives have moved. You open one of the cabinets and find some mystery green cereal. You eat it and your ring finger suddenly becomes indestructible. You need to figure out where your relatives went! You walk outside and the door shuts behind you, locking you out.
If you decide to chase Uncle Gecko, turn to page 2.
If you decide to break open the door with your indestructible ring finger, turn to page 3.
You run to find Uncle Geico and stop him from driving without a license. His limo is blasting heavy metal opera and he doesn’t notice you. He is racing toward a portal and he doesn’t seem to realize it. You get a whiff of his corn cologne as he drives by. The portal closes behind him and you lose control of your running and accidentally run into a nearby wall. You have a dream about time traveling into the past. When you wake up, Jake from State Farm is standing in front of you babbling about the Personal Price Plan. Unfortunately, you don’t have much time to chat because a ginormous banana monster emerges from the wall and says “I will find Uncle Geico, because he gave me a good insurance deal.” The monster is a humongous banana with one eye and goggles. You follow him and he leads you to a group of banana zombies. Nearby, there is a spaceship with some mysterious figures in it. You decide to go up to the banana zombies and ask them if they know any relatives of the Geico family. They say “no, but follow the spaceship” and their zombie eyes look over to the spaceship, which is beginning to launch. It sounds like a metal fork scraping across a plate and makes your ears scream. You see fire coming out of the spaceship and it makes your spine shiver. You think that you smell corn nearby.
If you decide to follow the banana zombies’ advice and run toward the spaceship, turn to page 4. If you decide to follow the ginormous banana monster who said that he would lead you to Uncle Geico, turn to page 5.
When the door opens, the cops are on the other side, and they ask why you broke down the door. You walk farther into the house and fall down a hole and land on a candy island. Your grandma is there and she invites you into her flying truck and you both go to Mars.
When you get to Mars, you eat caramelized lava and turn tiny! Although you’re tiny, your ring finger is still the same size! You eat hot rock candy after and turn back to normal. Your grandma hands you a note with a map on it to find your aunt. When you find your aunt, you, your aunt and your grandma go back to the candy island to celebrate Christmas. When you get back, your grandma reveals that she’s a witch! You can either battle her or run to another planet in her flying truck.
If you decide to battle your grandma, turn to page 6. If you decide to travel to another planet in your grandma’s truck, turn to page 7.
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.
SCHOOLWORK SUPPORT
We organize trained volunteer tutors to work with students one-on-one with their homework after school. Homework support is available for all subjects, for students ages 7–18.
WORKSHOPS
We offer a number of free workshops taught by professional artists, writers, and our talented volunteers. From comic books to screenplays, bookmaking to radio, our wide variety of workshops are perfect for writers of all ages and interests. One of the most popular workshops we offer is our weekly Wee-bots program for elementaryaged writers.
IN-SCHOOL PROJECTS
Our trained volunteers go into local public schools to support teachers with their classroom writing assignments. Based on the teacher’s curriculum, assignments range from writing tales to crafting college essays to exploring poetry.
FIELD TRIPS
Students come as a class to our writing lab to join a group of volunteers, interns, and staff in order to help solve a problem through writing—whether that is our editor Dr. Blotch’s insomnia, our looming story deadline, a mystery in need of solving, or one of the many others we encounter. Our field trips always end in a finished publication of original writing that students take home.
OUR STORES
Our Robot Supply Co. stores are one-stop shops for robots, robot owners, and enthusiasts alike. They are designed to inspire creativity and bring awareness of our programs to the community. In addition, our online store is always open; visit the Robot Supply Co. at onwardrobots.com. All proceeds from our stores directly fund our free student programming. Onward robots!
826michigan inspires school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities.
Find out more at 826michigan.org