The Unicorn Mystery by Luke's 1st/2nd Grade Class

n r M o c i y n s U t e e ry h T

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i i i i i i i i i

A Collection of Stories by

Luke’s 1st/2nd Grade Class Ann Arbor Open

A PUBLICATION OF 826MICHIGAN PUBLISHED BY BLOTCH BOOKS, MICHIGAN

Cont

Our Beginning ..................

The Magical Home ...........

A Friendly Unicorn .........

It Talks! ................................

No Place Like Home.........

tents

............................................ 2

............................................ 4

............................................ 6

............................................ 9

........................................... 12

Our Beg

ginning

It was a bright

and sunny day. You can smell beautiful flowers from across the meadow. You can feel wonderful things.

Bella, Cheetah, Isadora, and Molly are in the meadow walking and they see something

sparkling—it’s a unicorn! The unicorn has a rainbow horn.

Isadora feels a little scared and notices she is fading away. “I’m not sure about going any closer to that unicorn.

It’s a little scary.”

2

The Magic

cal Home

Molly reassures

Isadora, “It’s okay, take a deep breath! The unicorn won’t hurt you.

It’s really harmless.”

The unicorn eats grass, and then starts prancing towards a hill.

They decide to follow it. They see the unicorn

go into a mysterious hole. The hole has traps made of rope set up around it, making it hard to get in. It’s the unicorn’s magical home!

The End

4

A Friendly

y Unicorn

Bella tells Isadora to

stay calm. She says,

“Take deep breaths and do some meditation.”

The cheetah tries to excite Isadora. He runs around her very fast!

Molly tells Isadora that

it is really a unicorn, and encourages her to pet it.

Isadora says, “Okay, I’ll try.”

She ends up petting the unicorn and it likes her. The unicorn is

6

excited and surprised, for she thought Isadora didn’t like her.

The End

7

It Ta

alks!

Isadora walks away

from the unicorn. She sees the Cheetah and it asks her, “What happened?”

Isadora says, “I saw a unicorn and got scared!”

“A unicorn! Whoa,” Cheetah says.

Cheetah and Isadora walk together to talk to the unicorn. They walk up to the unicorn and ask, “What is your name?”

9

And the unicorn neighs in reply!

“Are you ok?”

The unicorn neighs twice.

“Do you need help?”

The unicorn says “No” and then neighs four times!

The End

10

No Place L

Like Home

Molly exclaims, “Oh,

oh, oh!!”

She is so nervous she crumbles into pebbles.

The unicorn lifts all of them up with its magical powers from its rainbow horn, and they land on a cloud!

With Bella’s magical lightning powers, she shoots lightning from the big, fluffy cloud. A ghost made out of light appears on the cloud.

He wears a shining, golden cloak.

12

“My name is Beam, and I can shoot golden energy! But my power is fading!!”

Cheetah, Molly, Isadora, and Bella feel their powers fading too.

“We just want to go home!” Isadora says to the magical unicorn.

“Why should I take you home?” Unicorn asks.

The unicorn can talk!

“Because we want our powers back! And we miss the meadow!” The cheetah adds, “I want to run fast again!”

“Fine, I will take you home,” the unicorn says. It lets out an evil laugh and teleports them to another cloud world!

13

“This isn’t home! We are still in the clouds!”

Isadora exclaims, sounding upset.

To be continued!

14

inspires school-aged students to volunteers in their communities.

Our writing and tutoring programs uphold a culture of cre strong habits of mind. Through publication and communit enthusiastic audience for their writing.

Our programs provide an energizing creative outlet for stud members.

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.

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 elementary-aged writers.

IN-SCHOOL PROJECTS

Our trained volunteers go into local public schools every day 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.

write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult

eativity and imagination and support students in establishing ty engagement, we provide students with an authentic and

dents and meaningful volunteer opportunities for community 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. Please visit us online at onwardrobots.com.

All proceeds from our stores directly fund our free student programming. Onward robots!

WRITING IS

A way to figure things out by ourselves

We create a safe place to be ourselves and try new things We support the ways that writers work (like thinking, sketching, talking)

A way to help us connect to our world

We study the writing we want to do so we can try it We learn how to change our writing for genre, audience, and purpose

A way to help us learn who we are and who we will become

We work with a group of writers who help and support each other

A way for us to use our power to make changes and build a better world

www.826michigan.org

826 National was inspired to take a stand on issues of inclusion and diversity in light of the many events that spotlighted social and racial injustices throughout the country. We as educators, volunteers, and caring adults need to be aware of the wide range of issues our students face on a day-to-day basis. We need to support these young people as they navigate through and try to make sense of the world and their own identities.

We need the support and the feedback from our community to ensure 826 is living up to these standards.

Through our inclusion statement, our internal diversity and inclusion group, cultural competency resources provided to staff and volunteers, and partnerships with other organizations, we are always working towards being a more inclusive and supportive organization.

We at 826 have the privilege of working with the next generation of scholars, teachers, doctors, artists, lawyers, and writers. It's our job to make sure they are able to take their own stands.

As an organization committed to encouraging youth in their creative expression, personal growth, and academic success, 826 National and its chapters recognize the importance of diversity at all levels and in all aspects of our work. In order to build and maintain the safe, supportive 826 environment in which great leaps in learning happen, we commit ourselves to inclusion: we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, marital status, English fluency, parental status, military service, or disability.

The 826 National network is committed to encouraging youth to express themselves and to use the written word to effectively do so. We encourage our students to write, take chances, make decisions, and finish what they start.

And 826 strives to do this in an environment free from discrimination and exclusion.

by Gerald Richards, CEO

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i i i i i i i i i

Copyright © 2022

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.

All papers used by Drs. T & G Blotch are slightly moldy and therefore should be kept in a cool, dry place. Please save this book for when you are older.

Library of Congress Catalog Information has been applied for. A Dewey Decimal has not.

— FIRST US EDITION —

WRITTEN, DESIGNED, AND DIGITIZED IN MICHIGAN, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BLOTCH BOOKS 826MICHIGAN.ORG