A Tiptoe From the Shadows The Cool and Awesome Superbook 3000
Stories from the "All the Feels" Summer 2021 Writers Club | 826michigan
A Tiptoe From the Shadows
A Tiptoe From the Shadows The Cool and Awesome Superbook 3000
Stories from the "All the Feels" Summer 2021 Writers Club | 826michigan
826 National’s Commitment to Inclusion 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 of learning occur, we commit to inclusion: We will not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, marital status, English fluency, parental status, immigration status, military service, or disability.
826michigan Staff Dr. Naimah Wade, Executive Director Judy Tipton, Development Director Catherine Calabro Cavin, Education Director Frances Martin, Operations Director Megan Gilson, Program Manager Michael Spaeth, Development & Communications Coordinator Caitlin Koska, Volunteer & Program Coordinator
Copyright © 2021 by 826michigan and Blotch Books. All rights reserved by 826michigan, the many whims of Drs. T & G Blotch, and the authors. Design and layout by Robyn Charles. 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
Also published by 826Michigan Young Authors Book Project The Book of Many Wisdoms Because No One Else Could Do It In Our Defense—The Defense Project In the Clouds Over Ypsilanti A Moment to Remember Rare Air / Aire raro A Lantern of Fireflies Where Is It Coming From? Enjoy! Recipes for Building Community All I Could Do Was Look Up: Anatomy of a Middle School What to Call the Place I Call Home: Voices of 26 Ypsilanti Middle School Students 2020: Visions of the [Near] Future Don’t Stay Up So Late How to Rise Or, I Put My Heart into the Close Tall Tales & True Stories Suddenly My Heart Stopped for Just a Small Portion of Time: Defining Moments
OMNIBUS 826michigan OMNIBUS 1 826michigan OMNIBUS 2 826michigan OMNIBUS 3 826michigan OMNIBUS 4 826michigan OMNIBUS 5 826michigan OMNIBUS 6
826michigan OMNIBUS 7 826michigan OMNIBUS 8 826michigan OMNIBUS 9 826michigan OMNIBUS X 826michigan OMNIBUS 11 826michigan OMNIBUS 12
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Acknowledgments The program and this publication would not have been possible without the time, care, and attention of the following people: Mackenzie Simon, Mikaela Trowbridge, Libby Flower, Anagha Kiran, Sarah Bigelow, Makayla Stewart, Ray Ugaz, Lillian Grantham, Angela Yoon, Amelia Popowics, Charlotte Moore workshop collaborators and small group discussion facilitators Robyn Charles, designer
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Contents Introduction.................................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Maggie Han... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Silvia Stella... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Avleen Randhawa......................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Ian Ochomogo.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Maria Jarid.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Eva White.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Vedat Celiker.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Ruth Musehl.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Ziyah Williams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Korrin McKissic............................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 A Collaborative Story by Our Summer Writers Club . . . . . 18 About 826michigan. . ......................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Writing Core Values. . ........................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 The 826 Stand................................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
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Introduction This summer, our fearless and friendly group of writers and volunteers embarked on an 8-week virtual journey together. Each writer composed their own story with feeling, description, an interesting setting, and unique characters. We also wrote a story all together. We encourage you to read these stories all at once, one-by-one, or in any order.
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Maggie Han Age 7
Maggie Han, age 7, lives in Northville. Her favorite books are the Elephant and Piggie books. She likes to write fiction, like talking trees. She also enjoys making Barbie clothes. Playing with her best friends makes Maggie happy. She also likes ice cream.
Bob and Treeman's Adventure Treeman and Bob the Blob moved into a new neighborhood. They were a little scared at first because they did not know anyone. Then there was a pool party, and they were excited. They were a little nervous because they would have to meet new people. They went down the slide and played in the pool. They were happy because Treeman even got to be the lifeguard! Three hours went by. Treeman didn’t want to be the lifeguard anymore, so he just jumped into the pool. Treeman doesn’t have a nose, so he can swim under water. He found a secret cave. At the bottom of the pool, they found a cat and asked where to go. The cat said it was up ahead. They went where the cat said to go. Then they found a lollipop. Next to the lollipop was a note. It said, “Eat this lollipop.” The note was from the cat’s dad. So, they ate the lollipop, and then they realized they were flying. And they flew and flew until they reached a big forest. Helpfully, they had a map. They saw the map said to go right, and they did go right and saw striped mushrooms. So, they ate striped mushrooms, which turned them into butterflies.
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They found a cat with a bear’s tail that was purple and had light dots. And then the cat showed them up to an orange yellow striped mountain. On the mountain was a cave. They went into the cave and collected crystals. They made potions that the bear-tailed cat needed. Then they became friends and the cat showed them around the new place. Then Bob was really curious so he went into the woods and saw a lot of purple and blue mushrooms. But the mushrooms were actually poisonous. Since Bob went on his own, the cat didn’t follow him, Bob took the mushrooms in his bucket and went to tell the cat. Then, when the cat saw the mushrooms, her eyes were wide open. She told Bob that these mushrooms were poisonous, and Bob realized that they were. He was so nervous that he didn’t tell the cat that he ate a little bit of the mushroom. Then he felt a little squiggly, and Bob turned into a big, green caterpillar! Then the cat was so surprised that he fell on the ground. He got up and showed Treeman how to make the right potion to turn Bob back. So, they collected the ingredients. Cat said they only needed three ingredients, which were butter, water, and poison ivy that is not that poisonous. They made the potion and turned Bob back. Bob was turned back, but he was a purple blob! So, Bob made a potion himself. The ingredients were magic roses and lemaled and mushrooms. He got all the stuff at a restaurant. Its name was Magic Ingredients, and that turned him back into an orange blob.
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Bob was back, so they decided to go. So, they said goodbye to the cat, but their home was so far away. Bob asked Treeman how they could go home. Helpfully, Treeman had a little bit of the lollipop that made them fly one week ago, so they ate the lollipop and flew and flew until they reached home.
Silvia Stella Age 8
Silvia, age 8, lives in Detroit, Michigan. Her favorite books are the Series of Unfortunate Events series. She likes to write fiction and nonfiction. She also enjoys baking, cooking, and playing piano. Those are some things that make Silvia happy. Silvia also has two gerbils: Rocky and Walnut. Walnut has fur that looks like a cappuccino coffee and Rocky has plain black fur.
Cocoa’s Big Adventure “Bum bom brom bum bum bum bum,” the royal trumpets go as Carmel Cake, the ruler of Candia, steps out of their castle. “Good morning my royal candy subjects,” they say. Out of nowhere, Cocoa the chocolate bar rushes through the crowd to get to Carmel. “We need to talk now,” Cocoa says. “We need to talk about Candia.” They rush into the castle and go up three big flights of stairs to get to Carmel’s office. Carmel and Cocoa sit down. “Candia isn’t a very safe place. We have to make it safer,” Cocoa said in a serious tone of voice. “It’s time I asked you if you would like to travel to the Ice Cream Mountains and Fudge Valleys on a mission to make
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the mean citizens kinder,” Carmel says. “But you will have to make the candy citizens kinder by the one thousand year anniversary of kindness in Candia, because if everyone in Candia isn’t kind by our one thousand year anniversary of kindness, then one thousand years of kindness will be lost. The anniversary will be happening in twenty-four hours, so try to not waste any time.” “It’s too much for me to handle right now. I have to deal with other important things. That’s why I asked you. So, do you want to go on the mission?” Carmel asked. “Of course, Carmel! You know how much Candia means to me!” Cocoa exclaimed. “First, I would like you to go to the Ice Cream Mountains and Fudge Valley city hall to talk with some of the citizens there. Then you can get to the other citizens but you might not need to, they'll probably just tell the other citizens what you told them,” Carmel instructed. Then Cocoa walked down the three big flights of stairs and walked through the doors excitedly. Cocoa ran the fastest they ever had to get back home. When Cocoa walked through the door of their house, Cocoa quickly got out the peanut butter, jelly, and two pieces of bread for a sandwich. First, Cocoa toasted the pieces of bread, then Cocoa put the peanut butter and jelly on the bread. After that, Cocoa packed up the sandwich and joyfully walked through the door. Cocoa immediately got a bike and a helmet from the Renta-Bike station near their house. It only took a few seconds because all Cocoa had to do was to pay, then grab a bike
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and a helmet. Cocoa was excited when they first got on the road toward the Ice Cream Mountains and Fudge Valleys. But Cocoa got tired from all the peddling. So, halfway Cocoa stopped at the brown sugar beach to have a nice picnic looking out at the beautiful caramel river. It took eight long hours, but Cocoa finally got there. When Cocoa arrived at the Ice Cream Mountains and Fudge Valley city hall, Cocoa looked around and found lots of mean people. All of them were yelling at each other and doing other mean things like hurting each other. Everyone was also wearing name tags so people could find out who they were fighting. “Ms. Sprinklelicious, you shouldn't be fighting Ms. Pretzela, and Ms. Pretzela you shouldn’t be mean to Ms. Sprinklelicious. I know you both have differences, but that doesn’t mean you can call each other names and be mean,” Cocoa said in a soft but serious voice. Ms. Sprinklelicious and Ms. Pretzela looked at each other, then hugged happily. Then one person from the crowd said, “Why would anyone have to be mean? So, if Ms. Sprinklelicious and Ms. Pretzela can be kind to each other, then we can be kind too.” This is what the crowd sounded like right after: “Yeah!” “YEAH.” “You’re right!” “YEAH.” “You’re right!” The Cool and Awesome Superbook 3000
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“Yeah!” Suddenly everyone started hugging each other and saying sorry. This is amazing, Cocoa thought. Wow, I already showed most of the citizens of the Ice Cream Mountains and Fudge Valleys why being mean is bad. Suddenly, everyone rushed out and talked to everybody else about why being mean is bad. Out of nowhere, a spark exploded into the air, revealing a scroll, which fell into Cocoa’s hands. Cocoa opened the scroll and read:
Please come back to my castle to get ready for the Anniversary of Kindness. I request that you’re back in eight hours, so that we won’t waste any time. Yours truly, Carmel Cake, Ruler of Candia Cocoa quickly packed up their stuff and got on a Rent-a-Bike to head back to the Royal Castle. In no time at all, Cocoa was back at the Royal Castle. But when Cocoa got back, they could barely get through a crowd of people surrounding the Castle. Some of the people had flags and others had banners that said stuff like, “One Thousand Years of Kindness Parade” and “Kindness Parade.” Cocoa excitedly rushed through the crowd to get to the doors of the castle. When Cocoa walked through the door, Carmel Cake came rushing down the stairs. “Cocoa! You’re just in time. The parade will start in five minutes. Thank you, for helping me with the Kindness Anniversary. Now it's time to celebrate!” Carmel Cake said happily.
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They celebrated the moment they walked down the stairs. For the rest of the afternoon, they celebrated and did fun things. The End.
Avleen Randhawa Age 7
Avleen Randhawa, is 7 years old and lives in Michigan. Her favorite books are Wild Kratts and Magic Tree House. She likes to write about nature and animals. She also enjoys swimming and playing all kinds of sports.
Snow Chaser When she was sliding down the tundra, a giant basilisk lizard came! The lizard ran on top of the snow after the girl with the snow tube. The snow tube was so big that one hundred people could fit in there! That makes the basilisk lizard even bigger. The girl was with her whole family on the inflatable snow tube. There were one hundred people in her family. Their whole house was on the tube. They placed dirt and planted grass on it. They didn’t even need a car because the tube had inflatable wheels on it. The tube was strong because it was made out of strong plastic! The girl is so powerful that she could lift the whole house up with one finger. Her whole family has superpowers: her mom can fly, her dad can make bubbles with his fingers, her grandma can see through things, and her grandpa has the power to make things disappear and reappear.
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They have one animal from every species in the whole world as pets on their tube. These pets live in cages with teeny-tiny holes that only tiny sticks or dust bunnies can go through, so they can breathe and get sunlight. The animals are always in the cages. Basilisk lizards have thin feet and are really good at climbing trees!
Ian Ochomogo Age 8
The Wrong Island Edwerd, the flying red seal, wanted a vacation to an island, but when he got there, he noticed it was the wrong island. Then a snake bit his wing! He tried to swim away, but there were sharks in the water. He looked at all sides of the island. There were sharks. How could he get off the island?! He walked around the island to find food. When he saw a berry bush, he saw it move, and a huge blue lizard jumped out!
Maria Jarid Age 8
The Time Machine Phebe wanted a time machine because Sparkles had one (this was when they were one-year-olds). Sparkle’s time machine broke down, and they couldn’t use the time machine anymore!
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A thousand years later, Phebe got a time machine as her present! Yay! They forgot how to use the time machine, and when they used it, they ended up in a cave that was going to collapse soon! A unicorn spawned into the sky and explained, “This happens to me all the time. Ride me, and I’ll get you out of here. No worries!”
Eva White Age 8
My name is Eva, and I am 8 years old, and I live in Ann Arbor. My favorite books are the Ivy and Bean books and Polar Bear Explorers Club books. I have a brother who thinks he is a panda bear and two cats named Juicy and Kitty Kitty Mango.
Bella and Stella Look for Lucy Bella is a black cat. Lucy is a gray cat. Bella and Lucy were playing in a little stream. Suddenly there was a big water movement, like a wave, throwing Bella to the woods on the other side of the stream. She saw something bobbing. Bella looked back. Lucy was bobbing and floating away in the stream. Bella ran, but couldn't get Lucy. The wind whispered in Bella’s ears telling her to turn around. Bella turned around and looked. There was a rock pet. Bella knew that the rock pet could help anyone. So, Bella bent over the rock pet and got on. The rock pet’s name was Stella. Off they went to find Lucy. They ran alongside the stream for a long time without stopping or finding Lucy.
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Soon night fell. The stars glowed, and the moon gave soothing moonlight. It was dark. Bella and Stella got tired, so they flopped down on the stream side. Stella fell asleep fast. But Bella was still awake. She was too sad to go to sleep fast, but finally she went to sleep. The next day they were off again. They ran alongside the stream. Plop, plop. Was it Lucy? YES! They hugged! Stella smiled.
Vedat Celiker Age 7
Vedat, age 7, lives in Canton. His favorite book is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. He likes to write about impossible stuff. He also enjoys playing games. His mom makes Vedat happy.
Three Stories Dinos Once upon a time there was a gold planet full of dinos, but there was a very bad dino. He had all the money and ruled the world. He breathed fire to scare dinos for the money. But once someone poisoned the bad dino, and everybody had money, and all had equal money forever.
Robo Destruction Once upon a time, there was a huge robot made by an evil person. The man's name was sbs734. He has destroyed many planets—over thirty thousand in ten years total. The last planet was very hard to destroy. It was impossible. The planet
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had a lot better robots on the planet, but sbs734 had a plan where robots would be on a plane shooting bombs to the planet. But the planet was always one step ahead of them. This time, the planet came to destroy sbs734, but sbs734 had a plan before they came because it would take them three hundred hours just to go halfway. sbs734 destroyed the planet forever. After destroying the planet, a whole other galaxy came to sbs734. sbs734 had destroyed them, but with only one planet versus a galaxy, his chance of winning was one out of a billion. So, he just invited other galaxies, but all of them were in a fight. His only choice was to fight them, but he got an idea. He could run away from the galaxy. And when some of the planets were done with their fight, then he could invite them. So, all of them were going to be done at the same time. So, he could invite them. Now, he made his plan to defeat the galaxy.
iPad Swallower Once upon a time, I was walking in my house. I wasn't done with my work, so I just did it because I always get to go on my iPad. But once I got my iPad, guess what happened . . . I got swallowed by my iPad and I was in the game! Soooooo, that means that someone else was playing on me! But the choice was to let the guy lose so many times, he would just give up and leave his device. I did that, but the problem was that he did not give up.
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I had no idea how to get out of this game. Wait! If it was night time, he would leave his device. He left it at night, and I got out, but I was in his house. And don't ask me how I got to my house.
Ruth Musehl Age 7
Ruth, age 7 and a bit, lives in Detroit. Her favorite books are all of them. She likes to write about stuff like stuff. She also enjoys cat cuddles, especially with her cat Dusty. Kittycats, pizza, puzzles, 826 people, and more stuff makes Ruth happy. Dusty was cuddled in Ruth’s bed when she was writing this.
The Adventure of a Lifetime In the pink, purple, and blue castle, there is Dusty, Misty, Jaggy, and Ruth. There are purple chandeliers and a gem inside the pink, purple, and blue throne with several guards, who are blueberry candy guards, guarding it. The gem will help the group fix the spaceship, because it crashed. They are trying to get out of the planet. They need something from each part of the island to get off the planet. There are multiple islands on the planet. They need to get something from the forest, the castle, the lemon ball candy lake, and space. They are going to use one of the potions that they made at home, the sneak potion, to get the gem. The potion makes them sneaky. Ruth says, “I’ll get the potion.”
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Jaggy quietly talks, “I will jump around and distract the guards while you guys sneak past.” Misty softly mumbles, “I will also distract the guards because I can run super-fast, like a gray streak.” Ruth and Dusty both whisper, “We will sneak past and get the gem.” The guards chase Misty and Jaggy. “We got the gem!” they say. The guards vanish like liquid nitrogen that goes poof! when it goes onto the floor. Once they’ve gotten the gem, they head off to the forest to get the leafiest leaf at the top of the candy cane tree in the forest of candy. It is hard because the candy cane tree is like a cactus and slippery. While they are in the forest, they run into Spots, Fluffy, and Carmel. Carmel is a brown dog, Spots is a spotty dog, and Fluffy is just a fluffy dog! They help them get to the top of the candy cane tree. Fluffy is at the bottom, then Carmel, and then Spots. Ruth and her three cats then climb all the way up to the top to grab the leafiest leaf to fix the spaceship. Now they have each part: the gem and the leaf! Since they got the leafiest leaf and the gem, they must now go to the lemon lake and get the lemon skin, which is at the bottom of the lake. However, there are lemon sharks in the lake, so they must be careful!
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They will use another one of these potions to help them get the lemon skin. The potion they will use is the shark bait potion, which is a splash potion that if added to the lake will make the sharks go away towards the potion because it’s shark bait and helps them stay out of trouble. After they have gotten the lemon skin, they must run to the spaceship and plug all the stuff in before the candy gods, flower walls, leaf ladybugs, and lemon sharks get them! They will use all the rest of the potions to help them get away. They will be using the jumping potion, speed potion, poison potion, and the slip potion. They drank the jumping and speed potion, and the bad guys got splashed with the poison potion and slip potion. Now they’ve gotten to the spaceship and have plugged everything in. Now they must go to space to get the star. They need to plug in the last piece for the super speed, but it will be a difficult journey. They have finally made it to the spaceship. They get on. They make it to the superstar, but there are evil aliens along the way. The evil aliens jump on their spaceship and start devouring it. DUN DUN DUN DUUUUNNN! But, Dusty, Misty, Jaggy, and Ruth have a space pod just fit for some dogs, cats, and a person. A space pod is something you use to escape from a spaceship when enemies are attacking, or if it’s broken. There are lots of snacks, and Ruth will steer past the asteroid. Ruth put on her forcefield!
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Then they zoom through the Star Wars universe and grab a lightsaber from a Jedi. They also get the Falcon and make it extra fast. They updated the light speed to SUPER LIGHT SPEED and went zooming through the Marvel Universe. They saw a Creeship. It made them say, “EEEEEEEEKK!” Then they accidentally go through the LEGO tunnel and stop in LEGO Among Us instead of LEGO Minecraft. The door closed behind them! They have to play. They are the imposters. They fake some tasks (like imposters do) and go for the vent. It’s the vent in the house, and they zoom through it. Yes! They make it through Among Us and go for the Minecraft entrance! Ruth says, “Weeeeee!’ because it is fun. They get to go with Ruth’s dear friend, Axolotl the axolotl. They make it to the underwater monument. They need to fight the elder guardian to get the sponge to soak up the poisonous peach juice! Axolotl groups up with her other axolotl friends to defeat the guardian. They zoom up to the Minecraft tunnel and soak up the poisonous peach juice so they can get to the miniverse! They are as small as ants. They need to get from one side of the hill to the other. That’s a long way for ants! They are almost there. But then a giant beast comes up. Don’t worry, that’s Dusty! But then Ruth remembers something. If they stay in here for too long, they’ll be mini forever. They hop on Dusty! They ZOOOOOOOOOOOOM to Hammie’s cage and zoom back into space. They are almost there, but there is a giant The Cool and Awesome Superbook 3000
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obstacle. Ruth finds a force field and an electric saw and a teleporter. She takes them all and pops out on the other side. They plug in the star and zooooom back to Earth. They make it home!
Ziyah Williams Age 8
Ziyah, age 8, lives in Ann Arbor. Her favorite genre to read is biographies. She likes to write about herself, and other nonfiction topics. She enjoys reading with her mom. Reading makes Ziyah happy.
Lily Gets Lost A girl named Lily got lost in the woods. As she traveled and looked for food and shelter. She met a bakery owner. He helped her. He said that she should reunite with her family. So, she found her way back home. She was reunited with her family.
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Korrin McKissic Age 9
Korrin, age 9, lives in Detroit. Her favorite book is Wings of Fire. She likes to draw characters from Wings of Fire. She also enjoys playing Roblox and chicken nuggets. Dreaming makes Korrin happy. She’s the only one in her school who can control her dreams.
Korrin’s Drawings for the collaborative story
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Emma and Dusty's Magic Mushroom Adventure
By Our Collaborative Summer Writers Club
WHOOSH! The cold air from the mountain made Emma and Dusty shiver. Dusty is a fuzzy, warm, cuddly cat with white and black fur, and Emma is a silky-smooth, tuna fish mermaid with fuzzy rabbit fur. They are siblings who are best friends. They crashed into a planet with candy cane mountains and a sea of baby carrots. Suddenly, there was a tiptoe from the shadows and a growl. A creature with three heads, red fangs, scaly skin, and claws appeared from the shadows! It chased them away through the candy cane mountain. The monster got distracted by a bird and red-cabbage cows. Then, Emma and Dusty found a book given to them in their language by the candy platypus, that lets them know about the special mushroom that lets them fly so they can escape. "Here's a magic book that has a slight sketching of the mushroom," said the Platypus. "But there are lots and lots of mushrooms, so pick carefully! Each one has a different power." "Hm, this is weird. I wonder why this has never happened to me!" thinks Emma. They look back at the book, and then Dusty says, in a hushed voice, "Better get moving because there are a lot of mushrooms to pick from!" “BOOM BOOM BOOM!" The bird flew away so the monster lost interest in the cabbage cow. The big monster shook the ground as it chased them.
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They tried to run to the top of the mountain, but the monster kept chasing them. WHOOSH POOSH! The air whispered through the rocks. When the air whispered, it gave Emma and Dusty a clue about how to find the purple mushroom with blue dots and hearts. This was the mushroom that would make them fly. The candy platypus went with them up the candy cane mountain, and the cold air made them shiver and shiver again. Then the monster with red fangs and claws reached out and tried to drag them to a cliff. They used oil and butter to make the monster slip but the monster kept chasing them. "RAWWWRRRR!" The monster barked and chomped at them as they got away from the monster. The Candy Platypus gave them the book again, but then there was a new page that was talking about a special lock with a candy key that lets them get to the mushrooms. The key was a candy cane. "And remember! Be careful because you can fall!" said the Candy Platypus. They had to find the candy cane key because there were twenty gazillion candy canes. They found the key by looking through all the keys, and the right key didn't match with all the other ones. They tried to match all the pairs and finally got the key in time. They felt very proud because it only took them one day, although it was supposed to take a week. They only had a couple days before the mushroom disappeared because the super ants were going to wake up and eat the mushrooms. The Cool and Awesome Superbook 3000
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They carefully opened the door and tiptoed towards the mushrooms. The mushrooms smelled like stinky socks, candy, fruit, and vegetables. Some mushrooms were like grapes growing and glowing. The alarm went on. They realized there were so many mushrooms. How would they choose? They knew that they didn't have much time, so they looked frantically. Their eyes darted and their paws shuffled. But instead of the purple mushroom with hearts, they grabbed the pink mushrooms. There was a rainstorm that washed away a day, so they had even less time to find the correct mushroom. Then a pirate flying ship arrived on the island, and the ship pointed to where the mushroom was. But the person on the ship liked to eat tuna fish rolls, which was not a good thing for a tuna fish bunny. But Emma scratched her fin on a rock, so Dusty and the platypus had to get to the ship on a raft to get a medical kit to fix Emma's cut. They all got on the ship and flew away. Suddenly, the ship crashed on a bow-headed flying whale. They hadn’t gotten far away, and they still could see the mushroom. So, they climbed off the wrecked ship and got the right purple mushroom. When they finally got to the mushroom, they realized the ants had already devoured part of it! They fixed the problem using ant repellent. They knew from the book that the mushrooms let them fly and summon bunnies, but they stop working in
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thirty minutes! The mushrooms are activated by bouncing on them until they are in the air. They bounced on the mushroom. It was so powerful that the mushroom flew in the air with them on top. The mushroom was so powerful that they couldn't control it. The mushroom was zooming too fast, and Dusty’s cat claws could not grab onto it. Finally, everybody hopped off the mushroom safely, and Dusty went back to his home away from the tuna fish-bunny world. Everybody was sad without Dusty and decided to go back to Emma’s house so they weren’t separated. Luckily, a giant waterproof iPad dropped into the sea of baby carrots where Emma lived. The iPad could be used to call Dusty anytime. Then the sea of baby carrots turned into water so they could swim.
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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.
ONLINE LEARNING LAB For the 2020–21 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.
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. Visit the Ann Arbor Robot Supply Co. at 115 East Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor for in-store shopping. For store hours and online shopping, visit us online at onwardrobots.com. All proceeds from our stores directly fund our free student programming. Onward robots!
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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
