My Peculiar Brother written by
illustrated by
narrated by
Julency Myrtil
Jamaea Nelson
Darren Ratliff
In honor of the National Day of Service on January 18, 2016, Memphis Challengers created “Tell Me a Story: Service Through Storytelling.” Through this project, 62 Memphis Challengers in grades 9-12 wrote and produced specialized storybooks and poems for children. The project aimed to bring smiles, excitement and the love of storytelling to children, as well as enrich the process of using creativity to give back for Memphis Challenge students. Learn more about The Memphis Challenge at www.memphischallenge.org. Copyright ©2016 Memphis Challenge Publications. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher. For information address The Memphis Challenge, 516 Tennessee St., Suite 129, Memphis, Tennessee 38103. First Edition | Printed in the USA ISBN 978-1-944843-00-7 “My Peculiar Brother” Written by Julency Myrtil (10th grader, Bolton High School) Illustrated by Jamaea Nelson (9th grader, Lausanne Collegiate School) Narrated by Darren Ratliff (10th Grader, at St. George’s Independent School) Funded by a generous grant from the Pyramid Peak Foundation Special thanks to the Project Production Team – Heather Bruce, Cierra Burnett, Avery Cunningham, Jamien Sills, Lisa Smith, McKenzii Webster, Christa Wininger and Cassandra Webster, Executive Director – for your expertise, commitment, vision and leadership. Parents and guardians thank you for your trust and support.
My Peculiar Brother written by
Julency Myrtil illustrated by
Jamaea Nelson narrated by
Darren Ratliff
The sun beamed its light while snow quietly fell to the ground. “Ahhh!” Anita yawned and stretched. She noticed it was snowing and jumped gleefully. “Anita, Anita, come here!” her mother called. Anita came downstairs and saw her mother standing next to a tall man and a small boy.“I want you to meet your stepfather and your little brother, Tommy,” she said. Anita carefully approached and reached out to touch Tommy. He flinched from her reach and shrieked. Anita fell back, terrified and embarrassed. Her mother scolded Tommy for his behavior. He apologized, walked to Anita, and offered his hand. “Hi, my name is Tommy,” he said. Anita’s mother explained that Tommy had Down Syndrome and acted peculiar at times. Down Syndrome is when babies are born a little slower than other children.
Hey, it’s snowing! That means I can play outside with Susie and Annie. I hope Mom doesn’t make me bring Tommy!
Anita didn’t know a lot about Down Syndrome, and she didn’t like to play with Tommy, but one snowy day, her mom asked Anita to go outside and play with him.
Anita dragged Tommy with her up the hill huffing and puffing all the way. Anita’s friends, Susie and Annie, were there also. They invited Anita to come play with them. Anita and her friends played, laughed, sang, danced, and giggled, and Anita forgot about Tommy. When it was time to go home, Anita looked around the hill for Tommy. She looked and looked, but she couldn’t find him.
Oh no! Where’s Tommy?
“Tommy? Tommy, where are you?” Anita yelled. She looked, and she looked again, but Tommy was lost. Anita ran home and told her mother. Anita and her mother climbed up the hill to check if Tommy was there, but he wasn’t. Right when Anita thought they would never find Tommy, she discovered a trail of footprints in the snow on. She followed them and found Tommy’s hat and scarf hanging on a tree. She followed more footprints, and at last, she found Tommy building a snowman behind a tree. Even the snowman was smashed together and coated with twigs and leaves, he still looked like he was having fun.
“Tommy,” Anita squealed. “Why did you run away?” “You didn’t want to play with me,” Tommy said. He looked at his footprints in the snow. “You never want to play with me. Because I’m different.”
Why did you run away?
Because you don’t want to play with me. You think I’m weird. You’re embarrassed of me!
“I’m sorry, Tommy,” she said. “From now on, I won’t forget about you, and I’ll always try to play with you. Even though they were a little different from each other, Anita said, “You are still my little brother.” In the end, Tommy and Anita walked hand in hand skipping, laughing, and jumping all the way home.
DISCUSSION FOR “MY PECULIAR BROTHER” What are your thoughts on Anita’s relationship with Tommy and the lessons learned from this story ...