Deluxe Stuff

AN AMAZING SUPER-FULL HANDBOOK By the kids of the Writers’ Room and the Writers’ Exchange FALL 2020

Copyright © 2020 The Writers’ Exchange

Many thanks also to Megan Abbott, anonymous, Bernard MacLeod, Linda Louis, Marily Mearns,

This book is a collection of writing and art created

Nancy and Ted Maitland, Vancouver Foundation,

by the kids of the Writers’ Room and the Writers’

Vancity Community Foundation, Edith Lando

Exchange during our fall 2020 after-school

Charitable Foundation, Jim and Casey Fletcher,

programs.

Theresa Shaw, Canadian Scholarship Trust

The Writers’ Exchange is a community that supports

Foundation, Lynn and Gene Gerwing, Mark Tindle,

under-resourced kids and youth to build their

Port of Vancouver, The Wolrige Foundation,

confidence and get excited about reading, writing

Tweedledum Foundation, Van Tel/Safeway Credit

and their own potential. All of our programs are free

Union Legacy Fund, Jamie Evrard, Morie Ford,

for the children and families we serve, and we could

Monday Creative, CLICK (Contributing to Lives of

not exist without the support of our amazing donors.

Inner City Kids Society), Diane and Robert Matson, Andrew Igel, Betty and Chris Wansbrough Family Foundation, RBC Foundation, Gordon Ross, The

Supported by the Province of British Columbia

Hamber Foundation, Rain or Shine Homemade Ice Cream, Massy Books, CAF America and Michelle Hooey, Not Just Coffee Fund, Symcor and Matt Layzell, David Ferguson, Scott Shaw and Marion Man, Bridget Chase and the Mount Pleasant War Memorial Community Cooperative Association.

is an in-kind partner of the Writers’ Exchange

generously donated the printing of this chapbook

Sasamat Foundation

We are honoured to be able to provide safe, fun and welcoming programs for kids and their families on the unceded and traditional territories of the x wmәӨk wәýәm (Musqueam), skwxwú7mesh

The Grayross Foundation

(Squamish) and seĺíĺwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

As uninvited guests on this land we are grateful to be able to enjoy this beautiful place and we are committed to building relationships and learning about ongoing traditional ways of life from our Indigenous friends.

207 – 877 E HASTINGS STREET VANCOUVER, BC V6A 3Y1

Seedlings Foundation

VANCOUVERWE.COM

CONTENTS Stuff from the Writers’ Exchange The Princesses by Kiana

4

Happy and His Puppies by Selena

4

Butterfly, Part 2 by Sara A.

5

The Story About Ciara by Biden & Sylvia

5

The Big Hand by Chi Chi

6

Anime by Ali A.

7

Things My Mom Likes by Meisa

8

Cloud Guy by Sydney

8

Turtle, Part 2 by Remas

9

The Blank Story by Sireen

9

Brawl Stars Showdown Eggshell by Francis & Eric

10

One Day by Sara S.

11

Skateboard by Sedra & Uday

12

Playing Brawl Stars and Fortnite by Ahmad

12

Welcome to the World of Pokémon by Aisa

13

Poop by Alan

13

My Friend Has a Bunny by Ali M.

13

Imposter by Danny

14

Crewmate by Schwacker

14

Godzilla by Issac

15

Gooey Team by Kiasa

15

Yveltal by Mattias

15

Dobre Brothers, Part 1 by Cecil

16

Dobre Brothers, Part 2 by Mahmoud

16

ABC Soup, Part 2 by Louisa

17

Playing with My Friends by Taima

17

Four Puppies by Sophia I.

17

Me and My Bunny by Felek

18

To Be at School by Charlie

20

The One and Only Stella by Omar

20

The Unicorn by Marah

20

Stuff from the Writers’ Room Funny Stories of Dan the Reporter by Claire

22

Once Upon a Time by Jaden

23

The Dark! by Jasmine

23

Cooking with Nico by Nico

23

Cravings by Shirley

24

Among Us by David

25

The Hungry Dinosaur by Meghan

26

The Horse Ride by Lorinda

26

The Scary Story of October 31, 2020 by Jewel

27

Super Smash Bros., Part 2 by Liam

28

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Part 2 by Andrei

29

Sans in Smash by Cosmo

30

STUFF FROM

THE WRITERS’ EXCHANGE

The Princesses

By Kiana, age 9

Once upon a time there was a dark princess and a light princess. The dark princess took care of the dark fruit and the light princess took care of the light fruit. One day the dark princess wanted to take care of the light fruit, just like her sister. So she touched the light fruit and the golden fruit turned black. Then she took a bite out of the black fruit. Then, the dark princess turned scary.

Happy and His Puppies

By Selena, age 11

4

Once upon a time there was a man named Happy who was amazing at burping! Every time the man burped he got puppies. One day Happy lost his puppies! He knew he had to find the puppies, but then he burped and got more puppies. The puppies loved his money, but Happy went to a store to get food and went broke. So they left to look for the other puppies!

Happy went down the hill to search for his puppies. He didn’t understand why they didn’t want his food. But, thankfully, he had no problems in the end because he was magic!

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

Butterfly, Part 2

By Sara A., age 8 The butterflies were done with their party and so they went to sleep. When they woke up, they started cleaning up.

The Story About Ciara

By Biden, age 8, and Sylvia, age 9

One day Ciara went on a trip to New York City. She was going to go on a boat, but she fell off a bridge. A bunch of sharks were waiting for lunch, so Ciara swam away as fast as she could. Luckily, she found an island, and she stayed on it for two days. Then a lifeguard rescued her, and she said, “Best trip ever!”

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

5

The Big Hand

By Chi Chi, age 9

Fact: It’s Big Foot’s sibling

Ahem. So, once upon a time, there was this “monster” called Big Hand. They called them Big Hand because their hands were very, very big! Nobody had ever seen them... yet! But now I can tell you some information about them: they have big hands, as you already know, and their favourite food is... bananas! (coughs) Sorry about the cough... but back to the story! One day, someone saw Big Hand. Big Hand knew they were in big trouble so they ran as fast as they could to go somewhere else. They ran too fast! They ran so fast that one of their arms fell off. But... one of the people found their arm!

6

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

The person told everybody in the town that Big Hand existed.

And soon the person who found Big Hand became president. They all began to search for Big Hand... Every. Single. Day. One day, a person named Sarah was secretly looking for Big Hand, and she spotted them! They didn’t know they had been spotted, so she poked them and they turned around. Sarah said, “Boo!” and Big Hand was frightened.

But Sarah helped them escape and go to Venus.

After helping Big Hand, Sarah became a Writers’ Exchange volunteer! She told the story to everyone! But there were still a bunch of mysteries about Big Hand. (Also, someone named them “Yandy.”)

Anime

By Ali A., age 11

Air, water, earth and fire. I have to master all of these elements to defeat Fire Lord Ozai. He is trying to take over the world. So it’s the Avatar’s job to defeat Fire Lord Ozai and restore balance to the world.

But it’s not easy. When the monks first told him, he didn’t wanna be the Avatar so he ran away and hid away for 100 years. But then a boy and a girl found him. Their names were Sokka and Katara. They told him they would help him restore balance. And they did!

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

7

Things My Mom Likes

By Meisa, age 7

My mom’s favourite things: 1. My mom likes Japan.

2. My mom likes bubbly drinks.

3. My mom likes talking with others.

4. My mom likes our family.

5. My mom likes snakes.

Cloud Guy

By Sydney, age 7 Cloud guy was going for a walk like he always did. There was a big boom, and then he saved everyone’s life! He was the number one superhero and everyone thanked him.

8

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

Turtle, Part 2

By Remas, age 7 The turtle with no name went to the top of the water. Then he found a treasure chest!

The Blank Story

By Sireen, age 8

How did I end up blank? Because I bonked my head so hard on the spinners, and on my face too! It hurt so much: boom bam bonk! Why why why why why did I end up like this? I went to the office and they put ice on my head. It hurt so, so much! There was metal under it. I started to cry. Then I did my math and it was easy. Then I read a book to my whole class.

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

9

Brawl Stars Showdown Eggshell

By Francis, age 10, and Eric, age 10

Let the ultimate showdown begin! The teams are Brock and Pam, Bea and Derryl, Mortis and Rico, Max and Gene, and Spike and Crow. Brock and Pam have opened the first box and now they are heading to the centre! Meanwhile, Mortis and Rico get their first two boxes and go for the other boxes that are near them. Max and Gene are fighting Spike and Crow! Bea and Derryl head straight to the centre. Gene has fallen to Crow! Max uses his super and dashes away. Mortis and Rico stumble across Max and finish.

There are four teams left. Bea and Derryl are fighting Brock and Pam. Brock and Derryl are destroyed at the same time. Bea uses her super and destroys Pam! Three teams are left! Crow destroys Bea! Showdown! Crow uses his super and destroys Rico. But Mortis destroys Crow! Now it’s Spike and Mortis. Mortis dodges all the shots and destroys Spike. The game is over. Mortis and Rico win!

10

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

One Day

By Sara S., age 9 Once upon a time there was a girl. Her name was Jessica. She had two sisters, named Esme and Sara. Sara was the oldest, and Esme and Jessica were twins. They were in grade 4, but Sara was in grade 5.

One day it was a test day, but Jessica was stuck on the rocks.

Esme and Sara couldn’t help her, even though they really wanted to, because it would be cheating. At recess time, they all went outside and played a game called pole tag, where you hold onto a pole and spin to get the other person. Then it was time to do P.E., so they went to the gym and played frisbee toss. To play that, you have to throw a frisbee into a hula hoop. Every time you make it in, you move up.

They won the game!

They went back to class, and after that it was lunchtime so they ate and went outside. They shared their school day with their friends (about what? mind your business!). Then the bell rang and they ran to class. In centres, Esme asked her teacher when they were going to get their test back, and the teacher said, “Tomorrow.”

Esme went to play with her sister. She played with the rainbow loom. She made a beautiful bracelet that she gave to her sister, and then she made one for herself. After that, she wrote in her agenda and went outside to meet with the kids in her program. She went with them to the program place and ate food and wrote a book. At first she did not know what to write about, but then she wrote about what she did at school. And then she wrote about her test! She got an A+! Her score was 26/27.

After the program, she went home to show the A+ to her family.

They were all so happy, so they had a party. All of her friends and family came. They lived in a very big house with a big yard, so they played in the yard and did all types of fun things.

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

11

Skateboard

By Sedra, age 9, and Uday, age 6 I got a skateboard! My sister’s name is Susu but she hates her name.

She wants her name to be Lily. My mom said she couldn’t change her name but she changed it anyway. My mom got mad at my sister. My sister got sad and got mad at my mom.

Playing Brawl Stars and Fortnite

By Ahmad, age 10

Brawl Stars on my iPad & playing Fortnite

I like playing Brawl Stars with my friends and my little brother. In Brawl Stars my name is “(secret)” and my brother’s name is “(secret)” but I am going to change his name. When I play Fortnite I go to Ali’s house and we all play together.

12

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

Welcome to the World of Pokémon

By Aisa, age 10 Inspired by Joey, the boy who loves Pokémon.

In a different world—the world of Pokémon—a boy named Joey just got his first Pokémon, Chimchar. Joey was so happy to have a Pokémon to protect him. Chimchar was shy at first but they became great friends right away.

Poop

By Alan, age 10 Poop liked to go swimming in the ocean. One time, Poop went swimming in the toilet. Then the toilet came alive and ate Poop.

My Friend Has a Bunny

By Ali M., age 6 My friend has four bunnies. But one died. It was so cute. It was a girl. Her name was Shy. I miss her. But my friend has three more bunnies.

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

13

Imposter

By Danny, age 11

I started a round of Among Us and I was the Imposter. First, I went in the Electrical Room and ate Bill. I ate him because he wouldn’t stop swearing. Then I encountered Fat and we both ate two guys named Jobs. Now there were four crewmates left, and both voted Trump 2020. Then we ate Jobs. We won.

Crewmate

By Schwacker, age 10

I was the Imposter in Among Us. First, I will tell you the other players’ names: there was Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Fat, Bill, Bob Job, and Bill. Bob and I ate Jobs and Bill. I ate three Jobs and then Jobs and Trump 2020 reported a thing. Jobs and Bob and I wanted to get Trump 2020 out, and then we chased Jobs. We ate Jobs at the same time.

14

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

Godzilla

By Issac, age 8 Godzilla is destroying the land.

Gooey Team

By Kiasa, age 9 This is the Gooey Team.

Yveltal

By Mattias, age 6 Yveltal wants to battle!

He walked to a mountain!

He took a rest.

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

15

Dobre Brothers, Part 1

By Cecil, age 8

Mahmoud and I went into a concert where the Dobre Brothers were singing. We went on a trampoline and did backflips together. We went to the Dobre Brothers’ house to swim in the pool. After swimming, we went inside their house to watch TV and pet their dog. We watched the Dobre Brothers do backflips.

Dobre Brothers, Part 2

By Mahmoud, age 7 The Dobre Brothers are doing backflips and frontflips. They have a YouTube channel.

16

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

ABC Soup, Part 2

By Louisa, age 7 The dog ate ABC soup and then he started talking. The first thing he said was, “Hi, my name is Martha.�

Playing with My Friends

By Taima, age 8 We were not friends but we are friends now, Sara and me. I used to not know her, and then I played with her in the park. Now we are best friends.

Four Puppies

By Sophia I., age 7 Once upon a time there were four little puppies. They liked to play and they liked to go to the beach.

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

17

Me and My Bunny

By Felek, age 9

My bunny is a girl. Her name is Snowball. She is small and cute. She is also white and fluffy. I love her. I play with my pet bunny for two to three hours every day. It is so much fun. We take her outside for a half an hour sometimes. We feed her every morning. When we take her outside we put her on a leash. I love her so so so much. If she gets a black baby boy we are going to name it Storm. I hope she does, because I love black baby bunnies.

Snowball is my baby Snowball princess. She lives inside, in my room. Not in my brother’s room. Every night I take Snowball and squeeze her. When I fall asleep, Snowball jumps out of my hands and goes to her cage to sleep. In the morning I wake up and take Snowball down for breakfast so she can eat her food. Then I take Snowball back to her cage so she can play with her toys while I watch TV. 18

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

Sometimes I walk Snowball for a half hour, and sometimes I take her to see her friend Sandy, who is another rabbit. A boy whose name starts with T is the owner of Sandy. He is younger than me and he is so nice. Sandy had a sister named Shy. Shy died because a cat named Bow bit her, and when that happened I cried when I got home. But Snowball and Sandy like to play for half an hour sometimes before I go home to eat lunch.

On school days, I go to school and say good morning to A., S. and F. At recess, my friends and I take some paper and pencils and write and draw. At home, I love to write while Snowball is playing with her toys. It is so cute.

Sometimes after school they take us to Raycam. It is so much fun but I miss playing with Snowball. But then I get to see her after 6 o’clock. I go home and take Snowball out of her cage. I hug her so hard and tell her that I missed her so so so much.

When Snowball and I are playing I tell her all about Writers’ Exchange and how much fun it is. Then I go to pray. Then I eat a snack, like an orange or a banana. Sometimes I have grapes or a fruit salad.

Then I play with Snowball right after and maybe watch some Arabic kid songs on TV. I like some Arabic kid songs, but not all of them.

We eat dinner together too. Today we had rice, salad and chicken and it was so good. Snowball had some wheat, and she loved it.

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

19

To Be at School

By Charlie, age 6

She was scared at school. Then a girl came up to her. At first she was more scared, but the girl said, “No, do not be scared!”

The One and Only Stella

By Omar, age 11 Stella went upstairs to get a snack, and she saw a dog who was sleeping on her bed. But then the popo came to her house.

The Unicorn

By Marah, age 6 A unicorn and his BFF were best friends forever. Then the unicorn died, and after a couple of days the BFF...

To be continued...

20

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' EXCHANGE

STUFF FROM

THE WRITERS’ ROOM

Funny Stories of Dan the Reporter

By Claire, age 10

WELCOME BACK TO DAN THE REPORTER! I AM W A TORNAITNESSING BACK, DO IN THE AWAY S BUT IT'S FAR O WE'RE OKAY!

OR SO HE THOUGHT...

ING GETTI AM U O Y ARE , GREG? N THE THIS ENTLY I O! CURRTORNAD

10 MINUTES LATER...

MY MIC RO OKAY, S PHONE! NEXT TIEE YA ME...

22

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' ROOM

Once Upon a Time

By Jaden, age 7

UMM...

S SAID MY FRIEND OING TO G E R E W THEY ERE MEET ME H

There was a girl. Her name was Jade and she was 12 years old. Her friends invited her to a party but they forgot to give her the location for the party!

She thought and she thought. It was in a spooky forest, and she saw an old man. He made her disappear and transported her to spooky Disneyland.

All her friends were there, and they were waiting for her in line.

The Dark!

By Jasmine, age 8 Once in a dark, dark stormy night... Thunder came and strong winds blew. A little girl named Leah was scared of the dark. She always closed the window and closed the doors, so no monsters ever came in. Rumours said that monsters were real. But her big sister said they were not real. Leah cried every night when she went to bed. She looked under her bed, so no monsters could ever go under her bed.

Cooking with Nico

By Nico, age 8 Nico cooks eggs.

Nico cooks french fries.

Nico cooks some noodles.

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' ROOM

23

Cravings

By Shirley, age 10

MORE!

NICE!

NAH, A HOT DOG TOO!

BALONEY TOO!

CHICKEN WITH MACARONI TOO!

NOW A GOOD OLD SANDWICH.

I'M GONNA SHARE WITH MY HOMIE!

HMM...

I WANT CHICKEN WINGS ON TOAST!

YUM!

24

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' ROOM

Among Us

By David, age 10 DON'T DO IT

YOU R TE H C EA

RANDOMLY DOES FORTNITE DANCE

UH OH

HMMM, I SHOULD REPORT THIS

T CAUGH YA PRE BUTTSOS N

IMPOSTER HAS BEEN VOTED OFF

URGH DANG IT

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' ROOM

25

The Hungry Dinosaur

By Meghan, age 8

One day a dinosaur went to a restaurant and ate everything there. He paid $100,000 for the food and did not feel good at all. He felt sick.

The Horse Ride

By Lorinda, age 11

The horse takes me home to go hug Papa.

26

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' ROOM

The Scary Story of October 31, 2020

By Jewel, age 9

This is a scary story about a little girl.

Her name was Meline and she was about seven years old. She went into the woods alone on her birthday, on October 31, 2020.

There was a warning about those woods but she went in anyway. Something was cursed.

The whole forest was cursed. The curse was that whoever came into the woods would be cursed with the urge to kill. So kids be warned!

Never go into the woods alone on October 31.

Muhahahahahahaha... to be continued. Go to the library for the continuing story...

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' ROOM

27

Super Smash Bros., Part 2

By Liam, age 9

ME

SPIDERMAN

MEGAMAN

RYO

28

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' ROOM

MARIO WINS

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Part 2

By Andrei, age 9

YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE

AAAAAH OOF!

CALLING BACK UP YAHOO!

AAAAH!

WHY NOT?

FALCON OOF! KICK

WAH

MARGAME IO WINS

FALCON WINS

TO BE CONTINUED ...

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' ROOM

29

Sans in Smash

By Cosmo, age 10

SANS!

POPO! YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A BAD TIME

THE END

30

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' ROOM

DRAW YOUR OWN

COMIC

STUFF FROM THE WRITERS' ROOM

31

AUTOGRAPHS

THANK YOU These literacy mentors volunteered online to help the kids read, learn and create during the 2020 fall programs at the Writers’ Room and the Writers’ Exchange.

A huge thanks to each of them!

Alison B., Allison R., Alysa, Amanda, Ismail, Jane, Jeff, Joyce, Matthew L., Matthew R., Megan, Mel, Melissa, Mifield, Naomi, Nicole R., Scott, Siobhan, Surya, Terry and Vicky

The following people played a big part in running our programs and producing this book.

Thanks to each of them as well!

Design and layout: Melanie Kwan | melaniekwan.com Creative leads: Haley Wells and Sarah Grasse Support workers: Ciara, Kathleen, Lloyd, Phillies and Selina Leadership mentors: Alysa, Diana, Dom, Genevieve, Kandice, Kwin, Max, Nicole D., Sarah, Sheena, Stacey and Sydney Student leaders: Lorne, Gift and Stephanie