Talking Cats

Talking Cats By the Kids of the Writers’ Room

Of course!

I can’t wait to read this book Do you floss?

Volume 8 ˙ Issue 1 ˙ Fall 2018

Copyright © 2018 The Writers’ Exchange This book is a collection of writing and art created by the kids of the Writers’ Room during our fall 2018 after-school programs.

The Writers’ Exchange gets inner-city kids excited about reading, writing and their own potential through mentoring and creative projects like this chapbook. All Writers’ Exchange programs are free for the children and families we serve, so we could not exist without the support of amazing donors, including Social Venture Partners Vancouver, BOCCI, Marily Mearns, Linda Louis, the Waterbury Foundation, Bernard MacLeod, Megan Abbott, the City of Vancouver, Sasamat Foundation, TELUS, British Columbia Arts Council, Richard and Suzanne Cole, Nancy and Ted Maitland, John and Nina Cassils, Judy Gale, Lindsay Mearns, the Grayross Foundation held at the Vancouver Foundation, Premium Brand Foods, the Edith Lando Charitable Foundation, the Wolrige Foundation, the Van Tel/Safeway Credit Union Legacy Fund and CLICK (Contributing to Lives of Inner City Kids Society). Thank you.

Writers’ Exchange 207–877 East Hastings Street Vancouver, BC V6A 1R8 vancouverWE.com 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 xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and seĺíÍwitulh (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.

Design and layout: Claire Balderston, cbalderston.com Production coordination and editing: Melissa Edwards Program coordinator: Haley Wells These kind organizations support after-school programs at the Writers’ Room:

The Writers’ Room after-school program runs in partnership with Queen Alexandra FAMILY School and the Vancouver School Board’s Van Tech Community School Team.

generously donated the printing of this chapbook.

Contents Talking Cats (and Other Creatures) Talking Unicorns!, by Serenity 1 Tabby�s Adventure, by Cami 2 The Nice Unicorn, by Daisy 3 Pearl, by Kasen 3 The Exploding Cat, by Tyler R.W. 4 The Cat That Liked Sushi, by Tima 5 One Time . . ., by Kiera T. 6 Sunny the Watermelon Cat, by Eleazar 7 Ninja Cat, by Tyler E. 8 The Animals, by Alianna 8 Best Days Ever My First Powwow, by Edward 9 The School Sleepover, by S.G. 9 The Kid, by Cruz 9 Hello, by Mako 9 Outside Time, by Lorinda 10 Sweet Shop Menu, by T.W.J. 10 The Gangsters, by Lily 11 The Day They Got to Meet!, by Keira W. 12 Sailing Went Bad, by Celest 13 The Magic Rock, by K.C. 14 The Prince and Princess, by Kendra 14 Mix-ups and Mayhem No One Knows, by Hannah 15 It’s Gone Silly Mistakes!, by Don 15 Jordan Won the Lottery, by Jordan 16 The Invisible Man and the Invasion of the Aliens, Part 1, by Aiden 17

Godzilla and the Bald Man, Part 2 (The Return of Bob the Milkman), by Patrick

17

Two Million Kids, by Shen Zhai 18 All Because of One Joke, by C.C. 18 Spider-Man and the Symbiotes, by Michael

19

Millions of Farting Seats, by Jachin 20 Is That It?, by Andrew 21 Chilling Tales Fun and Scary, by Aiyana 22 This Is II Dumbo, by Brooklyn 23 Batman the Bald Man, by Cosmo 23 Kraaken . . ., by Ethan 24 Scary Story, by Jasmine 24 Halloween Is Spooky, by Meghan 25 Action Time How to Survive the Alien from Nowhere, by Joey

26

Space Fight, by Aydin 26 Ruler of Hell, by Semira 26 Four Cars, by Wilson 27 The Battle, by Kulus 27 The Story of Eathen, by Corbin 28 Floss Fight, by Andrei 29 The Big-City Battle, by Napaysni 30 Shark Life, by David 31 One-of-a-Kind Stories Meet Lola the Witch, by Ruby 32 Jake, by Edwin and Fiona 33 Playing Basketball, by Elijah 33 Lost, by Shirley 34 The Good and Bad Guy, by Kyanna 35 Bod the Ball, Part 3, by Quinlan 35 Evil Plans, by L.J. 36 3rd Grade, by Danielle 37 How to Be an A.R.M.Y, by D.M. 37

Talking Cats (and Other Creatures) Talking Unicorns!

By Serenity, age 8

Once there was a unicorn. She was in the woods. Then she found another unicorn. She had a sleepover and they had candy and popcorn and s’mores. They watched TV and then The Trolls. Then they went to sleep. When they woke up they went swimming.

After, they went home and they ate strawberry cake. Then they ate pizza and watched a movie called Hotel Transylvania 3.

Then they went back to sleep, and when they woke up they went to school. Then it was over and they went home.

1

turn to read

Tabbys Adventure

By Cami, age 11

tabbys adventures

I wonder what’s on the other side of this fence

Tabby decides to go to the park I’m cold

I’m hungry

Then Tabby goes home and eats a big bowl of food and has a nap and lives happily ever after

the end

2

The Nice Unicorn

By Daisy, age 6

Oh help . . .

Oh ya, pizza

There was chocolate ice cream.

Pearl

By Kasen, age 6 There was a cat named Pearl and she was happy. Then she turned into an apple. And then she turned into an orange. And then she turned into a kiwi. And then she turned into a human being, who ate all the peas. So she got fat.

3

The Exploding Cat

By Tyler R.W., age 9

One day the Exploding Cat walked 10 feet away from his house. He saw Tic Tac Cat and Rainbow Cat. Then Exploding Cat exploded and got everyone dirty.

4

The Cat That Liked Sushi

By Tima, age 7

OK

Once upon a time there was a cat named Sion. Sion was very hungry. Sion said, “Llama, please will you get me a seaweed.”

After, the cat went up to bed.

5

One Time . . .

By Kiera T., age 9

Pepperoni, what are you doing?

one time...

Ohhhhh Getting catnip

Oh no!

Later...

Pepperoni

Oreo

Later that day...

They broke out of jail

6

Sunny the Watermelon Cat

By Eleazar, age 10 After Sunny defeated Goku, Sunny had a party at Ele the panther’s house Oh no!

Mystery guy broke into Ele’s house.

Meanwhile . . .

BOOM

Oof

You ok?

2 minutes later . . .

BOOM

Got you

Ya

Shh

Woof

ZING Winner

7

Winner

Ninja Cat

By Tyler E., age 11

Hi, I’m Ninja Cat

What!

I need to poop

Help!

Go poop!

Ok

Go!

Not here!

Ok

The Animals

By Alianna, age 8 The cat went to a birthday party and the dog went to the birthday party too! They had fun and then they went home. Then the guinea pig and the hamster went to a birthday party too!

8

Best Days Ever My First Powwow

By Edward, age 8 At my first powwow I had to drum, but I didn’t want to. Before the powwow my mom made a drum for me. It is a small and loud drum but I still love it.

The School Sleepover

By S.G., age 7 The kids were stuck in the school. The kids went to the music room. They listened to “Baby Shark” and danced. Then they had a pillow fight in the library.

The Kid

By Cruz, age 7 The dog was playing outside, while the kid was inside eating popcorn and watching TV. The dog and the kid played “try to get tagged.” If they won, they got popcorn. The dog won and started to share the popcorn.

Hello

By Mako, age 8 Pizza was playing a video game, then he ate ice cream. Then a tiger came to his house and they played tag.

9

Outside Time

By Lorinda, age 9

We are playing grounders.

Sweet Shop Menu

By T.W.J., age 9 Brownies: $10 Oreos: $100 Chips Ahoy: $200 Lots of sugar Love

10

The Gangsters

By Lily, age 11

There once were three gangsters who got in a fight with three girls. The girls decided to do a singing competition.

Girls’ Names:

Boys’ Names:

Jullie Nicki Naomi

John Jake James

Jullie started. She brushed down her shirt and sang “Lost Boy” like an angel. All the boys were wide-mouthed. Next was John.

He sang “Treat You Better” with his arms crossed. The girls were wide-eyed. Next was Nicki’s turn. She sang “Fight Song” very well. The boys stared in awe. Jake was up. Jake sang “Shape of You” a little worse. They called James to the stand and he sang “Never Say Never” terribly. And next was Naomi. She took off her headphones and sang “Boomerang” like a popstar and the boys were so amazed that they fainted.

The girls won.

11

The Day They Got to Meet!

By Keira W., age 11 This is Michelle. She’s on the ocean in the summer with Celest.

Meanwhile . . . This is Celest.

She’s a billionaire with her sister, Kristen.

Hi, sister

I found a cave

This is Esther. She’s at the mall (at midnight).

Hi

This is Keira. She’s at school (sigh, JK).

I hate school

I’m tired

Invisible

This is Jachin. He’s a helper helping Keira.

Then they meet at the sailboat at noon (but not Keira or Jachin)

He’s building a secret lair

Michelle

Esther

Celest

Kristen

blueprint

To be continued . . .

12

Sailing Went Bad

By Celest, age 12 My name is Sam. I can’t wait to go sailing today.

I feel so good now.

Yes, I’m here.

Oh look, an island.

So calm.

Nooooo

bam

One year later . . .

I miss my boat.

I feel so happy. the end

13

What?

The Magic Rock

By K.C., age 7 Chapter 1

Ash was walking in the forest when he found a cave. He walked in the cave and tripped on a magic rock. A pokéball fell out of his pocket and caught a mystery Pokémon.

Chapter 2

He was surprised. He released the Pokémon. It was a Mega Houndoom. He picked up the magic rock and put it in his backpack. He continued to walk in the forest. Then Ash found a house and found a bed and fell asleep.

Chapter 3

Ash woke up and found his bag gone. He ran outside and saw a Groudon and a Mega Gengar and a Mega Kangaskhan. Ash threw a pokéball and caught all three Pokémon. Ash got his bag back and was happy and full.

The Prince and Princess

By Kendra, age 11 Once upon a time there was a young woman who was 22. She fell in love with a man who was a prince. He was 25 and she liked him because he was smart, cute, funny and kind, and also helpful. The young woman was a princess and she lived on top of a castle. Her name was Crystal and the man’s name was Joseph. He liked her, too. He liked her because she was pretty, funny, loved the beach and was an animal lover. They met each other at the beach. They would hang out all the time, but one day he asked her out on a date and she said yes. The next day she put on make-up and a cute dress, and she fixed her hair. She was going to the fanciest restaurant. After they were finished eating, they went to the movie theatre and watched a romantic movie.

To be continued . . .

14

Mix-ups and Mayhem No One Knows

By Hannah, age 8 Once upon a time there was a factory that was famous because the food was great. There was bacon, chicken and fries. It was called the Mix-up.

One hour later . . .

One thousand people came in . . . Good thing there was a lot of room and we made new food! There was pizza there of every kind. Every food was there.

The next day . . .

The people were waiting outside for the factory to open.

There were 8,000 people there. But one day the people got sick because of the food. Someone had been poisoning the food.

Someone who worked at the factory. The food was never made there ever again and no one knows who did it.

It’s Gone Silly Mistakes!

By Don, age 7 One day on Jupiter, there lived Hayley (first) and Enns (last) and Zeus, who was three centimetres tall. Hayley was six feet tall.

It was in ancient times (=17 centuries ago). People didn’t speak English. So they had a jack-o’-lanterns. Then Hayley mistook Zeus for a candy. She swallowed him. One minute later, Zeus was in Hayley’s waist. Zeus tickled Hayley’s skin. One second later she laughed as she fell down. Two seconds later she got up by jumping. She yawned, then she noticed she was floating out into space.

15

Jordan Won the Lottery

By Jordan, age 11

One day, Jordan found out he won the lottery. The prize was $20 million. He decided to immediately buy a gift card for Nintendo Switch. Then he went to hang out with Mr. Tomato Head, who he bought an Xbox One for. He then got on a plane and went to Hawaii, where he jumped in the ocean and almost drowned. It was the happiest day ever.

16

The Invisible Man and the Invasion of the Aliens, Part 1

By Aiden, age 9 One day an invisible man was dreaming of flying in a rocket, but then he crashed into Jupiter. But he was in a parachute.

Then he woke up and it was the middle of the night. He heard a loud noise, and when he looked outside he saw lots of UFOs! The UFOs shot lasers out. He found aliens inside of the UFOs. They jumped out and they shot at lots of people with laser guns.

The invisible man knew someone had to save the day, but he just couldn’t. He went outside because no one can see him, but the aliens could see him. He tried to talk to them. “Stop shooting people!” the invisible man said, but the aliens did not understand English. So he tried stopping them. He stopped some aliens by giving them alien food. Then the invisible man got beamed up into the UFO. To be continued . . .

Godzilla and the Bald Man, Part 2 (The Return of Bob the Milkman)

By Patrick, age 10 One day Godzilla the Bald Man and Bob the Milkman found a fake Buzz Lightyear and chased him up an alley. The fake Buzz Lightyear was actually Goku. Slurpies protected Godzilla and Bob and they got the Slurpies from a nearby Petro Canada. And so Goku retreated on his cloud. And then Godzilla and Bob’s Slurpies became jetpacks for both of them and they chased Goku and . . . (I can’t tell you). Anyway, Goku fell down and slapped to the ground too hard. Goku had a concussion and when he woke up Godzilla and Bob arrested him!

17

Two Million Kids

By Shen Zhai, age 7 I’m sorry, no more

I feel sorry

I want to look out the window!

Mom? Can I get my friends?

There are 2,000,000 kids and one adult. My brother is making toys on the floor. My friends are on the motor train. Oh no, the house, building, shop and cars are on fire!

All Because of One Joke

By C.C., age 8 One person tells a joke and the other person gets the joke mixed up. Two days later it was Monday, and after school the person told his friend another joke and it was mixed up again!

The End . . .

Wait, not so fast! I have a joke but I promise not to mix it up!

Ok: Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Interrupting cow.

Interr— MOO! 18

Spider-Man and the Symbiotes

By Michael, age 8 Spider-Man is beating up Venom and Carnage. There’s a white symbiote coming up; his name is Mozzarella. There’s also a blue symbiote named Swimming Pool. There’s also a green one coming up; his name is Saltwater Crocodile. The purple symbiote is named Cookie, and the grey one is named Graynom.

There’s a pink symbiote named Cheesecake, there’s a turquoise symbiote coming up and his name is Silokke, there’s a yellow symbiote and his name is Cheese. There’s a brown one and his name is Chocolate Cake. There’s another one coming up and his name is Bomination! All of the symbiotes find a way to get out of their symbiote suit. All of them have a scorpion latte.

They are about to sting Spider-Man but Spider-Man catches every single one of them, and creates a jail. Darkside comes, and he shoots his omega beams. There are two of them. Oh no!

There’s a scorpion coming!

Then they are on a camping trip. At the camping trip, Aunt May and Peter Parker sleep. Spider-Man doesn’t have to get in his suit. They are there for three days. When they wake up on the third day, they hit Sasquatch with their car. He was crossing the road. They think they hurt him, but he wakes up and eats all their food. (The Sasquatch doesn’t have any food.) Aunt May tells the construction worker to make a store called Wakeye.

Sasquatch wants to go back to the forest and they try to catch him, but he runs. They see footprints but they don’t find him.

They buy more food at Wakeye. They ban the Sasquatch and tell him he can’t buy food anymore. They hate the Sasquatch.

But they give the Sasquatch beef jerky and he eats a lot of it. He runs all the way to Alaska because he doesn’t like beef jerky. He goes to the fan expo, and they call him furry.

19

Millions of Farting Seats

By Jachin, age 11 KWBMOM is pronounced “kweeb-mom”

This is the story of a clown named Kaboo Waiter Balcony Octopus Melon, but for short we’ll call him KWBMOM. It was midnight at a mall. In walked KWBMOM with his sidekick, Goz. They were ready to shop until they dropped. Goz was a chicken. Then we walked in: our names are Jachin and Michelle. We were so surprised to see KWBMOM and Goz. We decided to shop with them. I got an Xbox, a PS4 and a Nintendo Switch. Michelle got a wedding dress. KWBMOM got millions of whoopee cushions. Goz got seeds. We all paid in Starbucks. Just for your information, a Starbuck is a star with “buck” written on it. We had to hurry to the airport to get on the plane to Dubai because we had to go to a YouTubers concert.

To entertain ourselves, we brought out the consoles I bought and played on them until we got to Dubai. We called Superman when we landed, and we flew with him to the show. We paid Superman for the ride with the wedding dress. Then KWBMOM put whoopee cushions on all of the seats at the concert. Goz ate his seeds. Everyone was surprised that we were the YouTubers.

When they were done clapping, they sat down on their seats.

They all farted, thanks to the whoopee cushions.

20

Is That It?

By Andrew, age 12

21

Chilling Tales Fun and Scary

By Aiyana, age 8 Dad, can my friends come?

I love my teddy bear

Hi

Hello Hi friends

Yes Truth or dare?

Is it true that April’s teddy is real?

Truth

Guys, it’s time for bed Okay, Dad!

Yes.

Where are all my friends?

…creak…

I wanna play with someone the end

22

This Is II Dumbo

By Brooklyn, age 9 II Dumbo is 1,000,003 because he is a voodoo doll. He is from Mexico. He likes to eat people, especially middle-aged people.

In his free time, he likes to spit seeds at people. He has one friend, who is a cat named Cat. He likes creepy Halloween techno music and screaming. He likes dead flowers and he likes going to Fright Night to scare people and make people faint.

Batman the Bald Man

By Cosmo, age 8

Batman the Bald Man is a superhero. His superpower is being awesome. Then the Poker got in jail. Then a big guy got mutated into a crocodile. He is evil now.

23

Kraaken . . .

By Ethan, age 8

He lives underwater. He destroys ships. He lives by himself and eats whale sharks. He is 100 years old. He is bigger than Science World.

Scary Story

By Jasmine, age 6 Once upon a time, there were two pumpkins and they saw two donuts they wanted to eat. The donuts ran away because they didn’t want to be eaten. The pumpkins went to the girls who make potions. They got a potion and put it on the donuts so they would not run away. The pumpkins ate the donuts!

24

Halloween Is Spooky

By Meghan, age 6

The orange ate the unicorn. The rabbit ate the ice cream. The pumpkin ate the world and the world ate the teddy bear.

25

Action Time How to Survive the Alien from Nowhere

By Joey, age 11 When the alien comes . . . run . . .

This is how the story began. It was just a normal day in the city when the alien came. The alien lost his friends in the Bermuda Triangle, and he was looking for them. He thought the city was the Bermuda Triangle. After looking through the city and abducting a few people, he left.

When he found where his friends were, he got them all and turned them invisible for no reason.

Do you want to know what happened to the people? Find out in the next book.

Space Fight

By Aydin, age 10 One day there was this person named Bob. He was in spaceship, then this guy named Bow was there. He was randomly mad at Bob, so then they had a space fight. Then there was a big booooom! This guy named Big Shaq won.

Then there was another guy now—this guy was named Dot. Dot started another fight, then Polo Bear showed up and he won the fight. Randomly, this robot came, then he beat Polo Bear.

Ruler of Hell

By Semira, age “90” There once was a potato and it was possessed, and it was stupid. Then Orochimaru defeated it, then Naruto defeated Orochimaru and ate the potato. Then Gaara tried to defeat Naruto but Naruto used 1,000 years of death on him. Then Gaara ran off. And Gaara’s butt was sore.

26

Four Cars

By Wilson, age 7

Four cars go around a racetrack five times. They go fast. The racing stripes are on fire.

The Battle

By Kulus, age 8

There were a lot of oranges and pumpkins. They had a battle.

And the battle was the boss. The apples came to the battle and battled the oranges and pumpkins. The apples peeled the oranges and carved the pumpkins.

To be continued . . .

27

The Story of Eathen

By Corbin, age 10

One day on a Minecraft server, a character was spawned on the plains. After he searched and found trees, it was sunset and the moon was rising. Zombies, creepers and skeletons started spawning in a confusing manner.

This is what our hero looked like: He was wearing a T-shirt that was the colour orange, and shorts the colour turquoise. He was wearing a hat that was brown. His shoes were black and his hat was also black.

Now, back to our story. The skeletons started firing arrows at our hero. Our hero ran and ducked into the forest. So, by this time you’re wondering who this guy even is.

His name is Eathen Now, back to our story (again).

After Eathen dove into the forest, he built a crafting table.

Then he tried to craft some weapons, but he didn’t have the right materials. It took a little while for him to craft sticks. After he 28

crafted sticks, he crafted a sword. Then he ran out of the forest.

He defeated two zombies, three skeletons and one creeper.

After he defeated those enemies, he noticed there were still a lot more to go, like witches, endermen, spiders, a lot more zombies and a spider jockey. So Eathen retreated into the forest. He knew he wouldn’t lose them for long.

He built a little shack. Well, technically, he didn’t build the shack. He just found an abandoned mineshaft. Then a cave spider leaped out of one of the ways and attacked Eathen!

Fact: If you play Minecraft you should know this by now.

But if you’re new to the game or haven’t played it ever, just to warn you, there are a bunch of cave spiders in abandoned mineshafts. They practically live there.

Now back to our story. Hours passed waiting in that abandoned mineshaft . . .

To be continued . . .

Floss Fight

By Andrei, age 7 I am doing the Floss

I’m ready!!!

I’m ready, too

Ow!!

Yus!!

Are you ready to fight?

Owowowow!!

I win!!

the end

29

The Big-City Battle

By Napaysni, age 8

Once, no animals were allowed in the big city.

But one got in and opened the gate to the big city . . .

. . . and invaded the big city houses.

They liked the big city so they stayed.

They took the human houses and made them theirs.

CAUTION! All of the humans hid.

There was a big sign.

There was a place that was safe.

Meeow Eek swish

There was a battle between Megalacat and Caukimulasasmiskimsim.

30

Shark Life

By David, age 8 Once there was a reef shark named David

He roamed across the Great Barrier Reef

Hungry

He got lost in the kelp forest

He found a swordfish that he had to beat

He got hurt but he won and ate it

The End

Not hungry

31

One-of-a-Kind Stories Meet Lola the Witch

By Ruby, age 11

Age:

15

Favourite Song:

“Tear in My Heart”

The death bloom flower (a death bloom smells so good but if you eat the flower it will kill you) Favourite Smell:

Favourite Colours:

Magenta and hot pink

She’s an Item Witch (a witch who uses items, like a magic map to teleport through dimensions) Type of Powers:

Favourite Outfit:

witch hat

Biggest Fear:

She’s afraid of heights

Hidden Talent: Best Friend: Motto:

Skirt and a long-sleeve shirt, long boots and

She can talk to animals

Felisha

“Let me down plz”

Favourite Food:

Pumpkin/carrot cake 32

Jake

By Edwin, age 12, and Fiona, age 10 Once upon a time, there was a dog named Jake. He had a normal life. His owner’s name was Chloe. Chloe had a job—she worked at a vet . . . but she got fired and had to work at a gas station and barely got to go home. One day when she was walking home, she saw Jake. Chloe yelled out Jake’s name but Jake stood still. Chloe ran to Jake but Jake got struck by purple lightning. Chloe ran really fast but Jake got knocked out. Chloe brought Jake to the vet, but the vet was closed. But . . . Jake woke up from the lightning, and when he woke up, his eyes were purple and he started talking. Chloe fainted. After five minutes she saw Jake again and Jake turned purple. Chloe fainted again. She didn’t wake up for 72 hours (three days). She woke up and Jake was missing.

To be continued . . .

Playing Basketball

By Elijah, age 10 We were playing basketball games like Horse and Around the World with Aiden and Caleb, Esa, Eleazar and Jasper. We were playing on the basketball court at the school. First, we played a team game of three vs. three. Eleazar made a cool lay-up shot.

Eleazar’s team won by 1-0. Next, we played Around the World and the winner would get a can of Pringles. Esa took the first shot. He made the first shot and missed his second. So Eleazar went next and missed his shots. Esa won the game and got to keep the Pringles. The bell rang and we had to go to Writers’ Room so we stopped the game.

33

Lost

By Shirley, age 8

Felicia was a bully. She went on a field trip with her classmates.

She was playing hide and seek and she got lost in the forest.

Her classmates left without her.

Oh no!

She went exploring in the forest and found a cabin. The cabin was pink and mint green. She decided to go inside the cabin. Inside the cabin was her mother. She was very surprised because her mother had been missing. She felt so lucky and happy to find her mom. Her mom told her that her real name was Ellie, not Felicia. Her mom also taught her some good manners. Ellie started her new happy life.

34

The Good and Bad Guy

By Kyanna, age 9

One day Kyanna woke up at 9:00 in the morning. She was in a happy mood. She went downstairs to eat eggs, but when she got downstairs she saw a squirrel. She got mad and she screamed as she left her house on the way to her grandma’s. She saw Jordan and Veronica. Suddenly she felt much more mad.

Bod the Ball, Part 3

By Quinlan, age 8 Bod is a ball with arms and legs. Bod has a friend named Tom. He trips on a rock and has an epic battle. Eventually, the enemy pushes his self-destruct button by accident. Then a cube comes and teleports Bod and Tom, and then they have to face a very powerful enemy. And then Jack comes and gets hit by a fireball and runs away.

To be continued . . .

35

Evil Plans

By L.J., age 10 Evil Plans

All restaurants are fast food

All food prices are $1

Keep all the games for myself

All hairstyles like mine!

Enemies have to go to school on Saturday and Sunday

36

3rd Grade

By Danielle, age 11 Hi, I’m Barney Cherry Tomato and, no, I am not a cherry tomato. I am an orange . . . AN ORANGE, AN ORANGE! I have seven siblings: Joseph, Thomas, Michael, Cherry, Gertrude, Jefferson and Cloud. We also have a pet bird . . . he’s not actually our real pet, he just likes hanging around our house. (It scares me to death.) Tomorrow is my first day of 3rd Grade. I’m so “excited.” See you tomorrow. ’Night!

Morning! I have to go now . . .

Time Skip

So, I’m back from my first day of Grade 3 and it was “great.”

I’m lying, why would school be great? LIKE, WHO LIKES SCHOOL! Barnes Teddy Bear Cheese called me a cherry tomato, and I hate being called that. It just sounds so, cherry tomato, ugh. I AM AN ORANGE. Uh, so now I’m going to burn this socalled journal in the fire. Bye! (I don’t want to remember this day anyways.)

How to Be an A.R.M.Y

By D.M., age 11 #1

ake sure you respect other fandoms and groups.

M (Don’t start fan wars.)

#2

ou have to love everyone in the group.

Y (Don’t exclude anyone.)

#3

Don’t tell them what they can and can’t do.

#4

Don’t be a crazy fan and invade their privacy.

#5

Respect their choices.

#6

Don’t use BTS for clout.

#7

Know that they aren’t perfect.

#8

They’re humans too and they can’t do everything.

#9

Don’t stalk them. (Obviously.)

#10

Support them as much as you can. <3 37

Autographs

Our biggest thanks to these 39 wonderful volunteer mentors who helped the kids during the fall 2018 after-school programs at the Writersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Room: Adam B., Adam V., Aleksandra, Alysa, Amandine, Andrea, Angel, Arielle, Cait, Cara, Carla, Christian, Denise, Ella, Emma, Esther, Evan, Hannah, Isabella, Judy, JunBo, Kirsten, Marissa, Maureen, Max, Michelle, Namar, Noel, Noor, RD, Richard, Saakshi, Sarah, Simran, Stacey, Tanaz, Tania, Veronica and Wendy

Can you speak cat?

Ahemâ&#x20AC;¦ meow