A Quest for Magical Beans — Journey to the Volcano

A CHOICE-FILLED ADVENTURE STORY

A QUEST FOR MAGICAL BEANS— JOURNEY TO THE VOLCANO Written by Students of MS. KAUFMAN’S 5TH GRADE CLASS at UNIVERSITY PREP SCIENCE AND MATH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

FIRST EDITION PRINTED AND BOUND AT 826MICHIGAN

Copyright Š 2020 by 826michigan and Blotch Books.

All rights reserved by 826michigan, the many whims of Drs. T & G Blotch, and the authors.

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

You are a ninja skating on an ice rink in the North Pole. The frozen water park is called Ninja Fly. You are a really fast skater, skating at 32 miles per hour.

Then, you hurt your leg at the water park. You can feel your heart beat in your leg.

If you decide to go to Dr. Bean’s office, turn to page 2.

If you decide to use magic beans to help, turn to page 3.

1

After you reach the doctor’s office, you ask Dr. Bean for the magic beans. He says you must go on an adventure to find them in the magic factory. The door in the office leads to the factory. When the doctor brings you through the door you see Oompa Loompas that are mixing the magic cream.

When you smash the beans, they turn into a cream. The cream is fluffy and crunchy, and comes in all sorts of colors like white, purple, and rainbow.

The factory has rainbow wallpaper, and it smells like cream, jelly beans, and berries. Then, you find the beans! But they ran out of the red and gold beans that make the golden cream. The golden cream can heal anything, but it is only found in volcanos and is guarded by dragons.

If you decide to eat the magic cream, turn to page 4.

If you decide to look for the dragon, turn to page 5.

2

You decide to use magic beans to make your leg feel better. You know there’s a wizard named Harry Potter with a magic candy store in the forest. He has candy all around him, and his potions can make candy sweet or sour.

Some flavors include red volcano Swedish fish, chocolate-dipped donuts, super spicy skittles, and extra cheesy jalapeno macaroni. Everything is shaped like a bean, and they can heal anyone, too.

“Hello!” you say. “Can I make a wish? I need healing beans for my leg.”

“Sure thing, but you need to go on a journey far, far away first,” Harry replies. “I need sweet leaves to make a new potion and seven shiny chaos emeralds.”

“Why can’t you go?” you ask.

“I am too old for this, sonny,” he replies.

If you decide to use a flying go-kart, turn to page 6.

If you decide to use a magical transportation map, turn to page 7.

3

You’re getting ready to eat the purple fluffy cream. Each cream has different effects. The purple cream gives you super strength. After taking a dose before your journey, you decide to pack loads more to continue taking along the journey. The super strength makes you taller and heavier, but this can slow you down. You begin to feel the strength building up, but your leg still hurts so you call the doctor. He offers that you can take his private jet and four-wheeler to head to the volcano.

To make it to the volcano you first have to go through the rainforest. Since it is so far, you have to use the raft from the jet to land and spend the night in the rainforest. You get hungry so you switch to the four-wheeler to find water hot dogs, pears, and hamburger branches growing on trees. While you sleep here, the jet charges so you can pick back up in the morning.

If you decide to keep flying the jet throughout the rest of the night, write your own ending.

If you spend the night in the rainforest and keep searching for food, write your own ending.

4

(start again at page 1)

You decided to look for the dragon to get the golden bean. When you meet the dragon, you can give him treats, pet his wings, and ask him to fly you into the clouds.

You want Peter the dragon to give you some of his golden beans. “Oh! I like your scales! Can I please have some golden beans?� you say to Peter.

He says you must complete a challenge to get the golden beans. You have to find special candy near the volcano in exchange for the beans.

Then the wizard appears, and the dragon is mad at him. The dragon is mad at the wizard because he took some of his golden beans without the dragon’s permission.

If you decide to decline the challenge,

write your own ending.

If you decide to accept the challenge, write your own ending.

5

(start again at page 1)

You get into the blue flying go-kart and find it has start and stop buttons with a bunch of levers. It is really hard to fly because you have never flown it before!

You crash into a tall tree covered in gooey honey and fall to the ground. You are now covered in honey and you see yellow all around you.

When you look inside the car, you find an instruction manual. You need to find out where you are and if there is a town nearby where you can find a tool kit to fix the go-kart. In the distance you spot lights of a town but also notice a bunch of trolls guarding a treasure chest.

If you decide to go to the town, write your own ending.

If you decide to open the treasure chest,

write your own ending.

6

(start again at page 1)

You decide to use a magical transportation map to get to the wizard’s sweet leaves and chaos emeralds. The map is very old and shows all the seven lands and cities sparkling. It has a blue background and green planets.

The map says in a deep voice, “Where do you want to go?”

You respond, “I need to go to the underwater Jumanji mountain.” As you point to the X on the map, you say the magic spell: “Hoos ca doo, we can too!”

You get very dizzy as you fly through the sky fast and see blue crystals all around. When you land, you see two treasure chests.

If you pick the treasure chest on the left,

write your own ending.

If you pick the treasure chest on the right,

write your own ending.

7

(start again at page 1)

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. We believe that with one-onone attention from caring adults, students improve their academic performance, develop a sense of belonging, and discover the unique value of their voices.

We also believe that the more fun a student has, and the more directly we speak to a student’s interests, the more we can help students find the fun in learning.

That’s why our programs are more than just extra homework. All of our programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in their individual voice.

ONLINE LEARNING LAB In the spring of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we quickly transitioned all of our programs online. Our priority is to ensure the safety of our community, while continuing to offer engaging, high-quality opportunities to students. Each of our main programs—Schoolwork Support, Workshops, Field Trips, and In-school Projects—has been reimagined for the virtual space as part of our new 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. Generally, we offer this program at three locations: at our Liberty Street Lab in Ann Arbor, at the Michigan Avenue Branch of the Ypsilanti District Library, and at our Winder Street Lab in Detroit’s Eastern Market, though in-person programs are on pause this year. We have added a Virtual Schoolwork Support program. Students are paired with two tutors to work on assignments for school and writing projects of their choosing.

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.

In addition, we hold regular Writers Clubs, in which small groups of students are able to work on a writing project over the course of a semester, culminating in a publication. We also partner with schools to hold Family Writing Labs: laughterfilled events in which families to come together and participate in an evening of engaging writing activities and community connection.

FIELD TRIPS Always full of surprises and theatrics (and usually a visit from our crotchety editor, Dr. Blotch), our Field Trip program is an experiential writing extravaganza. We welcome teachers to bring their classes in for field trips during the school day.

Students join a group of volunteers, interns, and staff to help solve a problem through writing—whether that is 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. Often the field trip writing is connected to a second leg of the students’ journey, whether a trip to a museum, library, or local record label, thanks to our many incredible community partners.

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. When it is safe to do so again, come visit the Ann Arbor Robot Supply Co. at 115 East Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor and the Detroit Robot Supply Co. at 1351 Winder Street in Eastern Market in Detroit. In the meantime, please visit the Robot Supply Co. 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