The Weird World, Sparkle, and the Dorito Problem—by Ms. Schmidt’s Fourth-grade Class

A CHOICE-FILLED ADVENTURE STORY

THE WEIRD WORLD, SPARKLE, and the DORITO PROBLEM Written by Students of MS. SCHMIDT’S FOURTH GRADE CLASS at YPSILANTI CONNECTED

FIRST EDITION AN 826MICHIGAN DIGITAL PUBLICATION

Copyright © 2021 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 in Michigan and go to France on a field trip to meet a friend in Unicorn Land. You get there by climbing over a rainbow. The unicorn has a Fabio sparkle mane that is red, blue, pink, and purple.

Their skin is pink, and they can talk. Their name is Spicy Doritos. They are wearing cool glasses.

You see a door.

If you decide to go through the door, turn to page 2.

If you decide not to go through the door, turn to page 3.

1

You walk through the door and it is a trap!

When you enter there are many snakes around on the floor. The house is dark and there is a phone that is ringing but nobody is there to answer, so the phone continues to ring. Eventually, you decide to answer the phone and on the other end of the line is a witch. She yells, “You got trapped! Also, your friend is trapped and you are trying to find them.”

All of a sudden, you find a key on the floor. In order to get to the key you have to go through a maze. In the maze, you feel like there are spider webs on you. In the middle of the maze are three key and three doors to choose from. The doors have cracks with light coming through, so you can see inside. One of the doors has spiders, one has an obstacle course, and the third door is the way out. When you look through the door with spiders, you feel like there are spiders crawling on you!

You hear your friend screaming from the obstacle course for help. Behind the doors, you start to smell chicken.

If you choose decide to call for help on the phone, turn to page 4.

If you choose decide to look for food, turn to page 5.

2

Fabio Sparkle Mane (a.k.a. Spicy Doritos) takes off their hooves and grows human hands. Fabio Sparkle Mane’s horn has sparkles on it.You ask Fabio Sparkle Mane for a ride to go to Disneyland in Paris.

Once you’re in Disneyland, Fabio Sparkle Mane (a.k.a. Spicy Doritos) gets spicy Doritos. It’s raining Doritos in Disneyland, and both of you are grabbing the Doritos with your hands. But you can’t go back to where you came from because it’s blocked off.

If you decide to stay stranded for a while, turn to page 6.

If you decide to collect Doritos in a basket and build a ladder of Doritos to escape, turn to page 7.

3

You decide to use the phone to call for help.

The phone is sitting on a desk and is covered with a spider web. Spiders and beetles are all over the phone. You’re disgusted to touch it. You see paper towels on the desk, but if you use them, you will get spider guts on you.

You look through the desk drawers and find a dry towel. You use it to wipe off the phone.

You type in your dad’s phone number, but he doesn’t answer, so you call your mom. You tell her you went through a door and got trapped in a house. On the wall, you see the house’s address: 365 French Street.

If you choose to ask your mom to come get you,

write your own ending.

If you choose to ask your mom to stay home,

write your own ending.

4

(start again at page 1)

You decide to look for food, but you can’t find any right away. You don’t know what to do!

Eventually, after looking you are able to find some in the hotel that you found in the maze. You end up going to the hotel and begin to eat the fruit that you found. The fruit is a poisonous apple because the witch put the apple in there and used her spell.

Someone told you to be careful because they warn you that the witch may say your friend is safe, when really they are not! They say, “It’s not safe to eat food that you found in the hotel! You don’t know what could have happened to it.”

You realize that the witch could be ANYWHERE. She could even be casting a spell with slime, wolf legs, or anything! You are scared because you could possibly find you! The witch said if you do her challenges then you can have some food and items to survive.

If you choose to go left you can go to participate in the challenge, write your own ending.

If you choose to go right you go by yourself to find some clues the witch might have left, write your own ending.

5

(start again at page 1)

You’re in Disney World with a unicorn that has hands. It’s raining doritos. You start collecting doritos to build a wall made out of doritos! You take the remaining Doritos and make a big pile, and then jump in! When you jump in, it tastes like Takis, and the smashed Doritos crunch underneath.

With the remaining crushed up Doritos, you decide to build a boat—Dorito piece by Dorito piece. The boat is SUPER spicy-smelling, but the nearby water gives it a peaceful calmness.This Dorito-dust boat will be perfect for sailing across the lake. It will be important to navigate the boat cautiously so as to avoid the varying sized- pieces of Doritos that are floating in the lake. If you can cross the lake and steer away from the castle, you will be in safer waters with smaller Dorito pieces!

Once you get to the other side of the lake, you can choose to call out for help from your friend, the unicorn. If you call the unicorn, they have the number of a local pilot on speed dial, so he could come and save you! HOWEVER . . . this could be a scam phone call, so you aren’t sure that this is a safe option!

If you choose to call for help, write your own ending.

If you choose not to call for help, write your own ending.

6

(start again at page 1)

You choose to collect Doritos and begin to build the ladder with Doritos that is tall enough to reach over the twelve foot tall gate. Fabio Sparkle Mane climbs up the ladder first and makes it over the top.

You follow and climb up the ladder, but while you’re climbing the ladder, the ladder breaks! And you fall back down to the ground. You begin to look around for things to build a ladder with, like sticks and rocks.

You find the sticks and rocks next to a tall tree.

You are able to put together the ladder and are able to climb your way over the gate with Fabio Sparkle Mane. After climbing over the ladder, you see a magical castle and Fabio Sparkle Mane thinks it is their castle.

The castle is made of rocks and has flowers in front of it, with a door that comes down. There is a river painted on the ground, and it looks like there are small pink crocodiles in it. Most people tend to avoid the castle because they think the crocodiles are real.

If you choose to go into the castle, write your own ending.

If you choose to walk past the castle, write your own ending.

7

(start again at page 1)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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by Gerald Richards, CEO

826michigan inspires school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities.

Find out more at 826michigan.org!