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WRITING BY THIRD-GRADE STUDENTS IN THE ESTABROOK
WRITING LAB
AT ESTABROOK ELEMENTARY
IN YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN
WINTER 2024-25
CONTENTS
Abdulla Aladani — 1
Ada Benn — 2
Aubrey Burns — 4
Batoule Boucetta — 6
Garrian Thomas — 8
Howard Allen — 10
Ja’Deya Reed — 13
Ja’Liah Bolden — 15
JD Freeman — 18
James Nuñez Mejia — 21
Julia Kyaw — 23
Marveah Sharp — 25
Abdulla Aladani
Age 8
THE EAGLE
The eagle named Eagle went to the pool. He went to get a drink of water. Then he went to go get food. Then a kid named Rennie came. He was like, “Can I come to the pool with you?”
The eagle said, “Yes.”
Then they went to the eagle’s park, which was his nest. The nest was as large as a school classroom. Rennie did the monkey bars then the slide.
Then a car came and a kid walked out. He was a cool kid and he said, “My name is Garrian.”
Rennie said, “Cool car.”
Garrian said, “Cool house.”
Rennie said, “Thank you. I’m jealous of you.”
“I’m jealous of you, too,” said Garrian.
Rennie asked, “Do you want to be my best friend?”
Garrian said, “Yes!”
Then, the eagle scared the kids. He flapped his wings at them. The kids ran away together and went to Rennie’s house to play Fortnite. The eagle went back to his nest. After Fortnite, Rennie and Garrian went back to the eagle’s nest, which was also the park, and they pushed each other on the swings.
Ada Benn
Age 8
CANDI LAND: THE HORROR OF THE LICKRASH LAND
“OH MY GOD, DAD! It’s not that big of a deal. I JUST want to explore!” Zendeya yells. She and her dad are arguing for hours on end. Night time comes to start, then Zendeya sneaks out, and then she gets lost.
In the Lickrash Land, she sees the Black Lickrash Witch.
“Go away! I just started to retire!” the witch says angrily.
Backstory: The Black Lickrash Witch—who smells like rotten eggs!—was cursed by the previous Lickrash Witch.
“What!? When did you want to retire!?” Zendeya asks, puzzled.
“Today!” she snaps at Zendeya. “I need a replacement too!” The witch then casts a spell, but misses!
Zendeya runs for about a mile to get away from the Lickrash Witch. She hides behind a tree and then the tree lifts her and throws her about a mile away. She lands facefirst on the ground, and luckily nothing breaks (just a teeny bit of her hair, made out of sugar cookie, comes off). She looks around at her surroundings and thinks, Oh yeah, I can make a house out of all these trees! She clears about a hundred trees and makes a tiny cottage to live in for a couple of days.
The Black Lickrash Witch walks past the house looking
for Zendeya, but doesn’t see her because she isn’t wearing her glasses.
Zendeya doesn’t understand why the witch doesn’t see her. She didn’t notice that the witch was wearing glasses earlier. She gathers the extra wood to make a pickaxe, and then she mines some coal and stone to make a furnace. She fishes for some red licorice fish, and then she cooks it on the furnace and makes it for dinner. She doesn’t have a bed, so she just picks some rock moss and makes a carpet to sleep on. She falls asleep within ten minutes.
The next morning, she discovers that half of the forest has been burned down by the Lickrash Witch because she got angry. Luckily, every creature survived.
Zendeya meets another person in the next hour she’s in the forest. The person tells her to get out of the forest as soon as she can. She listens to the person, but she cannot find an exit, because the forest is too big. She then asks for the person’s name.
“I’m October. What’s your name?” says the person.
“My name is Zendeya,” Zendeya replies.
Then Zendeya invites October back to her cottage. She stays there for a few days. She doesn’t want to go home because she was grounded for no reason other than wanting to explore.
When they get back to the cottage, Zendeya realizes that October is actually the Black Lickrash Witch’s helper, and she kicks her out immediately.
To be continued . . .
Aubrey Burns
Age 8
THE MAGIC WORLD
“Iwish I could be in a magic world!” Kaylee, a hybrid human-fox, said.
Kaylee fell into a blue circle and she said, “What’s going on?” All she saw was cotton-candy trees and edible grass. “Is this candy? Mom? Dad?”
But no one answered.
Someone came to Kaylee and they were in black and they smelled like hot dogs. They said, “Kaylee Jenny Maxwell.”
“Wait . . . how do you know my full name?” Kaylee asked. Kaylee started to get really scared.
And they came closer to her and said, “You have five questions to answer and if you get them right then you can see your mom and dad. But . . . if you get one or two wrong then you will stay.”
“O—K—OK,” said Kaylee.
“Your first question is . . . oh, wait,” the person in black said.
“Umm. I don’t know your name, but I’m going to call you the Wear Black Man,” Kaylee said.
“OK! I’m fine with that,” he said.
* * *
Meanwhile, in Kaylee’s room . . .
“Kaylee! Kaylee Maxwell? Are you there?” Kaylee’s mom said, looking around her room for her.
“She did say she wanted to go to a type of magic world,” Kaylee’s dad said.
Kaylee jumped up. “OMG!” Kaylee said. She started to get really scared because she had never been in a dream before.
Kaylee’s mom and dad found her under a blanket and poured some cold, icy water on her and she woke up.
Kaylee screamed and said, “What the chicken flip is going on?!”
After that, her mom and dad said, “Kaylee, wake up! Put some clothes on and let’s go get some ice cream from Dairy Queen!”
“OK. This was all a dream, right?” Kaylee asked. They said, “What are you talking about?”
Kaylee and her parents leave to get ice cream together. Kaylee left home feeling scared, but happy.
Batoule Boucetta
Age 8
A MAD SCIENTIST
Have you ever seen a mad scientist on Saturn?
The mad scientist Sam had a bad plan: he wanted to destroy Saturn.
But he had a really big problem: his door was locked and he was blind. He had a key, but he didn’t know where the door was in the lab. He got mad and started yelling and everything went flying because he was mad. He remembered he had a guide to help destroy Saturn. The guide’s name was Mark. Mark got paid one hundred dollars an hour to be mean around people. Mark took the key and opened the door.
People all around the world were scared.
“Mahahahahahah,” said Sam.
Finally Sam and Mark destroyed everybody on Saturn and a little on Earth.
“Mahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha,” said Sam.
Mark didn’t know why Sam was laughing. Finally Mark got enough of it and said, “I have had enough of this. I now control you for the rest of your life.” And then he turned into the real Sam!
The fake Sam got confused for a little and said, “What?” He started to cry. “But then, who am I?”
The real Sam said, “You are the fake Sam.”
The fake Sam started to cry even harder.
“Remember that water you drank earlier?” said the real Sam. The fake Sam nodded. “I put a pill in it, and it switched our lives.”
The fake Sam said, “Does this mean I’m Mark now?” The real Sam nodded.
Sam said, “I wanted to make the world better, and the only way to do that was to switch our personalities.”
Mark fell into a tantrum. He started yelling, “Ahhhhhhh!” and then he bumped into someone. It was his family. He hadn’t seen them for years!
He said, “Mom? Dad?”
Mark’s mom and dad were like, “Who are you?”
Mark said, “I’m your son.”
Mark’s parents got confused. They decided to test him to make sure he was the real Mark, and he got every question right—but Mark’s mom and dad still didn’t believe he was their son. Then they remembered he was their actual son, and they had a party and invited everybody, even the real Sam!
At the party, everyone stopped being bad and started getting along. They decided to work together to fix the part of Earth that had been destroyed, and then they all moved to Earth, where they told stories about what Saturn was like. Sam and Mark learned from their mistake of destroying Saturn, and tried to make sure nothing like that happened again.
Garrian Thomas
Age 8
THE LIBRARY
MmmmmmMmmmmm . . . My name is Figure. I come from the library. I can’t see, but I can hear.
I am tall and brown. On my arms and legs are bones you can see, but my torso and my head is brown. There’s nobody in the library because of me.
Many years ago I was in a laboratory. I got sent to a library for testing. I had a five-year-old friend. His name was David, but soon they took him away. It made me mad. He never came back again.
* * *
Oh hey, it’s you again. I’m Figure. Let’s tell the rest of my story. Forgot to say the library is in a hotel, but a boy named Ta’marion walked in.
I asked, “What are you looking for?”
He said, “Five comic books.”
“Come over here. This is where the comic books are,” I said.
He said, “Thank you.”
Then a boy named Abdulla came in and said, “I’m looking for friends.”
He asked me and I said, “No! Because you are one of the scientists.”
And then Ta’marion asked to be my friend and I said yes because he was kind, respectful, and NOT a scientist!
Ta’marion and I read books together and he introduced me to his friend Garrian.
Then we three friends shared our ages with each other— Ta’marion is nine, I am two hundred, and Garrian is eight. We played games together.
In a crazy turn of events, all the scientists came in and tried to take Ta’marion and Garrian. Then I saved them by scaring the scientists away. The boys told everyone that I’m nice and I became the king of the city. I made brand new friends!
Howard Allen
Age 9 (23 in 14 years)
MICHAEL TIGER'S HOUSE
There was scary music playing. Michael heard a kid coming up to his house, then the kid knocked on the door. Michael Tiger opened the door, and the kid said, “Hello!”
Michael invited the kid into his house and told the kid that he was watching a scary movie. Then the kid asked Michael if he could go to the bathroom.
When the kid came out of the bathroom, he watched a little bit of the scary movie with Michael Tiger. He got so scared he had to go back to the bathroom. When the kid opened the bathroom door, there was a monster! The kid screamed and Michael Tiger said, “What’s wrong? What happened?”
The boy ran past Michael shouting, “THERE’S A MONSTER IN THE BATHROOM!!” The kid ran home to get his family—his mom, dad, brother, and sister. They came back to Michael Tiger’s house.
Michael Tiger opened the door and said,“Why did you come back? Why did you bring your mommy, daddy, brother, and sister?”
The boy said, “We want to watch the scary movie!”
They all came in and watched the scary movie together.
Michael Tiger got popcorn and candy. The dad went to the bathroom and when he turned on the light, the shower
curtain opened, and there was a zombie in the shower! The dad tried to wash his hands, but when he turned on the water, it was not water that came out! It was red!
Then the dad screamed. He yelled, “Help!”
The sister and the mom said, “It’s not a monster. It’s fake.”
But when the mom went to open the toilet, it made scary sounds! So she called the big brother to help. They all left and no one from the boy’s family came back to Michael Tiger’s house ever again!
Then a new girl came to Michael Tiger’s house. She brought her mom. After they walked in, the door shut hard like a hammer just got smashed. The mom got really scared. She was so shocked that she went to the bathroom to put cold water on her face. But there was red all over her face. She was scared! She walked out of the bathroom. She was shaking and crying. Then the mom went into the second bathroom and she washed her hands. The water was blue. She was shocked. Then she was running around.
There was a tiger sleeping next to Michael Tiger. She saw the tiger. She was shocked and she ran around and ran into her daughter! Then the tiger woke up and started chasing both of them. The mom hit her head on the door and screamed, “Ouch!”
Michael ran to the door. Michael Tiger called 911 and said, “Someone got hurt! Help! Help!” The operator answered and asked, “What happened?” Michael Tiger said, “She hurt her head.” He gave the operator his address. An ambulance came and the medic told the mom to get on the bed and they took her to the hospital. The daughter was crying. Michael Tiger said, “Do you want to go to your sister’s house before you get ice cream?”
The daughter said, “Thank you, Michael Tiger!” So he
took her to her sister’s house.
After the mom was in the hospital, she called her sister and asked, “Did Michael Tiger drop off my daughter at your house?” The sister said, “Yes.”
The mom was in the hospital for a few days but then she was better. She called her father to come and pick her up. He dropped the mom off at the sister’s house.
Michael Tiger went back to watching his scary movie with his tiger.
Ja’Deya Reed
Age 9
ZARI AND THE THREE BEARS
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Zari and she was walking until she got next to a cliff. She was trying to get home to have breakfast when she saw a motorcycle that she could use. But the motorcycle started driving without her, by itself! She tried to hop on it, but it drove off the cliff. So she jumped off the cliff too to try to catch it. She landed in a puddle of slime and she got sticky. So, she had to get on the bus. But the bus had no gas! So she had to push it to the gas station to get gas. After she got gas, she rode the bus all the way to her house and got breakfast. But while she was eating breakfast, she noticed it was not her house. It was a bear’s house! It had small, medium, and big bowls of cereal. She ate the medium and big bowls of cereal, which were warm and hot, but she left the small, cold bowl. She didn’t like cold cereal. Then, the bears came out of the room from where they were sleeping. They kicked Zari out of the house. But, she sneaked back in through an open window because she wanted to explore. Then she called her mom because the bears noticed her, and she had to hide in the closet so they couldn’t find her. When she called her mom, she had the phone to her ear and was whispering. Zari said, “There is a bear in the new house I bought.” Zari’s mom wanted to know how she had money to buy a house. Zari said, “I have $700!”
and her mom said, “That is not enough money, and I still want to know how you got that money.” Zari said she saved up since she was eight years old. She is now twelve. But then the bears sniffed and smelled her. She got scared and hung up the phone. Her mom called back, and the bears heard the ring. They opened the closet, but Zari was on the shelf, so they couldn’t see her, and they closed the closet back up. Then she jumped off the shelf. The bears heard the boom, the bears came back, opened the doors back up, saw Zari and . . . ATE HER. (Dun, dun, dun!)
Then her mom called again and the bears answered. They growled. The mom screamed, “Why do you have my daughter’s phone?”
“I will eat you,” said the bears.
“No, it can’t be. Please.”
“I’m going to get you,” one of the bears said. The bears hung up the phone and they went outside looking for her. The whole family went forward and kept looking in houses’ windows. One of the parents in a house saw the bears and closed their window. The bears thought it was the girl’s mom, so they tried to get in that house. They got inside because she didn’t lock the window! Then one of the bears went ROAR but Zari’s mom started to cry because she had a baby boy and she didn’t want to leave her baby behind. So she grabbed some berries and lured the bears outside and then they followed her and ate the berries. While they were outside, she locked all the doors and windows. The bears went into the street and disappeared!
Ja’Liah Bolden
Age 8
CATS AND A SPIRITUAL WORLD
Ihhzo hears other animals. She finally escapes though she ends up in a shelter. “I beg you, human. Let me out before I put my claws on you.”
She is a cat-wolf-llama with a magic necklace with a heart-shaped diamond. She soon gets adopted and ends up in a house in the forest. Her new owner takes very good care of Ihhzo. Her owner has a very special place for her and also some other pets. Then the great war of cats versus dogs happens.
Ihhzo and a dog friend named Izen find a way to stop it all at the crazy castle. They get the cat versus dog war to stop for a bit—it’s not over though. Nobody knows what will happen next.
Then a giant crazy figure walks through the doors at the front of the crazy castle. They don’t know who he is! The figure looks like some kind of reptile. It randomly starts attacking and causing mayhem. It doesn’t stop until it gets what it wants. The reptile sees Ihhzo’s necklace. It has crazy secret powers. Ihhzo doesn’t know, but the reptile does.
Izen distracts the reptile and while he’s looking around, they run out of the crazy castle into the crazy forest. Since they’re only small, a fifty-foot bird starts swooping past them. It keeps flying over them and doing it again. It is chasing them and it is working for the reptile. Night starts to
fall. After they run from the bird they find shelter and rest for the night.
A portal appears! Ihhzo and Izen fall through the portal. The reptile appears through the portal and gives the bird an order. “Chase them!” he says.
Then the necklace starts talking to Ihhzo in her mother’s voice. “Ihhzo run now!” Then it stops. They hide where the reptile and bird can’t fit.
Some years later, Ihhzo and Izen are running through a field. They see a rabbit just looking around. Izen is ready to jump on it. Ihhzo says, “Stop.” Just then Izen says, “Wait. I know you. I’ve seen that rabbit before.”
They start to talk for a bit and a magic star appears. It starts crashing down. Then the necklace starts to talk again in Ihhzo’s mom’s voice.
“Follow it,” the necklace says, “before it is gone forever. It will disappear and never come back.”
They follow the magic star and Ihhzo touches it. It makes a sparkling noise and everything gets bright with yellowish light. Then it stops. KABOOM!
Finally, they wake up after the explosion in an odd castle. A dog comes walking toward Ihhzo and Izen, and the rabbit who was following them is creeping around the corners. Ihhzo looks at the dog and she wonders if she has seen him before.
The reptile appears and grabs her necklace. He starts saying random words. Then a giant black hole appears. Ihhzo and Izen get sucked up in it!
The good thing is that the reptile thinks he has the necklace, but he drops it on his way to his lair to do a magic spell. The rabbit grabs the necklace and jumps into the black hole.
The bad thing is that the black hole wears off and the
rabbit is barely in it. The rabbit falls, but the necklace still goes through.
The necklace says one more thing. “I’ve been in this necklace for many years now.” It goes with Ihhzo and Izen.
Ihhzo knows a magic spell that her mom taught her before to teleport someone to where you are. She teleports the reptile and sends him into a black hole, never to be seen again.
She realizes that the necklace talking to her the whole time was her mom. Then she realizes the dog from before in the odd castle was her dad.
Ihhzo said one simple word: “LOVE.” Then the necklace released her mom. The family was all together again.
JD Freeman
Age 9
THE MAGIC FOOTBALL PLAYERS
Chapter One
At football practice, Hudson saw Tommy practicing on the other team. Hudson noticed they looked alike.
The coach said, “Pay attention!” when he saw Hudson looking over at Tommy.
A few days later, Hudson’s team, the Braze, and Tommy’s team, the Buckeyes, played against one another. Hudson and Tommy were blocking each other: when one moved, the other moved. They took turns moving. The coach offered Tommy a spot on the Braze team after the game. Tommy said, “Sure, but I have to tell my Buckeyes coach.”
That night, Hudson and Tommy, who were both age twelve, went to their separate houses. Then they woke up, went to school, and they saw each other. They went to the same school! When they tried to move, the other mirrored them. So they were late to class.
Their teacher said, “You’re staying in my class at the end of the day!” to both of them. At the end of the day, Mrs. Dictionary made them write her name one hundred times, but they moved at the same time so it went really fast. Then Hudson and Tommy went home and asked their parents if they could have a sleepover at Tommy’s house. Their mom
said yes, and they did. They played basketball.
The next morning Tommy and Hudson went outside to play football, but they forgot they had practice. Coach was mad they were late.
Chapter Two
Acouple of days later
Tommy and Hudson were moving to L.A. Their moms and dads noticed that the boys looked alike.
Hudson’s dad said to Tommy, “What is your name?”
Tommy’s mom said to Hudson, “What is your name?”
The boys answered and the parents said, “Y’all are brothers, do you know that?”
They got off the plane in L.A. and went right to the doctor to see why they always moved the same. The doctor said, “I have to take some blood from you.”
The boys said, “Is it going to hurt?”
The doctor took blood out of them and put a new kind of blood in Hudson because he was born a few seconds before Tommy. Then they got in their Lamborghini truck and went home. They lived in L.A. together. It was an hour drive to their new house. It was nighttime and they went to sleep. The next morning they saw that their coach had moved to L.A. too and started a new team, the Eagles. Tommy and Hudson joined the Eagles.
Chapter Three
Then something bad, bad, bad happened!!! One day when the twins were playing football in the backyard, Tommy and Hudson accidentally threw their football into the woods. When they went to get it, they discovered
that in the woods there was a magic unicorn, a magic bear, and a magic school bus. The twins went with the unicorn and bear into the bus, and they flew for hours and hours until they landed on the ground. Hudson and Tommy asked the unicorn if she could make them a magic potion so that they could get superpowers. The unicorn said yes, and then they got the superpowers, which included the ability to fly. They flew down hard (bad hard!) but luckily, the unicorn saved them. But by saving them, she sacrificed herself, and she died.
Chapter Four
Years Later
The bear lived with Hudson and Tommy in the forest. They played for the NFL. The bear and the twins would visit the unicorn’s gravesite. Something great happened from this: the unicorn came back to life. The power of the three of them, holding hands at her gravesite, brought her back to life. Now the unicorn’s fur was no longer white, it was dark brown. They all lived happily ever after, and the brothers were so glad they got the chance to know each other.
James Nuñez Mejia
Age 8
THE MONSTER AND THE GIRL
“How are you doing, Bluelock? Are you still playing soccer?” says a man. “Yes! I’m going home right now to practice!” replies Bluelock. Bluelock is a twenty-year-old with a blue shirt and pants. He has blue eyes. Bluelock sees the monster coming to the city from the sky like a volcano and it gets bigger and bigger. The monster’s eyes are yellow, its body is green, the fur has glitter, and the mouth is red. Bluelock kicks the ball so hard with his super-strength. He wants the monster to go away so he doesn’t destroy the city.
The monster goes into Sophia’s backyard. The monster hides there. The mom knows the monster is there, but she doesn’t tell the dad. Sophia puts the monster out to play in the backyard but the monster makes a loud noise. ROAR!
Bluelock’s house is next door to Sophia’s. He hears the monster roar and goes to Sophia’s house. He knocks on the door and the mom answers it. Bluelock says, “You have a monster in your backyard.” Sophia hides the monster so Bluelock and the mom never see it. Bluelock goes home. Then the girl says to the monster, “Be quiet!” But the monster does not “be quiet” and goes out like before. Bluelock keeps practicing soccer. The girls and the
people see the monster.
The monster says, “I’m Ionoste.”
Then Bluelock says, “No, you’re not.”
The monster goes to the city and the people run away from it. Bluelock goes to the city and gets his soccer team. They kick the ball so hard at the monster that he falls out and disappears. They never hear from him again and the soccer team goes to practice and has a soccer game.
The team wins again. Bluelock goes to practice more and Sophia says, “Where’s the monster?”
Bluelock says, “He disappeared.” Then Sophia cries because she is sad and wants the monster to come back. Then Bluelock says, “He is so dangerous.”
Then another monster comes to the city and destroys the city. Then Bluelock calls his team to get rid of the monster, but Sophia says, “No. Don’t do that.”
So Bluelock says, “OK. He can stay and play with you.”
Sophia and the monster become friends. Everyone in the city is happy and they are friends.
Julia Kyaw
Age 9
SPRINKLES AND WILLIAM
Once upon a time, a cupcake named Sprinkles woke up at a candy factory. She was a vanilla cupcake with rainbow sprinkles. She went upstairs to the candy garden that had Trolli worms. Sprinkles was surprised. She had never seen one. So she went downstairs and left the candy factory.
She met a duck named William in the woods and right away they became friends. They were walking together and saw the candy cane tree. It had a candy cane trunk and candy cane wrapper leaves. And both of their stomachs started to rumble. Since Sprinkles was a cupcake, she had extras in her pocket and fed William the sprinkles. Then Sprinkles sat against the tree trunk and also ate some sprinkles. Then they realized they had both been distracted. They were trying to go to the candy shop. And then they walked again to the empty city.
Since the sun was going down they found a gingerbread house to stay in. Inside was a bunk bed and a warm fire. They went to sleep in the bunk beds and woke up in the morning. The next day they explored again and went deeper into the empty city. Sprinkles was having fun and William was getting used to it because Sprinkles was a hyper cupcake.
In the city they found another patch of woods. They saw
bunnies and since Sprinkles was hyper, she tried to catch one but the bunnies were too fast. Then William said, “Sprinkles, can we go to the candy store instead of the woods?”
She said, “How rude of you!” But they became hungry again. William convinced Sprinkles to go to the candy shop. It was time for a snack break and they got to the candy shop. Sprinkles filled her pockets full of candy. Then William said, “Sprinkles, you have to stop—you have enough!” But Sprinkles didn’t stop until they left the candy shop. They went back to the gingerbread house and stayed there again.
William talked with Sprinkles. He said, “Sprinkles, you’re not allowed to go back to the candy shop.” And they went to sleep. But Sprinkles stayed up to sneak out and go back to the candy shop.
Then she hurried up and went back home. William was waiting outside the door. He said, “Sprinkles, I told you not to go!”
She said, “I’m really sorry.”
William became hungry, so Sprinkles brought him to the candy factory and showed him the garden with the worms. William ate all of the Trolli worms!
The End.
Marveah Sharp
Age 9
SO VERY HOT
It was a hot summer day and everyone wanted some ice cream. Because it was so hot, not even the pool could cool them down! A giant cat selling giant spicy ice cream came to town where it usually doesn’t come. The ice cream was melting too! And no cherry on top! No sprinkles, how rude! And there was no soda pop. But luckily, the bravest girl in town appeared, Marveah. She had moved closer to town to make friends—she was never afraid to make friends!
Marveah saw that everyone was scared because the ice cream was so spicy, so she ran over and said, “Hey cat! Do you want scratchies?”
The cat’s eyes lit up. He immediately rolled over. He was so excited!
Marveah said, “You have to promise to sell normal ice cream, not spicy ice cream!”
So he did and he got belly scratchies and he was now a nice cat. Now he was super happy. He fell asleep because of all those belly scratchies. It was late and the cat was too tired to work.
When the cat woke up from his nap he was super, super grumpy. So he meowed and started to stretch. Then he decided he was thirsty and he drank from a pond in the forest. He was happy.
So Marveah went up to him and pet his nose. She
showed him a big giant sweater she knit for him. He loved it so much that he knit one for her. She loved it so much that they became besties.
Wherever Marveah went, the cat followed her. She even slept in the same bed and ate the same things at the same time. One night, Marveah cried because she was hurt because her dad died. The cat meowed for help, and the whole city came to help Marveah. Now she was happy. She knew that from now on, she and the cat would be besties forever.
Mayte Reyes Amador
Age 9
THE BIG FISH
“The bus didn’t come!” my brother Mateo said. Then my other brother Oliver said, “Let’s walk to school.”
“But I am so hungry,” I said.
And then Oliver said, “Let’s eat fish from the lunch in your backpack.”
We walked and walked for so many hours. Then one of my brothers said to me, “We’re late for school.”
I was so angry I threw my food. Then the fish danced. It salsa-ed.
My brothers and I thought, Put the food back in the backpack, but the fish ran. We were scared!
And then the fish got so much bigger and it was a monster the size of a table. It had hair like a person, but it was a fish monster.
Then the bus came and the fish walked onto the bus. It used its back fins to walk. My brothers and I watched and then got on the bus, too.
And then my mom called me, but the fish got my phone. Then we went to the other bus and the fish changed to be little again. Me and my brother put the fish in the backpack. The bus dropped us off near home.
My mom called again. “Why are you not home?” said my mom.
“The bus never came,” I said.
But when the fish was in the house it got big again. My brother Mateo gave the fish magic food. The fish got little.
The next day, I saw the fish running in my house. My mom woke up and saw the fish running. The fish said nothing, but my mom said, “Go to your fishbowl and play with the other fish.”
The fish danced with her friends, they all danced the salsa to music in their heads. The fish were holding fins and spinning. The water was moving slowly with the fishes dancing. My brother Oliver danced with the fish.
The End.
Mino ChavezSandoval
Age 8
THREE DAYS BEFORE THE EARTHQUAKE
Chapter One
Bob and Stewart go to find something like treasure, but instead they find a device that makes an earthquake with a countdown of three days and an hour. An evil scientist named Benjamin made it. Bob and Stewart go to the news and show the video they took. They play the video on live TV and everyone believes it and starts getting prepared. The last day before the earthquake everyone goes home and has a nice rest.
Bob and Stewart wake up and realize they only have one hour left before the earthquake. They grab all the food and go into the basement.
The earthquake begins. Everything shakes. It’s kind of like a massage, but everything hurts at the same time. It feels like everything is about to fall on the house!
The earthquake lasts around five to ten days. They have to try to sleep during the earthquake. Bob and Stewart have a source of water that can last around ten weeks and a sink so they can wash dishes, a bathroom, a TV, computers, and
phones so they can be entertained. All their food will last until the earthquake ends. Or so they think.
Now they only have two boxes of water and five bags of food left. They have to go out to find more food. They knew this day would come.
Because they don’t have a mask or bodysuit, they turn into creatures! There is a toxic fox. Other people who are left also have to try to get to the store—they turn into creatures, too. They are all sizes: some small, some like humans, and some as big as a house. If you touch one of them, it will chase you. But the small ones are friendly and can communicate with the other creatures so you can get to the store.
Bob and Stewart get to the store one day before the earthquake ends!
Then they grab all the creatures and find a way to cure all the living people. The End. Or is it?
Chapter Two
Bob and Stewart find a cure to fix all of the people who turned into creatures. But three days later the same people find two more devices. They see each of them has five days and two hours.
Bob and Stewart find a boy named Kevin, but he has a weapon. He puts it down and questions them. Kevin asks them, “What do you want? Are you creatures or humans?”
“No, we are not creatures!”
Kevin realizes they are actually human. Bob and Stewart ask if he wants to team up with them. Kevin says yes. So they grab all the food in the store. They put it in carts and take it
back to the house.
They think the earthquakes should have happened by now. So they look at the recording again. They had miscounted.
The End! For real.
Nate Wr.
Age 9
Nate is a big fan of the movie Sonic the Hedgehog . His story is inspired by Sonic, who he really likes because he is nice and tries to help people.
BEING FRIENDLY
Our story begins on a sunny day. Our characters head to a school. Our most important character is Shinsonic. He is on the news. Shinsonic has four arms; when he eats someone, he turns bigger. Godzilla is heading to the city now. The people must escape immediately. Now Shinsonic arrives to the school! And then he turns small. He is nice. When in small form, he has no teeth. When he finds a bunny in his lunch box he gets a little bigger. He grows bigger and bigger until he crawls and chases after Knuckles the Hedgehog.
Knuckles is running from Shinsonic in Greenhills. Shinsonic is now very huge. He is one hundred feet tall and he goes very fast. And then Godzilla arrives to the school. Now the people go to Candyland and then Infected Sky— Infected Sky is a plane that has giant teeth and crawling legs—finds them. Then all of the people call the military to save them from Infected Sky. Shinsonic teleports to where Infected Sky is. Infected Sky can blow atomic breath if someone tries to get him, so the military can’t take him down. Then, Shinsonic turns small again and is nice to the people, even Infected Sky.
Niama Webb
Age 9
A DOG NAMED LOOFY
Once upon a time there was a dog named Loofy and a girl named Syndey. Syndey was twelve years old.
Loofy was one year old. Syndey also had a mother named Mindey. Mindey was thirty-six years old. Mindy was sitting on the couch. Syndey walked into the house from school.
“Hi Mom,” said Syndey.
“Hi Syndey,” said Mindey. “How was school?”
“Good,” said Syndey.
“That’s good,” said Mindey.
“Mom,” said Syndey.
“Yes, honey,” said Mindey.
“Mom, I’m hungry,” said Syndey.
So basically, Mindey knew her daughter and sensed that Syndey was lonely because she didn’t have any friends. Her mom took her to PetSmart to get a dog. They saw a lot of dogs, but she only liked the brown dog. It was as small as a water bottle. It was very chill and it was not rough. They got the brown dog and she named him Loofy.
When they got home Syndey was so happy she went into her room and snuggled in the bed with Loofy. Loofy was so comfortable.
Loofy was comfortable until he got hot. So Syndey took Loofy on his first walk.
In the middle of the walk, Loofy met Abby the shih tzu. Abby was a dog walking around because she lost her owner. As Syndey was walking she just saw Abby and felt bad that she was alone. They became best friends. Syndey adopted Abby. Abby was her dog now. They lived happily ever after. The End.
Samaria Townsend
Age 8
SOPHIA VS.
THE GHOST QUEEN AND KING
My name is Sophia and I am a space girl. I went in this spooky house. I heard oos and woos. A ghost zoomed past. It was so fast. I was so mad!
Then the ghost queen said dramatically, “I will rule this house and take over the world foreverrrrrrr!”
“No, I will master ghost kung fu!”I yelled.
The ghost queen laughed. “You don’t even know where to learn kung fu, you little peasant rat. You smell like doodoo anyway.”
I was so scared. I started shaking in fear. I started mumbling and then I thought about my mom and how she would say, Don’t be scared.
“I do know where to learn ghost kung fu! My auntie is a ghost,” I yelled.
Then I saw the ghost king pull out a sword.
I left the spooky house and the ghost king closed the door by taking a deep, deep breath. Then he let the air out and closed the door. When the king let the air out, it made my mom appear because my necklace was a tracker so my mom can always find her daughter.
Then my mom said, “Get your hands off my daughter.” She did a ghost kick on the king and queen. My eyes went big and wide. I did a ghost kick on the king and queen. The queen said, “You don’t kick me, you peasant!”
“I will kick you if I want!” I replied.
Then my mom teleported me out with my magic necklace. Mom said, “When we get home, I am going to have a big talk with your dad and your stepdad about sneaking out. It is dangerous to fight zombies without me. You are grounded for two months!”
I said, “Mom! But . . . but . . .”
Mom said, “No buts, young lady.”
I stomped up the stairs. Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.
“Mom, I hate you.”
My stepdad said, “No stomping on those stairs.”
“I’m going to go up to my room for a couple of hours and talk about how we’re going to make silverglass,” said Mom.
Ring. Ring. Ring. The phone was ringing.
“Who is this?”
It was my mom’s friend who made a trade with my mom Elda, who is the real bad guy. The mystery friend said, “Oh, my sweet Elda. Stop trying to lie. We made the trade years ago and you still haven’t got them.” She yelled, “Get the ghost king and queen or I will turn you into one of them!”
Mom said, “I’m so sorry, my daughter is just so stubborn.”
“You’re just trying to lie.”
“Sophia, come to Mom, please! I need to show you something,” said Mom.
“Don’t bring that little brat out here.”
I said, “Yes, what do you want, Mother?”
“The mystery will start with who is the real witch.”
To be continued . . .
Ta’marion Smith Reeder
Age 9
X-BOY
His name is X-boy. He’s been hungry for years, but he’s been in a house that is in a volcano. He’s a monster that can touch lava. He’s looking for people to eat. But people do not be in volcanos.
So one day, X-boy climbed out of the volcano covered in lava, scaring everybody away. He caught somebody and took him into the volcano, into the house, and ate him. Then he popped out a tail, whipping everybody with it. Then he popped out wings, blowing everybody away.
They were outside the volcano, in a city where no one can go. The volcano was somewhere between 1,300 to 2,200 degrees. There was lava dripping from the volcano and smoke going into the sky. And it was so steep. It was as bright as Super Sonic and it was so rocky.
X-boy was standing on the side of the volcano and was seeking people trying to throw rocks into the volcano. “Aaaaaaaah!” the people said, running away from him. He’s a monster, and people are scared of monsters.
Garrian was there and tried to stop him from eating people. He tried to grab X-boy.
“Stop it—no way—mind your business before I eat you too, Garrian,” said X-boy.
“OK. OK. OK. I will leave you alone,” said Garrian.
“You better leave me alone! You too, Howard. Before I cook you and eat you alive,” said X-boy.
“No, you won’t,” said Howard.
“Come here,” said X-boy. “Got you. Now I can eat you.
Yaaaaaaa! I got food now. I can eat in peace.”
“Let’s goooooooooo!”
Grrrr.
Slurrrp. Eaten in one bite. I had a good dinner. I need a nap. ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz.
Tadarious Edwards
Age 10
SPOOKY MONSTER HOUSE
One day, the daughter Bria went to take out the trash for her mom. Then she heard a sound. She turned around and saw a big monster house. It was a beautiful house: it was big and white and lived in the neighborhood.
Bria’s heart felt like it dropped. She screamed. Then the house said, “Shh, it’s OK!”
Bria kept screaming.
Then the house said, “No, no. Don’t scream.”
Bria stopped screaming and dropped the trash out of shock. She ran inside to tell her mom, but when her mom came outside, the house wasn’t there anymore.
When Bria went inside, she said, “I will get you next time.”
The next day, Bria woke up and went to wait at the bus stop.
The house said, “What are you doing?”
And Bria said, “Nothing.”
The house asked, “Are you OK?”
And Bria said, “Yeah,” although she felt nervous inside. Then the house said, “I hope you have a good day at school.”
She said, “Thank you.”
Bria had one more minute before the bus came. She asked, “Are you a good house or a bad house?” But before the house could respond, the bus came.
When she got back from school she forgot to ask him, Is he a good house?
Two years later . . .
Bria had not seen the house in two years, and suddenly it reappeared. The house was so loud that Bria went outside to ask it to be quiet. She was twelve years old and she was annoyed because the house was so loud she couldn’t sleep. She called him by his name, Mr. Fire! The mom came out and was shocked.
“OMG!” said the mom.
“Mom, it’s not what you think!”
“Wait, do not get her in trouble. I’m a good house,” said the house.
Then the mom let the house speak for a minute. The house grabbed the mom and said, “You don’t have to be scared of me. Please do not be scared. I’m really good.”
The mom didn’t believe the house, and she called the police. When the police came, they said nothing was wrong because the house had already disappeared.
“No, I swear! It was here! We just saw it!” the mom said.
The police said, “You probably need a nap,” and they left.
The mom dropped down and started crying. She said really bad things to the monster house because she was so mad.
The monster house said, “You don’t have to say mean things to me!”
And then monster babies came out of the windows and they said, “I’m done with dinner, Dad!”
Bria and her mom moved away from the monster house and into a shelter. “I can’t believe you made us move,” Bria said. “The house was a good monster!” Then, Bria and her mom tried to move back, but they didn’t see the monster house . . . or their house.
Bria was really shocked. “Mom, this is all your fault.” “No, sweetie, it’s OK,” said the mom. They ended up moving into a different neighborhood and a new house where they had a lot of pictures of their old house.
The End.
What Story will you Create?
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Our sincerest gratitude to the wonderful humans who helped make this publication possible.
Program Volunteers
Megan Marquardt
Nora Brockwell
Janet Goldwasser
Estabrook Staff
Partner Teachers: Angela Stewart, Alex Hands, Jennifer Gray
Principal: Ryan Johnson
With special thanks to Stacey Schwartz, Art Teacher, for letting us use her classroom for this program!
826michigan gratefully recognizes the following supporters for their gifts for the 2024-25 School Year.
Lead sponsor for this publication:
Russell Family Foundation
Additional supporters:
Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, including the African American Endowment Fund
DTE Energy Foundation
Flagstar Foundation
Galens Medical Society
Hawkins Project
James A. and Faith Knight Foundation
Leinweber Foundation
May Family Foundation
Michigan Arts & Culture Council
National Endowment for the Arts
Old National Foundation
The Robbins Family Fund
Washtenaw County Office for Community & Economic Development
ABOUT
For twenty years, 826michigan has supported K-12 students through free writing and literacy programs. Each year, over 4,000 students in Detroit, Ypsilanti, and Ann Arbor participate in our high-quality programs. We inspire students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers and provide students with the formative experience of seeing their work reflected back to them via a professional publication (in a book, on an album of songs, in an exhibit in a museum; publication projects are varied in iteration). Our programs improve student academic skills in writing, boost self-confidence in literacy work, and provide a positive outlet for socialemotional growth, while also instilling a lifelong love of reading and writing.
826michigan utilizes volunteers to provide students with one-on-one attention and small group work in every program offered. With the help of caring adults, students not only gain experience and confidence in writing, but also find a community of like-minded peers, and experience mentorship and social and emotional support that will feed them for a lifetime.
826michigan—the power of story.
WRITING LABS
In this weekly program, we build a supportive community of writers where students brainstorm, write, revise, and publish a story of their choosing. At the end of
the program, students’ writing is published in a book and celebrated with a book release party. Each session includes a mini lesson taught by 826michigan staff and introduction to a new writer's habit, such as “Writers change their minds” and “Writers make plans–and break them!” Students discuss and practice these new habits as they go through the writing process, building their own toolkit of writing practices and preferences. This program is offered both during the school day with select partner schools, and also as an after-school program open to students from the community.
WORKSHOPS
We offer a number of free writing 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.
DROP-IN WRITING FOR WEE-BOTS
Each week, the youngest 826michigan writers meet to play and explore what writing can do. With stories that spark creativity and games that inspire students to write, the Weebots work in small groups—and with trusted volunteers—to bring imagination alive for these young writers. Students experience the joy of writing however they are able, from the physical act to conversation-based brainstorming and development of new ideas.
YOUNG AUTHORS’ BOOK PROJECT
Each year, we undertake a multi-session partnership with a class or grade that culminates in a professional publication of student writing. Whether it’s third graders writing poetry about frogs and learning about book
publishing in a project-based learning format or fifth graders imagining their world in fifty years for science fiction that starts in Detroit but travels the galaxy, these projects enable students to take a deep dive into the writing process. They learn revision, editing, and all the steps it takes to go from a brainstorming a first draft to being published.
FIELD TRIPS & ROADSHOWS
Always full of surprises and theatrics, our Field Trip program is an experiential writing extravaganza. We welcome teachers to bring their classes in for field trips during the school day or we can bring the party to schools as a field trip roadshow. Students join a group of volunteers, interns, and staff to help solve a problem through writing. 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 STORE
Our Robot Supply Co. store, located in Ann Arbor, is a one-stop shop for robots, robot owners, and enthusiasts alike. It is designed to inspire creativity and bring awareness of our programs to the community. In addition, our online store is always open; visit the Robot Supply Co. at onwardrobots.com. All proceeds from our store directly fund our free student programming. Onward robots!
WRITING IS
A way to figure things out by ourselves A way to help us connect to our world A way to help us learn who we are and who we will become A way for us to use our power to make changes and build a better world
We create a safe place to be ourselves and try new things
We support the ways that writers work (like thinking, sketching, talking)
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
We work with a group of writers who help and support each other 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.
