VOICES O F Y ITNALISP
826michigan Staff
Megan Shuchman, Executive Director
Kinyel Friday, Operations Director
Megan Gilson, Program Manager
Denise R. Ervin, Program Manager
Amy Sumerton, Communications & Development Manager
Eli Sparkman, Program & Volunteer Coordinator
Diamond Sharpe, Program & Operations Associate
Catherine Calabro Cavin, Grants Writer
Teaching Artists & Apprentices
for the 2024-25 School Year:
Paige Bennett
Rachel Chalfant
Jeniya Dabish
Rachel Debolski
Emmett Flinkman
Terance Gordon
Caitlin Koska
Alondra Mireles
Elizabeth Mitchell
Alex Quada
826michigan Board of Directors
Maria Montoya
Holly Hunt
Christopher Ankney
Abby Fanelli
James A. Hiller
Steve Janssens
Tanya Line
Susan Morrel-Samuels
Denice Olson
Patti Wheeler
Copyright © the 2024-25 school year 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
I HEARD IT, TOO!
YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN
Listenup!
FOREWORD
Writing like what you’re about to see in this book doesn’t just happen. It requires a certain stickwith-it-ness—a commitment to showing up week after week across months to shape and tinker with a brand new story or poem. Writers do so many things to make their writing stronger. If they do it well enough, all that hard work becomes both visible and invisible at the same time: Visible is the beautiful end product; invisible is the hard work, persistence, and adult guidance that make the writing as magical as what you see on the pages that follow.
There are two Ypsilanti programs represented in this book: an In-school Writing Lab at Estabrook Elementary with third graders who met in weekly thirty-minute small groups throughout the winter, and an Ypsilanti Community Middle School After-school Writing Lab with its weekly year-long mix of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade writers. In both programs, we focused on the creation of a peer community of writers because we know that when writers come together in support and encouragement, they feel safe sharing their ideas, are more confident taking risks, and learn from one another.
Our sessions were filled with cramped hands, smiles, pencils that needed to be sharpened endlessly, and statements like, You’ll never guess what I just changed, I just came up with the best ending! and Wow, that time went so fast. These writers were driven both by creating something cool for themselves and the idea that their work would be shared with a larger audience—that’s YOU with this book in your hands! Many days the productive hum and focus was
so complete that I felt guilty telling students and volunteers that it was time to stop writing and conferencing for the session. One writer told me, “I want a thousand more hours!”
Our 826 writing model focuses on the six habits of successful writers. The beauty of this model is that it applies to student writers across diverse age groups, skills, and familiarity with the craft—things our brilliant students bring into every 826 space. These habits are:
• Writers use their imaginations to create brand-new stories.
• Writers create plans (and change them).
• Writers understand that words are powerful.
• Writers know the rules of writing, and break them.
• Writers make discoveries.
• Writers revise their stories with their readers in mind.
And, just as writers make discoveries, readers do, too! What in your life have you discovered about discovery? What has surprised you about trying new things, fear, perseverance, overcoming, and good vs. evil? What, in your great unknown, might you uncover about unlikely friendships and kindness?
Keep on reading!
This book is organized by those themes. Each is anchored by a piece of writing from one of our middle school writers and is followed by pieces from our third graders, and sometimes other middle schoolers, too. Our writers have made the universal personal, and in doing so they invite you to connect with their perspectives, experiences, and imagination. We hope that this arrangement will deepen your enjoyment of these stories and lead to your own discoveries.
Happy reading!
Caitlin Koska, 826michigan Teaching Artist Spring 2025
INTRODUCTION
Hey, my name is Precious. I am from Ypsilanti and go to middle school. I am fourteen years old and I’m in eighth grade.
I got started with 826michigan when I was in elementary school. I went to the library all the time and started writing there with 826michigan. It was fun and educational, and a relaxing thing to do. I wrote a story called The Three Evil Pigs, and it was published in The Ultimate Taco Cat: Stories of Everyday Magic. In my story, I liked how the pigs were mean and the wolf was nice this time. The book was funny, and crazy, too. At 826, you get to write what you want and not be told what to write; it feels good that you can write what you want and not be told what to write like in class.
When I’m at 826michigan, I feel happy and relaxed. I can write about me, my feelings, anything in the world, or just imaginary things. I think I’ve grown as a writer because when I was little I was messing up my words, and now I’m getting better with them. Now, I’m coming up with more ideas for writing by reading other books and watching TV shows, and reading in class, too.
I’m nice, silly, and funny. When I’m writing I feel calm, happy, and relaxed. I was in an 826michigan book when I was eight years old and I got ideas and inspiration from myself and my mom. I love to write about real and fictional life situations, and things about me. I would tell an eightyear-old me that I’m better at writing, and I can spell better. I grew up to write more things for others just like you to read. My ideas changed from fantasy to more realistic things. Young people can be writers too, and they can write
good books for others to read. The books can be fun, funny, or about real life or education, or anything. There should be more young students writing books for adults and teens and young kids to read, instead of just adults writing books. Young people can write about things too, and young people can speak out for themselves about how they want to be writers when they grow up. They can be writers now and when they grow up.
I’ve worked really hard to make my story in this book interesting to people. The other writers in this book worked hard to make sure people would enjoy their stories and not be bored. I hope you find interest in the stories you read and that you pick up another 826 book in the future. These stories have themes like romance, crime, and fantasy—all things that make a reader interested. Everyone did a good job at creating their stories so other readers like you can get more ideas, and see how it is to be a good writer. So I really hope you like this book, and come around for more next time.
Your dear friend, Precious Ward, a writer just like you!
WRITING ADVICE
GENESIS
Dear Estabrook Third Graders,
My name is Genesis and I’m a sixth grader at Ypsilanti Community Middle School. Here are my top three pieces of writing advice:
1. Give detail.
2. Use punctuation.
3. Use capitalization when needed.
One way you can make your writing stronger is by using punctuation and capitalization when needed. Starting your story with senses or from a first person point of view can make it interesting. When I’m stuck while writing, I like to remember or look in other books for inspiration. You could try ending your story with a plot twist or a cliff hanger to make it interesting for your readers.
I hope you enjoy writing books, and that you’ll be even better in books than you are now.
Your friend, Genesis P r ECIO u S
Dear Estabrook Third Graders,
My name is Precious and I’m an eighth grader at
Ypsilanti Community Middle School. Here are my top three pieces of writing advice:
1. Make the story make sense.
2. Give details.
3. Read your story over again.
One way you can make your writing stronger is by letting someone else read it. Starting your story with a plan can make it interesting. When I’m stuck while writing, I like to take a break. I hope you do good writing your story.
Your Author Penpal, Precious
A m A r IA
Dear Estabrook Third Graders,
My name is Amaria and I’m a seventh grader at Ypsilanti Community Middle School. Here are my top three pieces of writing advice:
1. Make a writing plan.
2. Give good details.
3. Make a good story and have fun with it.
One way you can make your writing stronger is by using good word choices. Starting your story with a plan can make it interesting. When I’m stuck while writing, I like to write ideas of what to put in my story. You could try finishing your story with a fun ending to make it interesting for your reader. I hope you enjoy writing your story.
Sincerely,
Amaria
A d VICE F r O m ESTAB r OO k
T h I rd -G r A d E wr ITE r S
• Make your stories scary or fun.
• Write what you feel and hear!
• You are smart, you have the power!
• Never give up, writers. NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!
• Forget the spelling and break it instead! Try ya best please, do it for me! :)
• First off, try your best, second, think of your writing before you start writing.
• Have fun and stay focused.
I
WAS UNSURE, BUT THEN . . .
STO r IES ABO u T
T r YING NE w T h INGS
GENESIS THURMOND
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 12
T h E FI r ST d AY OF SC h OOL
I explored the themes of fear and trying new things in my writing. I hope you as a reader think about how to overcome fears and a hint of anxiety as you read “The First Day of School.” I was inspired to write this story because in a book I read, a kid had moved schools and did not know who to be friends with and was nervous about almost everything. And so I wanted to write something similar.
As I begin to draw in my book, thinking about my first day of school, I am nervous. I don’t know what people might think of me. Will they think I’m cool? Will they think I’m lame? Or worst of all, an art nerd?
When I start to shade my drawing, I hear my mom call me from downstairs, telling me and my brother it’s time to eat dinner. I walk downstairs, and my brother follows me. I come into the kitchen, I wash my hands and sit at the table. Everyone sits down; we all make small conversation. It all gets silent for a few seconds until my mom says something to break the silence.
“So are you kids ready for your new school?”
I look down at my food, picking at it with my fork, clearly not happy with the conversation she’s chosen.
“Yeah, I’m kind of ready. I’m going to miss my old friends, but I can always make new ones,” my brother says
with a grin on his face.
“How about you, Nia?” she says, smiling at me.
“I don’t know,” I say, still picking at my food with a slight frown on my face.
“You don’t know?” she says, confusion on her face and a concerned look.
“I mean, I just left all my friends and went to a different school. I just left them,” I say, placing my fork down on the plate, the frown on my face growing.
“I know it’s hard to leave your friends, Nia, but you can always call them,” she says with a light smile.
“I know,” I say back. “But it’ll be hard to make friends when I walk into that school, Mom. People all around will probably be judging, and maybe even think I’m a weird nerd,” I say in a worried tone.
“You’ll be fine. No one is going to judge you, make fun of you, or call you a nerd,” she says.
I don’t say anything back, I just look at the plate of food and sigh. I really don’t want to leave everything behind just because of my mom’s job—I really could’ve stayed with my dad in California. I clear my throat and speak again. “May I be excused?” I say, not looking at my mom, just staring at the food on my plate.
“Yes, honey. You can be excused. Don’t forget to put your clothes out and get ready,” she says with a smile.
I walk to my room and close the door behind me. I can’t get over how I have to start my social life all over again. I grab my computer and call the group chat with all my friends. As it rings, I look around my empty room. I really need to decorate my room one of these days. I zone out until I hear, “Hey Nia, how’s it down in Georgia? We all miss you.”
I snap out of it as I turn on my camera and speak up.
“Hey,” I say back. “It’s OK. I mean, I really miss you all.”
“We miss you, too—a lot,” my friend Olivia says. Olivia is my best friend—well, everyone is my best friend in this friend group. Olivia is like the therapist of the group.
“Are you ready for your new school?” says Joyce.
“No, of course not. Not at all. I won’t know anybody. It will be very awkward.”
“You’re right, it’s going to be hard,” says Olivia. But just try talking to at least one person in school tomorrow.”
I sigh and pause for a second before replying to Olivia’s comment. “I’ll try, Olivia,” I say, smiling lightly as I look at the camera.
After talking for half an hour we get off the call, and I get my clothes ready for school. I have a gut feeling I am not going to like this. I pick out some khaki pants, a red shirt, and some red Jordans. I put it all out, ready for the morning, as I get into the shower and wash myself up. After I brush my teeth, I get ready for bed. I’m done with my night routine, so I get into my bed and try to get comfortable. My new bed feels cold and lonely to me. I close my eyes, and all my thoughts go to my new school and the people there. I have so many questions. Will the work be hard? Are the people there nice? Will I make even one friend there? The more I think, the more questions I have. I slowly drift to sleep, forgetting all about what is going to happen. I’ll just have to figure it out when I get there.
Hours pass by quickly. When the time is already six in the morning my alarm goes off, beeping on my phone. My eyes pop open and I grab it. I really want to press snooze, but I know it is time to get up. I stop the alarm. As I get up and stretch, I can smell the bacon and eggs downstairs. I wash my face, clean myself up, and get dressed. I walk down the stairs.
“Good morning, sweetie,” my mom says with a grin as
she’s making pancakes.
“Morning,” I say back, still yawning.
“How was your sleep?” she says, smiling as she puts a pancake on the plate, then handing me it.
“It was alright,” I say, looking at the pancake.
My brother runs into the kitchen and he smiles, yelling, “Good morning, everyone!”
“Good morning,” I say as I sit down at the dining table, too tired to be happy.
“I’m glad one of you is happy for your new school,” my mom says, smiling at my brother. After finishing breakfast, my brother and I get into the car. I always sit in the front, but today I don’t feel like it.
“Honey, you don’t want to sit in the front today? You always sit in the front seat,” my mom says.
“No, I don’t want to today. Noah can sit in the front today,” I say in a low voice.
“Sweet. Thanks, Nia,” Noah says with a grin on his face as he jumps into the front. I nod as I sit in the back.
“Noah, do you want to get dropped off first? Yours might be closer,” my mom says, looking over to Noah.
“Yeah, I don’t mind getting dropped off first,” Noah responds.
I put on my seatbelt and look out the window as my mom drives off. About seven minutes later, I hear my brother click his seatbelt off. He opens the door. “Bye, Mom. See you later,” he says, looking so happy.
I would never be that happy to go into school, especially a new school. As Noah gets out of the car and closes the door, waving his final goodbye, I wave back with not a hint of happiness to be seen. My mom smiles as she drives off to my school. I groan. The anxiety and nervousness rushes to me. I start to breathe fast and my heart feels like it’s about to
burst out of my chest. The thought in my head gets bigger and bigger: I don’t want to go! I close my eyes as my mom drives. I feel the car stop, and my heart drops. It feels like just when I had closed my eyes, we’d made it to the school. My eyes flutter open. I look around, my heart beating so fast, like I ran a whole track race.
My mom turns to me with a warm smile. “Have a good day! I promise it won’t be as bad as you think.”
I wanted to start a lecture about it, but it wasn’t worth it. “Bye, Mom. I’ll see you when I get out.”
My mom’s smile grows wider as she says, “Bye.”
“Don’t forget to pick me up at five,” I stutter.
“I won’t, baby,” she says with a chuckle.
I slowly open the door, taking a deep breath and stepping my foot onto the sidewalk.
“Bye, Mom,” I say again, really low. I don’t even know if she heard me. I take one last look at the car, and I wave slowly. I look so depressing. I turn back as everyone rushes into the school, crowding the entrance.
I finally get a chance to get into the school. I walk in, and the school is filled with a mix of talking and laughing. I look around, trying to figure out my surroundings. I walk to the main office, and I see a little lady with short blond hair behind the desk typing on her computer. I stand in front of the desk so she can see me. She looks up and a soft smile appears on her face when she sees me.
“Hello. How can I help you, sweetie?” she says in such a nice, soft tone.
“I am a new student to the school. I was wondering if I can get a schedule,” I say with a low tone, but enough that she can hear it.
“What’s your name, honey?” she says, typing.
“Nia Banks.”
As the woman types my name, I look around and notice she’s the secretary. Before I can look around more, she finally speaks. “Ah, there you are.” She grabs a piece of paper with my name and my schedule on it.
“Thank you,” I say, a little bit lower. I begin walking to the door, but before I get there, she speaks up.
“My name is Ms. Gardener, by the way.”
I turn back, putting on a fake smile before walking out. As I walk, I take a look at the paper she gave me with the room numbers of my classes. Soon after, I get to my first class. I take in a big puff of air; I know I have to brace myself for what is going to happen when I walk into the science room. I walk in, looking around to try to get used to my surroundings and what’s happening in the room. The teacher notices me standing in the doorway and gives me a big warm smile.
“Hello, you must be the new student.”
I nod and just stand there with my bookbag on one of my shoulders.
“Can you tell everyone your name?” she says, trying to comfort me a little bit.
I sigh as she says that. I do not want to speak to anyone. What if they are going to judge me for how I look? Or judge how I talk? Who knows what they’re going to say or think of me.
Before I can say anything, the teacher says, “Alright kids, quiet down. We have a new student and she is going to introduce herself to everyone.”
Those words come out of her mouth and make my heart drop. The class goes quiet, waiting for me to speak. I take a deep breath and I finally say something. “Hi, my name is Nia,” I say, looking down to avoid making eye contact with anybody.
“You can call me Ms. Rachel,” the teacher says, rubbing my back, smiling at me. “Sit in a free spot, Nia.”
I begin looking for an empty spot, seeing mostly every seat taken, but one by a girl is empty. I walk up to the empty seat, setting my backpack down on the chair. I feel like all eyes are on me and I can’t do anything about it, I just wish I could disappear. I am so zoned out that I don’t even realize the teacher is talking. I hear someone talking to me as I snap out of it, looking up.
“Hi, I’m J’adore. Nice to meet you.”
I look at her, facing her, a little startled.
“Hi, I’m Nia,” I say in a low voice.
“If you want, I can show you around,” she says in a soft and friendly tone.
I speak a little louder and say, “Sure, I don’t mind.”
After class I sigh as I grab my bookbag and look at my paper for my next class, just to find out my least favorite subject—math—is my second period. I let out a groan. I look around for J’adore, but she has already left. I let out a big sigh as I go to look for the classroom. About five minutes later, I find it. I’m two minutes late, but it’s only my first day anyway.
As I walk in, I can feel eyes on me, making me do a huge gulp. I feel like my palms are sweaty, and my heart races faster now than how I felt in the other classroom. I have never been so nervous in my life! I look around for a seat, seeing an empty seat one. I walk to the seat, put my bookbag down, and listen to the teacher speaking. I notice everyone is talking over the teacher, but the teacher keeps going.
After my main classes, I go to lunch where I see every middle schooler in my grade. It is definitely worse than just seeing my new classmates in my classes! I sit down at an empty lunch table and look around as everyone
gets their lunch. I’m too nervous to eat. My stomach feels like it’s twisting and turning, like I’ve been on millions of rollercoaster rides. I look down and start fidgeting with my hands. I sense someone coming to the table. I look up. It is J’adore, but she isn’t alone. She has brought a friend with her. J’adore gives me a friendly smile and finally speaks up. “Hey Nia, this is my friend Leah.”
I notice how her voice is so smooth and soft. “Hi. Nice to meet you, Leah,” I say, smiling a little bit and kind of not interested.
“Hey, nice to meet you too, Nia.”
I notice her smile. It is so beautiful. Her dimples are very cute. I admire her hair. It looks like a soft cloud, even though it is just like any other afro. The whole lunch J’adore, Leah, and I talk ’til the bell rings.
Then I go to my next elective class; it is art. When I first walk in, I see a lot of people sitting down. I begin to get a little more nervous without J’adore or Leah. The art teacher quickly notices me and gives me a warm smile and asks for my name. I mumble my name, scared to be alone again.
Afterward, I go and sit down and I notice that it is free draw. I grab a piece of paper and a pencil and sketch out a drawing. I begin by thinking of an emotion that I’m feeling right now, and I imagine it and sketch it out. I draw a person with the emotion of being nervous.
A girl walks up to me and notices my drawing and doesn’t say anything. I look up and see her staring at my paper. She then says, “Hey, I’m Tiffany, nice to meet you. What is the drawing you are doing?”
“I’m just sketching out how I feel right now.”
Tiffany admires how my drawing looks. “It looks good. Can I draw with you?”
I say, “Sure,” in a low voice, keeping my attention on the
paper instead of Tiffany.
Tiffany brings over her paper and sits next to me. We talk and sketch together during the whole art class.
After school, I wait for my mom in front of the school. She pulls up. As I get into the car, I give her a soft smile and she says, “I’m taking it you had a pretty good day?”
I reply a little louder and say, “It wasn’t bad at all, actually.”
My mom gives me a big grin and says, “Told you so.”
The next day at school, I finally get my locker code and, surprise, I am by all my new friends. I see them coming up to me, greeting me with smiles and waves. We all talk before the bell rings, and then we go to class. After all our classes are done, we meet up at the lunch room. Before we go in, Leah suggests we go to the library instead. We head to the library, and I see pencils and paper and J’adore asks Tiffany, “Oh, you like to draw?”
“Yes, it’s my favorite hobby,” Tiffany says in a soft, calm, and friendly tone, with a smile on her face.
We all sit down at the table and sketch out new drawings and talk about them. We all become best friends and make a friend group.
I used to think I would hate this school, but that changed. I got everything I could ask for—friends, an art club, and, best of all, a chance to face my fears.
GARRIAN THOMAS
Estabrook Elementary
Age 8
T h E LIB r A r Y
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 one another—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!
MAYTE REYES AMADOR
Estabrook Elementary
Age 9
T h E BIG FIS h
“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.
Me and my brothers 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. Me and my brothers 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 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.
ADA BENN
Estabrook Elementary
Age 8
CAN d I LAN d : T h E h O rr O r
OF T h E LIC kr AS h LAN d
“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 then 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 because 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 . . .
CLEARLY ENJOYING THE CHALLENGE
STO r IES ABO u T PE r SEVE r ANCE
ROBERT CAMPBELL
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 13
SON GO ku VS ONE-P u NC h m AN
I explored the themes of teamwork and perseverance. I hope you as a reader can think about how teamwork can help someone as you read Goku vs. One-Punch Man. I was inspired to write this story because I love Dragon Ball Z and OnePunch Man.
Three weeks later, Goku is looking for the One-Punch Man and he sees him. So Goku goes to him and says, “Hey, you! Yeah, you. I was looking for you.”
Then the One-Punch Man says, “Oh, it’s you. You back for more?”
Next, Goku gets a new power so Goku goes into a Super Saiyan God. All of a sudden he punches One-Punch Man.
Then One-Punch Man says, “Ow!”
Goku hits One-Punch Man then Goku says, “Ka. . . me. . . ha. . . me. . . ha. . . me. . . HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
One-Punch Man uses the kamehameha move and then One-Punch Man gets hit. Goku taps out of Super Saiyan God, but One-Punch Man gets up and hits Goku so hard that Goku passes out, but his body does not.
So he has MUI (Master Ultra Instinct). One-Punch Man tries to hit him, but he moves. Then One-Punch Man tries one more time but Goku says, “I see everything.”
Goku hits One-Punch Man then he goes flying back.
One-Punch Man says, “OK then, let’s get for real.” He hits Goku. Goku goes back flying. They both are hitting each other.
Then Gohan, who is Goku’s son, and Vegeta see Goku and One-Punch Man.
Vegeta comes to Goku and says, “Goku, you are not going to win this.”
Goku says, “Yeah, I know.”
Vegeta says, “Well, come on, Goku.” Goku and Vegeta do the Fusion Dance and turn into Gogeta Blue, and then Gogeta Blue says, “Let’s wrap this up! HERE IT COMES! KA
But One-Punch Man knows if he gets hit, he will die, so the outro music starts to play. One-Punch Man says, “Then I’ll use my one move—serious punch.” Then One-Punch Man and the full power kamehameha collide. When the kamehameha and the punch collide it breaks the dimension and they go to a faraway galaxy.
Gogeta says, “Wow. OK. Let’s get this over with.”
So they start fighting again. Then One-Punch Man hits Gogeta so hard that they go back to their timeline and then Gogeta’s lifetime runs out. Now they’re just Goku and Vegeta.
Then Vegeta says, “ALRIGHT, I’M DONE. NO MORE GAMES.” Vegeta runs at One-Punch Man and hits him, but he doesn’t move a bit. Then One-Punch Man hits Vegeta so hard that he falls. Then he gets up and says, “You f-f-f-fool.
Ahhahhaha!”
One-Punch Man starts to power up to UG (Ultra Ego), Goku goes MUI (Master Ultra Instincts), and then they use the fusion. Then they go into Gogeta MEI (Master Ego Instinct) and then One-Punch Man says, “Well then, let’s get this on.”
Gogeta says, “Well, yeah. I just need thirty minutes.”
One-Punch Man says, “OK, then let’s go.”
He keeps going and he hits One-Punch Man so hard that it sends him to the moon. Then Gogeta flies up. As he is flying he says,“KAAAAAMEEEEEEHAAAAAMEEEEHAA AAAAAAAAAA!”
It hits One-Punch Man and sends him flying through the moon’s core and back out the other side. One-Punch Man falls back onto the moon and then he gets up and says, “OK. Now let’s get this on.”
So he keeps at Gogeta and they are fighting. One-Punch Man hits Gogeta so hard that it sends him to the far side of the moon. Gogeta says to himself, Wow, One-Punch Man is good at this.
One-Punch Man thinks, Wow, he is good at this, but I have to keep going to go through my limits.
So they continue fighting and then One-Punch Man hits Gogeta so hard that it’s now Goku and Vegeta. Then Gohan comes and says, “Dad, Vegeta, are you OK?”
But Goku has little time left and Vegeta doesn’t either, so they both say, “Don’t hold back . . .”
Then they die. Gohan seeing his dad die is mad so he goes . . . beast mode.
“Gohan,” One-Punch Man says, “wait. I have seen this before.”
“Well then, let’s see what you get.”
One-Punch Man leaps at Gohan, but he does not move at all. Then Gohan kicks him far, so far that they are back on the moon. Then Gohan sees the Dragon Balls and says, “I can bring back my dad.” So he sings the Dragon Ball song and gets Goku and Vegeta back.
One-Punch Man says, “Well, that was a good fight. Let’s do it again sometime.”
Goku says, “Yeah.”
One-Punch Man says, “So—uhh—y’all want to go eat?”
They all say, “Yes, why not.”
Then they go out to eat.
SAMARIA TOWNSEND
Estabrook Elementary
Age 8
SOP h IA VS T h E G h OST Q u EEN
AN d k ING
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 doo-doo 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 a 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 to 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 . . .
JA’LIAH BOLDEN
Estabrook Elementary
Age 8
CATS AN d A SPI r IT w O r L d
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 vs. 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 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 orders the bird. “Chase them!” he said.
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 thought he had the necklace, but he dropped it on his way to his lair to do a magic spell. The rabbit grabbed the necklace and jumped into the black hole.
The bad thing is that the black hole wore off and the rabbit was 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.” The necklace released her mom. The family was all together again.
7 CUPS OF GOOD VIBES
STO r IES ABO u T k IN d NESS
LEONDRE HAMMOND
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 11
I LOVE CA r S
I explored the themes of hard work and kindness in “I Love Cars.” I was inspired to write this story because I love to write.
Dre goes to the car dealership to look for a new car. He wants a red 2024 Charger, but he doesn’t have enough money for it. He tries to make enough money to buy the car by going to work. He works hard as the boss of the hospital for four years and then he gets paid. He buys his dream house.
His dream house is a mansion with a four-car garage filled with his 2024 Charger, a 2019 Lamborghini, a Ram TRX, and a Mercedes. The house is all black and red. There is a very large yard and a pool with a hot tub. There is a garden full of fruit, flowers, bananas, corn, tomatoes, apples, pumpkins, and potatoes. There are a lot of plants in the garden. They are green with pink, red, and white flowers.
Dre has two pets, a dog and a cat. His dog is tiny and black. The dog’s name is Junior. The cat is gray and white with short hair; her name is Lilly. Dre feels good.
After all that happens, he gets bankrupted when he gets a mysterious call. They ask for all his information—his phone number, his house number, and his bank information.
Dre gives it to them.
When he goes to the store to get food, he realizes it when his card gets declined. So he goes to the bank and asks them about his money. They tell him someone mysterious had come there and gotten all of it out. Then he calls the cops. The cops say they are going to find out who did this, but they never do . . . until ten years later.
Finally, he gets everything he had back. He is so happy that he throws the best party in the world with ten-milliondollar magic. He invites hip-hop artists Pop Smoke and XXXTentacion to his party. He invites more people. He invites his mom, his dad, and all his family members. He even plays Pop Smoke and XXXTentacion’s song, “Moonlight.” Everybody was so happy, even his dog and cat.
Then, after the party, he gives away fourteen million dollars to the homeless. And then he meets a girl. They like each other, so they start dating.
Later, they have two twins named Leondre and Ava. So Dre goes to buy baby clothes for the babies. Then his mom and his dad come to see the two kids named Leondre and Ava.
And so, he gets everything he wanted—a car, a house, and pets. He is so happy that he starts giving away more money and starts a business. He has more workers, and he gives them clothes and somewhere to stay. He feels so happy because he helps the community out. Later, Dre is selected to be the president because he gave away fourteen million dollars to the homeless. And then his best friend gets selected to be the mayor.
JD FREEMAN
Estabrook Elementary
Age 9
T h E m AGIC
FOOTBALL PLAYE r S
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 each other. Hudson and Tommy are blocking each other: when one moves, the other moves. They take 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 are 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 to practice.
Chapter Two
A couple 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 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. 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, because the power of the three of them, holding hands at her gravesite, brought her back. But 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
Estabrook Elementary
Age 8
T h E m ONSTE r AN d T h E GI r L
“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 instead 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.
GENESIS THURMOND
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 12
m Y YEA r
To make my year a good year
I need 12 cups of happiness
5 cups of confidence
A teaspoon of sadness
7 cups of good vibes
3 spoonfuls of traveling
LYRIC MICKLES
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 12
m Y PE r FECT d AY r ECIPE
The ingredients: music, drawing, my favorite person, seeing my good grades, having sleep, eating food.
3 cups of music
⅓ cup of drawing
9 tsps. of seeing my favorite person
A dash of seeing my good grades
11 tbsps. of having sleep
¾ cup of eating food
Mix it all together, the perfect day.
I SMILED SO BIG
STO r IES ABO u T OVE r CO m ING
PRECIOUS WARD
Age 14
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
STA r 'S LIFE STO r Y
I explored the themes of bravery, fear, and love in my writing. I hope you as a reader think about the kindness, being a better friend, and bravery in my story “Star’s Life.” I was inspired to write this story because this story is a little bit about my life, and I wanted to show others how life can be hard and how people can be really nice to you
Hi, my name is Star. I’m fourteen years old and I want to be popular. I only have one friend. Her name is Maya. One day in class, Maya and I were talking when a popular girl named Liz said out loud to the whole class, “I’m having a sleepover at 5:30.”
I looked over at Maya and said, “I want to go to her sleepover.”
Maya gave me a look and said, “No, she doesn’t like you.”
When I got home I thought about how badly I wanted to go to Liz’s sleepover. I thought to myself, Maya might be right, Liz doesn’t like me at all. She is always mean to me for no reason, just because she’s popular.
The next day I asked Liz if I could come to her sleepover, but she just looked at me and said, “No, you’re just not cute enough to come to my sleepover.”
Students in the hall started to laugh at me, but one of the boys said in a low voice, “I think you’re cute.” I smiled so big; it made me so happy being called cute.
The next day at school I was a little sad, but the same boy who called me cute came up to me. His name was Iazah and he said, “You don’t have to be popular, just be yourself.”
After that, Iazah and I started to talk more outside of school, on the phone at night.
I liked Iazah so much because he was so sweet, kind, and loving. I was scared and was texting Iazah. I asked him out. He said yes!
The next day at school I looked for Iazah. I found him and gave him a big hug. We held hands while we walked to class.
One day this boy named Drew was messing with me, and I didn’t like that at all. I started to cry. Iazah saw me crying. When I went to take a break, Iazah was about to fight the boy who was messing with me because Iazah really cared. He didn’t like how he was doing those things to me. I started to smile because I never had someone do that for me before, and Iazah made me happy. People kept coming up to me asking me questions about what happened. I got mad. I didn’t like how they were doing that because I did nothing wrong. But Iazah was telling them to leave me alone. Now people at school were saying that Iazah cared about me. I started smiling and listening to my favorite music and reading my book. I was happy.
MARVEAH SHARP
Estabrook Elementary
Age 9
SO VE r Y h OT
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 go. 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’d 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. They 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 had 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.
NIAMA WEBB
Estabrook Elementary
Age 9
A d OG NA m E d 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 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.
TADARIOUS EDWARDS
Estabrook Elementary
Age 10
SPOO k Y m ONSTE r h O u SE
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.
As 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! Her mom came out and was shocked.
“OMG!” said her mom.
“Mom, it’s not what you think!”
“Wait, do not get her in trouble. I’m a good house,” said the house.
Then her mom let the house speak for a minute. The house grabbed her 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!” her mom said.
The police said, “You probably need a nap,” and they left.
Bria’s 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 her 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 IF MY FRIENDS THINK . . .
STO r IES ABO u T
u NLI k ELY F r IEN d S h IPS
AMARIA THOMAS
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 12
k IN d NESS
I explored the themes of kindness and friendship in my writing. I hope you as a reader think about what you share with people as you read “Kindness.” I was inspired to write this story because kindness is a thing everyone should use.
There was a girl named Mary. She was fourteen years old and she always told her mom she wanted to save the world with kindness. Her mom didn’t think she could do that, but she proved her mom wrong. She told her mom that she could spread kindness.
One day, Mary went to school and saw her friends, Cindy, Alex, and Ari. She told them what she wanted to do. They all looked at her and laughed. Cindy said, “Are you sure that’s going to work?’’
“YES, it’s going to work, Cindy,’’ Mary said with happiness.
Alex looked over to Ari and said, “I agree with Mary.”
Ari said, “Yeah, me too. I agree with Mary.’’
Cindy said, “Fine. I agree with Mary.”
So they all walked to class and sat down. The math teacher, Ms. Thomas, said, “Hello students, today we have a test.”
Mary looked excited for the test, but Ari was scared about it because she didn’t study for the test. She whispered to Mary,
“I didn’t study for the math test.”
“YOU DIDN’T STUDY FOR THE TEST?” Mary said loudly. “Alright students, here are your tests. Please get started,” Ms. Thomas said with a smile on her face. They began the test. Ari was working on her test and she asked the teacher if she could go to the bathroom. Ms. Thomas said OK, and then Ari saw Cindy in the bathroom.
“Oh—hi, Ari. Are you supposed to be in Ms. Thomas’s class for the test?” asked Cindy.
“Yeah, but I didn’t study for it,” Ari said with a sad face.
“If you didn’t study for the test, I can give you a cheat sheet, but don’t get caught.”
“Thank you so much, Cindy. You’re the best.”
With a big smile on her face, Ari walked back to class and sat down quietly. Mary looked at Ari and said, “What took you so long?”
“Shhh,” said Ari. She showed her the cheat sheet and Mary looked so surprised. She looked at Cindy and whispered to her with her face red. She said, “Did you give Ari a cheat sheet?”
Cindy said no, her face lying.
Ms. Thomas said, “Alright, students. It is time to be done with your tests.”
They all gave Ms. Thomas their tests with smiles on their faces. Cindy, Ari, and Alex all met up after class. Mary said, “Ari, why would you cheat? You could have asked me to help you study for the test. And Cindy,” Mary yelled, “why would you give her a cheat sheet? You’re a bad friend. I thought you were better than that.”
Alex said, “Guys, stop fighting. It is time for lunch.”
So they all walked to lunch and sat down. Mr. John called Cindy and Ari down to the office.
When they got there, Mr. John said, “Why are your
answers the same?”
Ari said, “I cheated on the test. I didn’t study for the test and Cindy gave me a cheat sheet.”
Mr. John, with a shocked face, said, “Is that true, Cindy?”
Cindy said, “Yes,” with a scared face.
Mr. John said, “I will be letting your mothers know, because cheating is not cool. Cindy, you were one of my favorite students. I really don’t want to call home, but I have to because that is not cool.”
They both went back to lunch and sat down.
Mary asked, “What happened?”
“We are getting calls home, all because it’s your fault, Cindy,” Ari said.
“Ari, no. It’s not my fault. It’s your fault for not studying for the test.”
Mary said, “STOP FIGHTING. It’s both of your faults. You guys did it to yourselves.”
Mary went home and went to her room. Her mom came in and said, “How was school, honey?”
Mary said, her face frightened, “It was OK.”
Her mom said, “Are you sure? You sound upset. Talk to me.”
Mary said, “Fine. My friends keep fighting and I don’t like to see my friends fighting. It hurts to see them argue.”
Mary’s mom said, “I know, honey, all friends are going to fight about things. There’s nothing you can do about it, really. But tell them to stop it! Anyway, dinner is done, come downstairs when you’re ready, OK?”
Mary said, “OK, I’m coming down.”
Her dad said, “Hey, how was school?”
Mary replied, “It was good. We had a test and I passed. I got an A+.”
Her dad, his face surprised, said, “That’s good, honey. Great job. We have to go get some ice cream.”
Mary said, “Sounds like a good plan, Dad.”
Mary’s mom said, “OK, you two. Enough with the laughing. It’s time for bed because Mary has school tomorrow.”
Mary replied, “OK, good night.”
The next day . . .
Mary’s mom woke her up for school. “Honey, wake up. It’s time for school.”
Mary said, “OK. I’m up.” She got up and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth.
Then Mary went to school and saw her friends.
Ari said, “Hey guys. Did you all get some sleep?”
Mary said, “Yes, I had a dream about being a superhero—a girl that spreads kindness to the world.”
Alex said, “Yes, it was okay.”
So they all went to class and Ms. Thomas said, “Hello students! Today we will be talking about what you want to be when you grow up.”
Mary was thinking about what Ms. Thomas said. She thought, What if people laugh at me? What would they think? What if my friends think it’s too kiddish?
When Ms. Thomas said it was time to share, Mary went first. “What I want to be when I grow up is a superhero that spreads kindness.”
Ms. Thomas said, with a big smile on her face, “That is a wonderful thing, Mary.”
Mary said, “Miss Thomas . . . oh, thank you.”
The bell rang and then they went to lunch. Somebody special came up to Mary and asked her if she wanted to participate in a movie by being an actress. The special person said they would pay her one thousand dollars if she would
go. She said, “Yeah.”
She got the part of a superhero who was spreading kindness. Her friends were cheering her on. “This is your opportunity!” said Ari.
“Remember when you were telling us that you wanted to be a superhero?” said Alex.
“I would do it, but I need to talk to my mom and dad,” said Mary.
She went home after school and it was dinner time. She told her mom and dad what the person had said. They were a little shocked about it, but agreed with her. So they let her do it.
Her first day was after school and she was a little nervous. She told herself, You can do it! This is a great opportunity for your family.
On the movie set, there was a director who came up and shook her hand and said, “Hi Mary. My name is Mr. Field and I will be your boss.”
“Hi,” said Mary.
They all got started on their parts. After rehearsal, Mary went home.
“How was your first day?” asked Mom.
“It was good,” said Mary.
After rehearsal the next day, there was a girl who came up to Mary. She was jealous and told Mary, “You will never be the dream that you wanted to be.”
“You don’t know that because you’re a bully and I’m not. I’m chasing my dream,” said Mary.
The bully rolled her eyes and walked away.
Then Ari and Alex came and got Mary to walk her home.
“What was that about?” Ari said.
“Oh, I don’t know. Just a bully who was trying to confront me,” said Mary.
Then they all laughed and walked home.
Months later . . .
They all had a celebration at the end of the movie she was in because Mary got paid ten thousand dollars for the part. She got older. She had kids and told her kids that when she was their age she’d played in a movie. One day, Mary heard a knock on the door. When she opened the door, it was an actor guy, Shawn.
“Hi Mary, I’m Shawn. I saw the movie you were in. It was so good,” said Shawn.
“Oh, thank you,” Mary said with a shocked face. She said to herself, I can’t believe I met an actor. With a smile on his face, Shawn said, “I know, it is exciting to meet you. I hope to see you around.”
“See you soon,” said Mary with a smile on her face.
ABDULLA ALADANI
Estabrook Elementary
Age 8
T h E 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. It flapped its wings at the kids. Then the kids ran away together and went to Rennie’s house to play Fortnite. The eagle went back to its 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.
JULIA KYAW
Estabrook Elementary
Age 9
SP r IN k LES AN d w ILLIA m
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 with 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.
WORLDS OUTSIDE OUR OWN
STO r IES ABO u T d ISCOVE r Y
LARRY HOLMES
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 11
NE w w O r L d
In this piece, Larry has crafted a story that features a journey through a beautiful but mysterious world. We hope this story inspires you to imagine the possibilities that lie beyond this world and question the things in our world that don’t seem right.
On a late night in December, a boy named Jimmy is at his family’s Christmas party. He goes to his room, closes his door, and falls asleep. When he wakes up, he is in a different world. It is so extraordinary; the nature is so beautiful.
And then, all of a sudden, Jimmy sees random people falling from the sky and he is wondering—where is he? He thinks back to the night he went to sleep and then he realizes he’s in a different world. Then the people also are wondering what he is thinking, and then they’re all confused and wondering—where are they really and why are they there?
AUBREY BURNS
Estabrook Elementary
Age 8
T h E m AGIC w O r L d
“Iwish I could be in a magic world!” Kaylee, a hybrid human-fox, said.
Kaylee fell in 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 said. 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 who is in black said.
“Ummmm. 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 left to get ice cream together. Kaylee left home feeling scared, but happy.
MINO CHAVEZSANDOVAL
Estabrook Elementary
Age 8
Thr EE dAYS BEFO r E Th E EA rTh Q u A k E
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 them 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. So 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 chases 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!
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 found a cure to fix all of the people who turned into creatures. But three days later the same people found 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.
HOWARD ALLEN
Estabrook Elementary
Age 9 (23 in 14 years)
m IC h AEL TIGE r 'S h O u SE
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 to 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. Dad went to the bathroom and when he turned on the light, the shower
curtain opened, and there was a zombie in the shower! Dad tried to wash his hands, but when he turned on the water, it was not water that came out! It was red!
Then Dad screamed. He yelled, “Help!”
The sister and mom said, “It’s not a monster. It’s fake.”
But when Mom went to open the toilet, it made scary sounds! So she called 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! Then she walked out of the bathroom. She was shaking and crying. Then the mom went into the second bathroom and she washed her hands. Then 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.
d ISCOVE r Y
Dear Reader,
Because this section is all about discovery, we’re wondering if you can discover the title of each of these poems. During our After-School Writing Lab we wrote these poems, then we played a game to guess the subject of each poem. See if you can figure them out!
You can check page 99 to see the answers!
LARRY HOLMES
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 11
A
Tasty, sweet
Straw on the back
Kids love it, very popular
Usually in schools, rectangle shaped, Hole on top, Comes in different flavors
PRECIOUS WARD
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 14
B
I’m sweet like candy, sweet like a boy can be sweet to you. I bake in the hot oven, coming out nice and thick. Sweet people only bring me on birthdays, Sometimes to school to give to others. When people are sad, others will give them a sweet treat, I can make them feel all better.
LEONDRE HAMMOND
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 11
C
It’s in the sky
Yellow and bright
It shines
On the ground
Like a circle
ERYNN STEWART
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 12
d
It’s as fluffy as clouds. It is super sweet and I enjoy its flavor. One time I said, “Does it really fly?” but when I threw it in the air it didn’t pass by. I was really sad and I wasn’t happy, but at night I slept and had my happy dream. In my dream I was filled with sweets and desserts, but when I woke up, I was hungry and it hurts.
CAN'T CATCH ME
STO r IES ABO u T FEA r
The student authors from our After-school Writing Lab at Ypsilanti Community Middle School started these stories, but you get to finish them! In this section, writers explore themes of fearing the unknown and what may be. Some of these stories are fully cooked, and some are story teasers. Use the lines after each story to create a unique ending that resolves the problem the author introduces.
LYRIC MICKLES
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 12
GIANT SPI d E r
Adrop of substance drips on a spider. Hours later it grows big as a building. News reports claim that there’s a giant spider in the city. Kids start to panic while parents don’t believe it until they see it, but one parent walks out the door and screams so loud it could crack windows. The parent posts it on the internet. Now everyone is panicking. Houses go into lockdown. When one person looks out the window, they see the giant spider eat a whole car . . .
GENESIS THURMOND
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 12
EXPAN d ING
As it gets bigger and bigger—expanding—everyone is scared, but still crowds it. But as that bug moves, everyone screams and tries to run from it. People are calling the exterminator or are trying to step on it. But no luck ahead. Soon the bug is on the news. As people all over the world hear about the huge bug, the exterminators try taking it somewhere, but that does not help. They can barely lift one of its legs. At 1:00 a.m. the bug gets so huge, it eventually has too much pressure and pops. But now we have another problem—who’s going to clean up this mess?
ELYNN LEWIS
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 12
F r O m d O w NSTAI r S
“Sarah!” I heard my mom yell from downstairs. I rolled my eyes, closing my laptop as I walked out of my room.
“Yes, mama!?” I yelled as I looked at the end of the staircase, seeing my mother’s head peeking out at me.
Before I could walk downstairs, I felt something pull me into a room behind me. As my breath hitched and I turned around, I saw . . . my mom? I stood there, shaking as my mom shakily whispered, “I heard it too . . .”
BATOULE BOUCETTA
Estabrook Elementary
Age 8
A m A d 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 because 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.
“Mahahahahahaha,” 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.
TA’MARION SMITH REEDER
Estabrook Elementary
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 in the volcano, into the house, and ate him. Then he popped out a tail and started 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 in the volcano. “Aaaaaaaa!” 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. Ate in one bite. I had a good dinner. I need a nap. ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz.
FIGHT SOME MONSTERS
STO r IES ABO u T GOO d VS EVIL
ETHAN ADKINS
Ypsilanti Community Middle School
Age 13
A r ISE
I explored the themes of pride, good vs. evil, and greed in my writing. I hope you as a reader think about how to better yourself, and if you feel a situation is dangerous (like a fight against ancient beings), call someone. I was inspired to write this story because of anime.
This is a continuation of Ethan’s story, originally published in 826michigan’s 2024 publication, Otherworldly Pursuits at the Dawn of Future Horizons.
So he and his friends start walking toward Mount Olympus to face the next god. Time in the dungeon moves differently; five minutes is equal to five days, and five hours is equal to five years. Zack spent three hours in there. Zack thinks back to the note and realizes that he’ll have to fight soon, since it’s close to New Year’s.
They make it to Mount Olympus and there’s Zeus, who is the strongest of the gods. The final fight begins. During the fight, Zeus and Zack both get severely wounded, but Zack thinks back to his hard times and every other opponent he’s had to face. With that, Zeus starts getting weaker due to his extremely old age, and by the time the fight’s over, Zack comes out victorious. He decides to bury him on Mount Olympus to show his respect to his strongest opponent. Right after the burial, a figure jumps down with golden
hair, red tattoos, and a black-and-red sword. The same sword that has the note on it. Zack then realizes his final opponent is here and the fight begins. During the fight, Zack learns his name, Gilgamesh, and Zack uses that to his advantage, but he can’t remember the stories about him. He realizes that he has to get stronger in the fight if he wants to win.
He channels all his energy into one final act. He flies in the air with both daggers raised. “I AM ATOMIC!
Maximum output!”
His journey has come to an end. He’s risen above all and claimed the sword of Gilgamesh, the king of heroes, yet he can’t read the name of the sword because it’s in a language he can’t understand.
He decides to finally settle down and have one son. That is the story of the hero named Zack.
NATE WR.
Estabrook Elementary
Age 9
BEING F r IEN d LY
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.
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.
JA’DEYA REED
Estabrook Elementary
Age 9
ZA r I AN d T h E T hr EE BEA r S
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 a 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 the house. 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 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. 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 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 then 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 through the window. 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 then she grabbed some berries and lured the bears outside, and 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!
APPENDIX
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Did you hear? We are delighted to share the work of these talented young authors from across the Ypsilanti community. This publication would not be possible without the brilliance and dedication of the following school staff, community partners, program leaders, and volunteers.
Estabrook Writing Lab
Ypsilanti Community Middle School Writing Lab
Caitlin Koska, Teaching Artist
Volunteers
Nora Brockwell
Megan Marquardt
Janet Goldwasser
School Staff & Administration
Principal Ryan Johnson
Jennifer Gray
Angela Stewart
Alex Hands
Volunteers
Megan Marquardt
Maya Welch
Joel Klomega
Molly Jendryka
School Staff & Administration
Principal Charles Davis
Jibril Naeem
Special gratitude is extended to our lead teacher partners at both sites: Jibril Naeem at YCMS and Jennifer Gray at Estabrook. We could not do any of what we do without amazing collaborators like you.
Community Partners
Chanel Marshall-Sewell, Bright Futures Site Coordinator
Suzie Staley, Bright Futures Executive Director
R.J. Quiambao, Bright Futures Assistant Director
826michigan gratefully recognizes the following supporters for their gifts for the 2024–25 school year:
Lead supporters:
Russell Family Foundation
Additional supporters:
Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, including the African American Endowment Fund
Old National Foundation
Washtenaw County Office for Community & Economic Development
We also wish to gratefully acknowledge this year’s key supporters of our Ypsilanti and Washtenaw County–based work:
Galens Medical Society
Hawkins Project
James A. and Faith Knight Foundation
Leinweber Foundation
May Family Foundation
Michigan Arts & Culture Council
The Robbins Family Fund
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.
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
826mIChIGAN—ThE POwEr OF STOrY
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 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. 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.
by Gerald Richards, CEO
