FastForward | November - December 2022

KATE DICAMILLO A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

MICHAEL CUDLITZ 3,2,1! BEHIND THE CAMERA

ALAN GRATZ STRIVING TO CHANGE HEARTS & MINDS

TAM VALLEY SCHOOL

Annmarie Padilla, Teacher STUDENT COUNCIL

As members of the Tam Valley Student Council, we work to unite our school. Student Council orga nizes and carries out school activ ities such as spirit Fridays; which includes getting the school together to play fun games with students and staff. Our goal is to make students feel happy and welcome on cam pus. In addition to planning events that contribute to school spirit, the student council is the voice of the whole school. They come to meet ings sharing out things that are for the betterment of our school com munity and develop plans to make things better.

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For

story,

interviewed CNN re porter Zain Asher. Zain shared her humble be ginnings while growing up in West Africa. She explained how her mom motivated her to focus on what she could become in life, what she could achieve and how she could help others.

We interviewed actor Michael Cudlitz, who told us that growing up was hard for him and acting helped him “disappear into his own mind and enter into fantastical worlds of storytelling.”

We interviewed authors Kate DiCamillo and Alan Gratz who told us if we want to be authors, we must “read, read, read.” Kate emphasized to “pay attention, keep a journal and write!”

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EDITORS: Britta Esmail and Maxine Duzgunes

STUDENT EDITOR: Emerson Swift

CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS/WRITERS: Sammy Ariyoshi, Zoe Bailey, Tessa Bailey, Elena Basso, Cobe Benjamin, Brendan Benz, Elsa Block, Nathan Breen, Taryn Bryan, Tony Caputo, Nicholas Chin, Malhar Dev, Declan Drey, Keira Eisenbud, Anya Esmail, Ryan Gamblin, Adam Garcia, Morgan Groziano, Quon Ha, Burke Hadd, Kyla Handley, Angelina Hellmold, John Hishmeh, Harita Kalvai, Porter Klock, Marguerite Waldman-Kaufman, Audrey Lowell, Sarah Mondesir, David Pass, Ollie Jenkins, Leila Moaveni, Semira Robinson, Sam Rivero, Sydney Ryssemus, B.T. Salle-Widelock, Emerson Swift and Maddie Wafer

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS: Zoe Albukerk, Cat Argawal, Eloise Beckwith, Kip Cashen, Anna Culpert, Avery Dalton, Stela Dimatteo, Sarah Dolan, Laird Forbes, Jake Tangtrongsakdi Falkow, Will Gracey, Sophia Iannuccillo, Kyle Kravik, Siena Moglen, Reyna Nagpal, Allegra Rodriguez, Brooke Stimson, Morgan Taylor, Tatiana Ting, Italia Tinnel, Maddie Wafer, Ellie Webb and Addison Winship

Chase Faber Marguerite Walden-Kaufman

Tessa Bailey

Kiera Eisenbud

B.T. Salle-Widelock

Elsa Block

Audrey Lowell

Sarah Mondesir

Malhar DevAnya Esmail

Semira Robinson

Emerson Swift EDITOR

Harita Kalvai

Zoe Bailey

Nicholas Chin Camron McDonald

SHINING A LIGHT

A CNN Reporter Striving to Ensure Africa has a Seat at the Global Table

BY MAXINE FLASHER-DUZGUNES MALHAR DEV SARAH MONDESIR KIERA EISENBUD and TESSA BAILEY

Marin School of Environmental Education and Mill Valley Midde Schools

Zain

Asher is a British Nigerian news anchor at CNN International, based in New York City. She currently anchors the network’s primetime, global news show, One World with Zain Asher airing weekdays at 12pm ET. Her memoir Where the Children Take Us was published by HarperCollins in April 2022. Her journalistic career really began studying abroad in Mexico for a local English language newspaper which led her to pursue journalism as a career. Asher met with FastForward recently to discuss her career and the craft of reporting.

ZAIN ASHER STRIVES TO BRING AWARENESS INTO HOUSEHOLDS AROUND THE WORLD

“It’s important to hold those in power to account because we must give a voice to those who don’t have one,” says CNN Anchor Zain Ejiofor Asher, host of her own show on CNN International, One World with Zain Asher airing week days. In spring 2013, 10-year-old Sarah Murnaghan from Pennsylvania needed a lung transplant after being on the organ donor waiting list for 18 months. An arbitrary ruling in the United States transplant policy stated that children would be last in line for adult lungs re gardless of the severity of their illness. At the time Murnaghan was suffering from Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disorder that damages the lungs, digestive tract, and other essential organs. She had only two weeks left to survive but was two years too young to receive a donor lung in time because of an arbitrary law pre venting her. So, Asher decided to cover the story. And in just one phone call, she was able to draw media attention to Murnaghan’s case. Public pressure led to the law being changed, and with it Murnaghan’s survival.

“That was the first time I saw that having this microphone, having this megaphone, having this platform, was actually powerful enough to save some body’s life,” Asher says.

She began her journalism career studying abroad in Mexico, where she worked for a local English-language newspaper called The Guadalajara Colony Reporter. She found the changing day-to-day duties of reporting exhila rating and soon became determined to turn it into a professional career.

She soon bought a one-way ticket to New York to attend Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

“My family is originally from Nigeria, in West Africa,” she says. “And because of that, it just became a little bit more natural for me to be curious in terms of news coverage about that part of the world.” She found that networks like CNN International as well as the BBC were spotlighting Africa more than other Western mainstream media, chal lenging the widespread stereotypes that the continent is only a place of violence and poverty. “One of the things that we strive to do is to make sure that Africa has an equal seat at the global table,” she says. “We all have cell phones. There is a mineral in cell phones known as Columbite /Tantalite. It’s responsible for improving a cellphone’s audio quali ty. That, along with gold, diamonds, and oil, are other natural resources found in Africa. “Africa is a prominent part of the daily lives of ordinary Americans; it’s everywhere, but yet nowhere,” Asher says. Her show works to bring that awareness into households all over the world, convincing them that Africa is partly responsible for the Western way of life.

The show itself is 45 minutes. “It’s rapid fire. You only have a limited amount of time. And you’ve got to appeal to a broad audience,” she says. Around 7:15 in the morning, Asher meets with her producers via Zoom. Her main Producer will coordinate with the bookers concerning who the guests will be, principals who are directly affect

ed by the story CNN is covering. The principal is often the person whom the audience wants to hear from but getting them on the show can sometimes be extremely difficult. For example, firsthand accounts can give the network a bit more color about an incident, even though it can be tricky not entangling personal emotions like grief or anger in a TV interview. In the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas this past May, Asher describes how it was important for her team to give grieving parents space, but it was also important to receive “accounts from people on the ground who were willing to talk about the police response, or lack thereof. ” If not a principal, bookers will find an expert in the field who is employed by CNN as a sort of analyst. With an expert, “you get much more than you would say in a newspaper, because, Asher says, you’re speaking to someone whose job it is to understand the issue inside out. For her entire team though, “it’s just about waking up and really trying to stay across absolutely everything.” And that’s why the job of the writers is also indispensable because their job is to frame the story. “The writer now has to figure out: how do I whittle all of that in formation down into just 50 seconds of copy for my anchor to read?” And from there it’s about distilling the main head line. Asher describes the newsroom as “a really beautiful ecosystem where we all work together…It’s very collabora tive, very egalitarian…Everybody’s ideas are equally valid.”

At first, it was a learning curve for

“It’s important to hold those in power to account because we must give a voice to those who don’t have one.”

Asher moving from a local network to an international one. Instantly, she felt like she needed to be an expert in global politics. “I wrote down a list of countries across the world that I figured were most likely to be featured on CNN International,” she says. “And I began buying books about these countries and studying them, just so that when a new story happened in these parts of the world, I had a basic foundation of under standing about their economies, politics and culture.”

What remains challenging for Asher is covering heartbreaking stories daily. “A lot of the anchors on the network, were in tears [during CNN’s coverage of the Uvalde school massacre], because any human being just hearing that sto ry, it is absolutely gut wrenching what those families went through.” In refer ence to watching the nine-minute video of George Floyd being murdered, Asher reports that “it felt as though somebody was kneeling on my neck actually, or it felt as though someone was kneeling on my son’s neck, or my cousin’s neck, or my aunt or uncle’s neck.” It’s very hard to remain objective in moments like these, especially now that racial issues

of her life and made her reconsider how she spent her spare time. “Knowing where I wanted to go,” she says, “CNN was always a dream of mine, so I really put that into practice.” She admits there are benefits to sacrifice that must occur in the early stages of life that pay off in adulthood.

Her mother’s parenting style was what influenced her memoir Where the Children Take Us (HarperCollins 2022) about a widowed immigrant from Nige ria raising a CNN Anchor, an Oscar nom inated actor, a doctor, and a successful entrepreneur in London. Each book chapter encompassed one of the distinct teaching methods her mother would use, including the eight-hour rule. “One thing that she used to do when we were younger, was she would look for black success stories,” Asher begins. “In the newspaper, anytime she found an arti cle about a black person or a West Af rican person who had done something extraordinary in their lives, or who had overcome something and thrived, she would cut it out. And she would plaster it to our walls, just so that every time we came home, we would just see image after image of people who looked like

requires not only the drive for the pro fession but first and foremost the drive to be human.

The Marin County Free Library’s Mission is to provide welcoming, equitable and inclusive oppor tunities for all to connect, learn and explore. A core strategy to achieve our Mission is providing resources and information that will help our community learn about and more deeply engage in racial equity.

Visit: marinlibrary.org

involving shootings of unarmed black men has become more prominent in American news coverage.

“As a black journalist, it’s impossible to disentangle your emotions from the story. It becomes very, very personal and it becomes difficult to cover. You feel weighed down and your heart is heavy going to work every single day.”

Asher emphasizes that being a jour nalist is also about being a human first. She grew up with a strict but loving mother whose most memorable piece of wisdom was to separate the day into three equal parts of eight hours each: “Eight hours should be spent sleeping, eight hours should be spent at school and the last eight hours of your day should be spent working towards your dreams.” This stuck with Asher for most

us, who were excelling in their chosen fields, who were in positions of author ity. And that really helped change the perception we had of ourselves.”

Another resonant memory was when Asher was 13 and she came home to find her bedroom mirror missing. “In its place, my mom had stuck all these different articles of successful, extraor dinary black people. And when I asked my mother, where’s my mirror, she looked at me and she said…less focus on how you look, more focus on what you can become.” Asher believes that what her mother did for her family, a person can do for themselves. Her book serves as a sort of thank you to her mother for her teachings but also as an offering of hope for anyone struggling. The lineage of success is not passed along easily and

As a black journalist, it’s impossible to disentangle your emotions from the story. It becomes very, very personal and it becomes difficult to cover. You feel weighed down and your heart is heavy going to work every single day.

“

— Zain Asher

Marin Horizon School

Marin Horizon’s Green Team led a series of triumphant events — the Green Fashion Show, the Zero Waste Spirit Day, and multiple trash audits that taught all of us to adopt greener lunch habits. For the Green Fashion Show, middle school teams created articles of clothing out of trash and/or recycled materials. On Zero Waste Spirit Day, we created activities for younger students to help them become more environmentally conscious. During trash audits, we sorted a section of the school’s trash into landfill, recycling, and compost. We weighed each section of waste in a bucket and then subtracted the weight of the bucket. Later, we organized the data into a spreadsheet and shared it with all of the middle school. Our efforts resulted in our school’s Zero Waste Certification for the 2021-2022 school year, an honor that we will strive for again this year.

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Written By Marin Horizon Green Team: Claire Fraser, Divya Parpia, Gracie MacDonald, Mia Terfort

TULE ELK

By Harita Kalvai Marin School of Environmental Leadership, Senior

f you’ve been to Point Reyes, you can at test to the fact that it is one of the prettiest plac es in Marin — gaping cliffsides dotted with green grass, fire-col or poppies, and the blue ocean extending far past what our eyes can see. Nature aficionados might take the scenic drive to Point Reyes to go birding, spend time in the water, and take in all the flora and fauna they possibly can. There’s no doubt that Point Reyes is a nature lovers’ sanctuary. But as peaceful as it can be, there are huge environmental and ecological conflicts threat ening the beauty and lush ecosystem of the region. Most notably: What do we do about the tule elk?

For those who might not have encountered a tule elk, they are species that can only be found in Cal ifornia. Large, brown, deerlike creatures with ant lers that can extend to almost four feet (!) The elk are endemic to Northern California, and nature enthusi asts flock to catch a sighting.

Not everyone is happy about the elk, though.

Point Reyes is as much of an agriculture community as it is a nature hub and is home to thousands of cattle. Many agricultural businesses in Marin are against the elk, as they compete for resources with the cattle. In The Sierra Club’s article titled “On the California Coast, it’s cattle versus elk,” the National Park Service’ proposed solution to the elk versus cattle battle is extreme, to say the least. It’s stated that “The NPS plan pro poses shooting up to fifteen elk each year to keep the pop ulation of the elk herd at 120, the highest number of elk Park Service ecologists say could share forage with existing cat tle.” (Steinbauer, James). Due to disease, these elk cannot be

relocated, and thus, killing off one of Northern California’s endemic species is the only way to keep the cattle and elk population regulated and healthy.

Environmentalists argue that getting rid of the elk for the sake of cattle growth just doesn’t make sense, considering that they are endemic and can only be found in our local region. However, many still support regulation — for dif ferent reasons. Local Birder and Environmentalist Joseph Zeno states, “The elk have no natural predator in Point Reyes anymore. They have no natural regula tion. So, while I don’t think it’s necessarily bad to regulate their populations, we should not do so for the sake of cattle.”

Joseph continues, “The cows need to go. They destroy the landscape and don’t contribute positively to the environment in any way. It’s good to regulate the elk, as too many elk will end up eating native plant growth — such as the Willows, which could be extirpated. That is also a detriment to the Point Reyes ecosys tem. But we should be regulating the elk population for the sake of the environ ment — NOT for the sake of the cattle.”

In nature, it’s important to hold a balance between species. It is important not to disrupt the balance that the earth has created, as everything has its right place and use. By killing tule elk for the sake of cattle, we are disrupting the natu ral order of things. We are disrupting our environment for the sake of business es. Marin is known for its nature, for its thriving ecosystems and biodiversity — and by letting the cattle population thrive, we are getting rid of one of the traits that defines Marin — its nature. Our environment is sacred, and we need to up hold its standards for future generations to come. We must uphold a balance.

For more info on tule elk at Point Reyes visit: https://wildlife.ca.gov and/or https://www.nps.gov

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What is the Purpose of Education?

By B.T. Salle-Widelock, Archie Williams High School, Senior

hat is the pur pose of educa tion? In Amer ica, school experiences can vary significantly between districts. People view schools through the lens, good or bad, that they developed in their thirteen years of school. One of the most common criti cisms of public schools is that they aren’t effective at teaching students. Studies of basic knowledge that show embarrassing results for the average American are used to demonstrate a failure of schooling. On the surface, this seems to be a fair argument. The crucial flaw is that it assumes a pur pose for schools that is incomplete. These

wcriticisms assume that an ideal student will graduate high school with an encyclopedic knowledge of the arts and sciences. Howev er, we can’t only analyze school through the lens of hard facts learned. Our memories work in ways that are not fully understood, but generally, we keep the things that we deem most important, the things that are heard or seen repeatedly. If a piece of in formation is used every day, such as a pass word, it will stick with us, sometimes un intentionally. It is ridiculous to expect that after going years without ever finding use for geography or trigonometry, a person will be able to remember these skills. The habits they developed to originally learn these things, though, will stick. Learning to overcome difficulties, persevering, col laborating, and accepting setbacks are all

Our Greatest Engineering Challenge

greatly helpful for future success in life. Ideally, the greatest challenges a young per son will face will be academic. School forc es students to face failure and overcome it. Even besides the habitual benefits, school provides an invaluable social development space. In schools, kids get to spend hours out of their day interacting with peers, making friends, and learning basic deco rum. Education is completely intertwined with the experience we call growing up. In the modern American world, a major part of a person’s childhood will be spent at school or doing school related activi ties. Even if we forget every in-class lesson ever taught, this social element still gives schools an immeasurable value. We would do well to remember this before lashing out at teachers and our education system.

By Malhar Dev, Marin School of Environmental Leadership, Senior

It is often said that the world runs on the backs

of engineers. While this adage is some what overblown, historical records show that engineers and scientists have been the primary forces behind much, if not all of humanity’s technological progression throughout time. As someone with a long time passion for engineering and a history of undertaking engineering projects of various natures, my mind has often wan dered to the topic of how engineers could tackle the largest problems the world fac es. In this vein, the National Academy of Engineering has created a list of 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st century, which have been judged to be the most important challenges or problems for engineers to solve. These include the personalization of learning methods and development of new medicines, amongst various others. While I believe all of the challenges presented are relevant to the advancement of humanity, in my opinion there is one that stands head and shoul ders above the rest. I believe the challenge of providing energy through nuclear fu sion to the world is the most relevant and important of those listed for the future and technological advancement of human ity.

Nuclear fusion is the process of creat ing energy through the fusion of atomic

nuclei. It is the method through which the Sun generates heat and light, and scientif ic efforts to replicate it here on Earth rep resent one of humanity’s most ambitious leaps forward yet. Fusion occurs under massive amounts of pressure and heat, which compress the nuclei (the center of an atom) of certain atoms together to cre ate different nuclei, releasing energy. The single proton nuclei of two hydrogen iso topes, for example, are fused together to create the heavier nucleus of helium and a neutron. In that conversion, a tiny amount of mass is lost, being transformed into en ergy. Because these massive amounts of pressure cannot be replicated on Earth, the temperature under which such fusion occurs must be increased massively to cre ate the necessary conditions. The energy produced by fusion comes in the form of heat, which in fusion power plants, would be used to generate electricity. Nuclear fusion is mainly considered viable due to the massive amounts of energy that can be generated due to the technology, as well as very ample fuel supplies. The specific chal lenge of relevance is to find ways to scale up the fusion process to a level where it would be commercially viable, in an efficient, economical, and environmentally friend ly way. I believe providing energy through nuclear fusion has the potential to slow the progression of climate change and move the needle for the usage of sustainable technologies throughout the world.

The prospect of fusion power becoming

a viable energy alternative would have re sounding impacts throughout many of the systems in place today. The prospect of a readily available and consistent alterna tive to fossil fuels would lead to massive amounts of investment in the building of fusion reactors and infrastructure. It would also create new jobs, from the cre ation of facilities devoted to the creation of the fuels needed for fusion reactions to the maintenance of the reactors themselves.

In addition, the fact that fusion reactors are so consistent and versatile gives them a leg up over other renewable energy sourc es, such as solar and wind power. Nuclear fusion plants could be built and operated all over the world, meaning the demand for fossil fuels would reduce drastically. The widespread availability of fusion en ergy would also mean that energy prices would drop massively, incentivizing the usage of technological solutions that use electricity rather than fossil fuels. This would lead to many green technologies be coming more viable, such as electric cars and public transportation.

I believe the potential impacts of the ad vent of fusion power technology would go a long way towards altering the course of cli mate change, reducing the amount of car bon emitted into the atmosphere massive ly, paving the way for a sustainable future.

For info: www.engineeringchallenges.org www.livescience.com or www.Space.com www.sciencefocus.com

WRITER: EMERSON SWIFT, TAMALPAIS HIGH SCHOOL, FRESHMAN REPORTERS: NICHOLAS CHIN, ANYA ESMAIL, CAMERON COLLMAN, RONAN CORBIT AND AUDREY LOWELL MILL VALLEY MIDDLE SCHOOL, SACRED HEART PREPARATORY AND TAMALPAIS HIGH SCHOOLS

Michael Cudlitz’s of fice shelf is deco rated with fun trin kets exemplary of a passionate acting career, including the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Support ing Actor in a Drama Series. He loves his custom Funko Pop dolls of the Abraham Ford character he portrayed in The Walk ing Dead (2010). We spoke with Michael and his wife Rachael and they showed us their fan art collection. Their warm wel come and down to earth nature and de meanor felt like we were in a scene sitting right in their living room.

Scene 1 Take 1

Young Michael always had a deep love for acting but wasn’t sure it would become a reality. Starting in third grade, he par ticipated in plays but was discouraged to pursue the art because very few people could make a living with it. Michael grew up in a blue-collar household, living on welfare and food stamps while his parents worked multiple jobs. To earn money, Mi chael worked in construction but did not give up his dream of acting and enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts where he met his wife Rachael. Band of Brothers (2001) was his first big film and allowed him to transition into full-time acting.

Scene 1 Take 2

Growing up, acting was an escape for Mi chael from his home situation. It helped

film. They’re all just storytelling. We need stories.”

Scene 2 Take 3

“My favorite part about acting is that it doesn’t seem like a job. I get to do something that I love—like, really, really love,” Michael said. Michael has acted in 49 movies and 15 TV shows. His favorite roles were John Coo per in Southland (2009) and Denver Randle man in Band of Brothers because he was involved in the creative process and it was culturally significant. “These were projects that not only entertained, but changed ev eryone involved with it,” he said. Rachael added, smiling, “As somebody who has the opportunity to watch him at home, those are the two projects that he was consistent ly excited about. He not only enjoyed play ing the roles and doing the research, but really loved the people he worked with.”

Scene 2 Take 5

Stage fright, or camera-fright, is something that Michael experiences a lot. He said that being on stage and being on a film set are very different but both can make you ner vous. But he never shies away from a chal lenge and instead uses this adrenaline as a tool to push himself into a performance.

“Every first day on the job can be scary, just like the first day of school,” he said. “If you’re not looking at this experience as a completely new endeavor and something that you’re excited about, I don’t think you should be doing it.”

5-Minute Touch-Up for Hair and Make up.

Quick Script Edit

Another way Michael connects with his characters is by tapping into the pie chart of his personality. He finds what he has in common with them, then magnifies that quality. This becomes the center of his character’s personal ity and voila: “There’s always an anchor in your character, and that anchor is you,” he said.

Credits

Michael’s advice for younger and aspir ing actors is to keep yourself around positive people. Many people in the world will tell you “No. That’s part of the process. Commit to whatever you’re doing and trying to do and be the best at it in that given moment.

Embrace your uniqueness and say, ‘I’m gonna do it in a way that they’ve never seen.’ You got to follow your heart. But you have to be wise about it.” Michael reminds young actors that devotion to acting is driven by the love of it, which sometimes gets overshadowed by the competitive aspect, like the Oscars.

Coming Soon . . .

Michael and Rachael are working to gether for the first time to produce a short film of Rachael’s short story. Mi chael will be behind the scenes, direct ing. “It’s a period piece that takes place during the gold rush,” they shared. “It’s a story about hope.” 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . Cut!

him disappear into his own mind and enter into fantastical worlds of storytell ing. Acting puts people in all these valid places—dangerous, safe, joyful, sad—and they help you grow up, he said. Because he experienced it himself, Michael thinks it is especially important for children to express themselves through acting. “Act ing gives you permission to be whatever you want to be, or sad, mad, or funny, like a clown.” Underneath the surface acting is about storytelling. He shared, “It’s like any other art form: music, poetry, dance,

— Michael Cudlitz, Actor

Michael gets into his characters through hair and makeup styling. Regardless of how helpful it can be, there have been some in stances where Michael has had to keep his character’s physical appearance off-cam era. For example, when he played Abraham Ford in The Walking Dead, he had to sport his bright-orange hair and his “ridiculous Fu Manchu mustache” for four and a half years. When in between acting jobs, Mi chael grows out his hair and beard so he can be ready to play any part—including changes in his appearance like cutting his hair or dying it.

“Every first day on the job can be scary, just like the first day of school. If you’re not looking at this experience as a completely new endeavor and something that you’re excited about, I don’t think you should be doing it.”

Art Gallery

Brooke Stimson Senior, Marin Academy

Sophia Iannuccillo, Senior, Marin Academy

Peter Walker’s art students — Marin Academy

Jake Tangtrongsakdi Falkow Junior, Marin Academy

Reyna Nagpal, Senior, Marin Academy

Eloise Beckwith Senior, Marin Academy

Addison Winship, Senior, Marin Academy

Cat Argawal Senior, Marin Academy

Zoe Albukerk Junior, Marin Academy

The author as a child

Kate DiCamillo

A Light In the Darkness, an Interview with Kate DiCamillo

WRITER:

SWIFT

WINTHROP, ZOE BAILEY, TESS BAILEY,

CHIN, CAMERON LINEHAN, AUDREY LOWELL AND SEMIRA ROBINSON

Mill Valley Middle, Phillips Academy Andover, Sacred Heart Preparatory, Tamalpais High and Sidwell Friends Schools

Alittle girl lies in her hospital bed in Philadelphia, wood en animals from a red-net bag spread out before her on the bed sheets. Across from her, her father asks, “Can you tell me a story?” He waited patiently for his daughter’s imagination to soar. Despite her illness, she could tell a story. As she did, the toy animals around her came alive. At the end of the story, the animals turned back into their frozen, wooden shapes. The girl gazed into her father’s gleaming eyes. The girl is Kate DiCamillo. To this day, she remembers this precious and rare moment in her childhood with her father who was otherwise absent, “Even though I was sick, I felt seen.”

Kate DiCamillo’s battle with chronic pneumonia affected her childhood in many ways, including extended school absences. Her imagination came alive through sto rytelling. Before her diagnosis, she strug gled with reading. The phonics approach, associating sounds with alphabetic letters, didn’t make any sense to Kate. After school her mother quizzed her with flashcards until she had memorized them. Her mother instilled Kate’s love of books by reading to her, taking her to the library, and buying books. Once Kate was hooked on reading, there was no stopping her. “I knew books were what I needed,” Kate says. Reading helped her cope with her illness and “push back against the darkness.” If Kate could tell her 10-year-old-self anything, she’d say, “You don’t need to be so afraid. You’re much stronger than you think you are.” When asked about why so many of her teen characters come from difficult back grounds, she draws from her own tough upbringing in Florida. As a single parent her mother was tight-lipped about why her father had left. Uncertainty took an emo tional toll that seeped into her stories. “It always bothered me reading a story where everything was perfect,” Kate says. In her mind this kind of happiness wasn’t realis tic. Kate saw the world differently. “Charac ters have had hard times, but they’ve also overcome those hard times.”

Throughout school, Kate immersed herself in reading. In college at the Univer sity of Florida, Kate majored in English so she could read more. When her professors recommended graduate school because she was gifted with words, Kate considered becoming a writer, but didn’t commit to writing until she was 30 years old. That’s when she began “sitting down, doing the work, and writing every day,” Kate says. “There was the power to become myself through words. To me, that’s the biggest

Want to be an author?

My first piece of advice is read as much as you can. Second, find a way to do some writing. It doesn’t have to be two pages at five o’clock in the morning. It’s a different journey for everybody but find a way to commit to doing the actual writing. Three, carry a notebook with you. The notebook is, to me a reminder that it’s my job to keep everything open my eyes and my ears, and my heart and my brain. Everything, everything, everything.

power of all.”

At 58, Kate DiCamillo has black and circu lar Harry Potter glasses and shoulder-length wavy, silver hair. She’s published over 25 books and was, among others, awarded two Newbery Medals for The Tale of Despereaux and Flora & Ulysses (both of which have been adapted into films). How, you wonder, does she come up with so many different and creative ideas for all her tales? It could be a character name, an image, or a couple of words that sow a seed. Kate carries a notebook everywhere she goes to jot things down to come back to later. She knows that with this small piece of inspiration, it’s her job to figure out the story. She never has “plot ideas” where the whole story is set in stone from beginning to end right off the bat. Kate likes coming upon a “strange confluence of things like a squirrel and a vacuum cleaner,” Kate says, referring to Flora & Ulysses, in her daily life.

Look at the world around you and listen to people when they talk, Every one has s a story. Eavesdrop. Join in conversations. Ask questions and pay attention to the answers.

And then tell the adults not to tell you to become a lawyer because if you have a verbal facility, a lot of times that’s what they’ll say, ‘Why don’t you become a lawyer? It’s like, “No, I want to be a writer. So be persistent. Don’t let anybody else tell you that this is not the thing for you to do.

Once she’s found her inspiration, Kate writes. She wakes up at 5 a.m., pours herself a cup of coffee, and writes two pages before she can talk herself out of them and before her inner critic wakes up at 9 a.m. “That’s how I make my way through the first draft of a novel—two pages at a time,” Kate says. Many of Kate’s books feature animal protago nists. Growing up with books like Paddington by Michael Bond, The Mouse and the Motor cycle by Beverly Cleary, and Stuart Little by E. B. White shaped her inspiration to write from an animal point of view. “As readers, we are much more inclined to let our guard down for an animal protagonist than we are sometimes for humans,” Kate says. “We open our hearts more easily and it’s a fast way to get to the emotional depth of a story.”

Every one of her characters has a little bit of herself in them. It wasn’t until 2016, when she wrote about a girl named Raymie who would enter a beauty contest and mess it up. Kate set out to write a lighthearted and funny book, but as she dived into how Raymie’s father left. She realized that there was something bigger going on. “I was writing about myself,” Kate says. Raymie was young Kate: worried, paying attention to everything, wildly hopeful, and relying on friends. Feeling exposed, Kate questioned if she should go on with the story. She decided to move forward and remembers feeling a great amount of freedom. Another character that Kate relates to is Ulysses, a squirrel, who gets sucked into a vacuum cleaner and writes poetry.

When asked how she makes sad topics bearable for young readers in her books, Kate answers that it’s her job to tell the truth. She says, “The truth is that the world is a difficult place but it’s also a beautiful place. To me, a story should reflect both of those truths.” For Kate every story needs to end on a hopeful note. She told us, “As a reader, I like a happy ending, if it’s believable. But the kind of

Everything is your business when you write, that’s how I feel. It’s my job to pay attention.

ending that I really like is a reading is an ending that gives me hope.” Kate writes from her heart and is always feeling her way toward that hope.

Her advice for aspiring authors is to read as much as you can and find a way to do some writing. “It doesn’t have to be two pages at 5 a.m. —it’s a different journey for everyone,” she says. Keep a notebook with you because it reminds you to always keep your eyes, ears, and heart open. As a writer you must always pay attention. “Adults might encourage you to pursue a different career, but you have to be per sistent and say, ‘No, I want to be writer,’” she says.

Children’s books are crucial in a child’s life. Read aloud, they establish a connec tion, and turn kids into adult readers. Hope shines a light into the darkness. “Hope becomes a lifeline for kids. It was for me — and it’s really a profound thing,” Kate says.

The Tale of Despereaux

— Kate DiCamillo

Because of Winn-Dixie

The Tale of Despereaux came out of a strange experience Katehad after she had published Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tiger Rising. After a visit with her best friend who had an eight-year-old son who was very impressed with Kate, the boy asked if he could have a private word with her. He told her that he had an idea for a story, and it was “the story of an unlikely hero with exceptionally large ears,” Kate says. “What happened to the hero? Kate asked him.” The boy replied that he didn’t know and that’s why he wanted her to write the book. The phrase “unlikely hero” really resonated with Kate, and the “exceptionally large ears” detail made it even more interesting. She started to explore the story idea, and after many drafts, wrote The Tale of Despereaux. She says, “It was a really hard book for me to write.” The book has sold two million copies, translated into 23 languages, and been turned into an animated film.

Because of Winn-Dixie was Kate’s first novel. Before writing it, she submitted short stories to literary magazines and worked at a bulk wholesaler. She had realistic expectations for the book be cause it was just another book from an unknown writer. “When I speak to kids, I ask them to guess how many rejection letters I received for that book. Some body is always daring and guesses 100. I received 473 rejection letters before I published my first book,” she says. The lesson Kate learned from rejection let ters was that it was up to her to decide to quit or keep on going. Nobody cared if she was writing, and she realized that she wanted to keep on going. Since then, 11 million copies of Because of Winn-Dix ie have been sold, it was awarded the Newbery Medal. It has been turned into a film directed by Wayne Wang, star ring AnnaSophia Robb as Opal Buloni. Kate was involved in writing the script for the movie.

“I’m always happy when a book gets turned into a movie, because then people will find their way to the book,” Kate says. Because of Winn-Dixie is a fan favorite—one of the first letters she received regarding it was 11 pages long. It was from a boy who told her what was going to happen in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh book. At the end, he wrote that he’d done all the hard work and she should probably begin writing out his ideas.

Kate says, “I still get letters today asking if I will write a sequel. I’ve known all along this is not what I need to do.” While Because of Winn-Dixie is widely read across the globe and across all ages, it is considered a banned book because of the profanity in it. “I can’t believe that books get banned,” Kate says. “Books are the place where we need to talk about things that are diffi cult and where big ideas get discussed. When you ban a book, you’re banning discussion. The whole idea of a book is to understand a different point of view and to understand yourself as well.”

“Books are the place where we need to talk about things that are difficult and where big ideas get discussed. When you ban a book, you’re banning discussion. The whole idea of a book is to understand a different point of view and to understand yourself as well.”

Will Gracey, 7th Grade

Siena Moglen, 7th Grade

Stela DiMatteo, 7th Grade

Kyle Kravik, 7th Grade

Kip Cashen, 7th Grade

Tatiana Ting, 7th Grade

St. Isabella School

my own ideas inside of my mind, I can see a future version of something. Something that is new to me and everyone, a feeling of relief, and the actuality of some piece of space on something I can touch and feel my way around, a maze. An excitement that happens only for a small moment and ends before you even know it. Time skips past you; you hear only yourself. Creating that image with my own hands, all the little marks that make dark and light, the image becomes reality. It’s simply something that I can see. I have something colorful in front of me, touchable and in a new dimension. When it’s done, I see my progress, getting even more proficient at my skills, the skills I love. I want to keep going because of the joy I get from feeling those senses.

Basketball by Cobe Benjamin

Art by Declan Drey

The pencil glides along the paper, danc ing in shapes to create other worlds, beings and times. The sound of graphite marking the paper. The endless train of thoughts and ideas running through my mind as something blank becomes something full of wonder and amazement. The power to create an entirely new feeling and mood while my mind is focusing only on this piece of paper, forming into whatever I make it. The reward I feel on finishing something, that feeling when someone says they like my work. The sounds of voices telling me that it was worth all the effort. Enjoyment is all I feel while the pen, pencil, marker, or whatever it is creates what I want to make. The feeling of passion as I speak about the topic. The effect and power my art can have over other’s lives makes me feel like I have truly made an impact in the world through something I enjoy.

Horseback Riding by Morgan Graziano

I hear the horses calling to me when I ar rive. The smell of the hay fills the air. As I run my hand down the spine of the horse, I feel her twitching. As I brush her, the dust falls to the ground in a little cloud. When I throw the saddle on, I see the spark in her eye; she is ready to go. When I’m running the barrels, looking ahead at the first one,

people cheering me on, I feel unstoppa ble. The fear of something possibly go ing wrong disappears and all I feel is the connection between me and the horse. I hear hooves beating, hitting the sand as we clear the first barrel. I feel excited and more ambitious as my eyes dart to the next one. We make it all the way around the second one and pick up speed heading to the third. I’m determined to make this a good run. As I turn the third barrel, I breathe a sigh of relief. I pull my leg in and get excited to run through the timers. As I hear the beep, a smile forms on my face and I pat her knowing we did a great job. I am passionate about horseback riding.

Surfing by Nathan Breen

I’m getting excited and trying to not worry about taking off on a big wave, hop ing I don’t mess up and get crushed. Wax ing up my board, putting on my wetsuit, I am about to go surf at Nazaré. I’m having an adrenaline rush, but I’m also terrified. I look at the waves, watching people being pulled in on waves ten times their size. I jump in the cold water and paddle past the large waves.

Drawing by Ollie Jenkins

When that common noise of lead pen cil scraping on paper, and when I can see

It all started when I took my first step onto the court. I felt a rush of emotion along with an idea of what was about to happen. In other words, I had butterflies in my stomach. Suddenly, the game started. As soon as I was holding the ball, I froze. I didn’t know what to do or how to do it. I felt as if I was lost in a vast landscape of voices yelling commands towards me, and that was how my career began.

New Experiences by Adam Garcia

Signing my name on something I never heard of. I’m wondering if I’ll regret it. The thought of doing something different pow ers my hand. As I look at my sloppy signa ture. I finally look at what I’m going to be stuck doing for the next 3 hours: Cafeteria Duty.” I’m certain doing something this bland won’t grant any more satisfaction than just going on with my day as usual. But every time I do something like this, I don’t get the feeling of regret that occurs when I miss the opportunity to do something that goes off schedule. I like new experiences.

Dancing by Quon Ha

Silence floods the room. Everyone’s glued to the floor, all eyes on the stage where one person stands, alone. Then BAM!! Music suddenly bursts into the atmosphere. I start busting out moves I never expected I could do. On the danc er’s side, you feel the sweat running up and down your body. You move to the beat and to the claps and cheers from the au dience. You perform you last and biggest move until the music stops. You feel noth ing; silence arrives again. Finally, after a pause that felt like forever, you heard the

FastForward visited Claudia Silva’s 7th Grade students to conduct a writing workshop.

Maddie Wafer, 7th Grade

loudest applause you’ve ever heard in your life. You’ve accomplished your one and only goal: to make the crowd happy. I love breakdancing!

Books by Burke Hadd

A new book. It smelled of the lavender on the shelf of the cozy bookstore. The books in the aisles, waiting to be picked up and perused, were deserted and lonely. I want ed to pick up each of them, but one caught my attention. I ran my fingers over the cover and spine, feeling the perfectly im printed title that popped out. Turning it over, the description gripped my senses as the world drained away and the beautifully written words captured my attention. The Ellie Webb, 2nd Grade

Anna Culpert, 7th Grade

flawless sentences made me continue read ing, made me feel as if I was there, stand ing next to the main character. The world I called my own vanished and the world constructed by the author took shape. The plot twisted my brain into a dense, tangled mass of awe. Utter awe. I found myself not wanting to leave but wanting to continue trekking through this created world with the characters, and my senses were com pletely enveloped into the book. The lumi nous and fascinating settings inspired me to find those places in my world and dis cover the beautiful landscapes the author painted into the book, just through words. The descriptions painted a better picture than any image.

Things We Know to be True

Ms. Claudia Silva’s students

Reading changes one’s thinking and mindset.

Nature calms my nerves.

Some fears never go away.

As long as you have real friends, you will be happy.

Teammates take care of each other.

A true friend doesn’t care how you look or if you conform to society.

Temptation is always present.

The way someone sees you is not the same way you look at yourself.

Family is something that can never be broken, no matter how many miles apart.

I have overcome my fear by asking questions, sometimes feeling stupid, but now I understand things better.

Working hard for something always pays off.

School helps me to become the best version of myself and will help me succeed.

Everyone has a partner out there somewhere.

Going to the beach makes me feel at home.

Growing up is hard.

A good book is a portal transporting you to a magical world.

School is where you grow intelligence and social skills.

Don’t overthink it.

Actions speak louder than words.

I’m lucky to have the family I have.

A person always has the chance to heal. It can take time.

Windows can give you a new point of view.

Keep an open mind. There are always multiple ways to approach a problem.

When I learn, I can see more about the way I learn.

My talents inspire others to work harder at their talents just as their talents inspire me.

Nothing is ever truly gone. Memories keep them here on earth with us.

Tomorrow is another day. Every day is continued progress.

The only validation you need is your own.

New experiences can be the best experiences. Learning never ends.

Avery Dalton, 2nd Grade

St. Isabella School

es against my face. The sights are always gor geous; I can see where the light blue darkens to deep blue. I could stay at the beach forever, floating on top of the water, watching the sun fall until there is no more light. The water is comforting. I feel re laxed and calm. As I leave, stepping out of the water, the sand feels soft on my feet as I walk out farther and farther. It’s like walk ing away from reality.

Baseball by Tony Caputo

young, I would leap and turn around the house. My parents would get annoyed, but it always made me feel good. It’s not about all the flowy costumes and glittery make up. It’s about hard work and dedication to the art form. When I dance, I see the faces of the people in the audience doing things like laughing, crying, or smiling. I acknowledge the emotions but just keep going. I listen to the music and feel the beat through my whole body. I can smell something sweet and rose-like, fresh and renewing. The stage is lit brightly so in the beginning I am nervous and feel butter flies in my stomach. When I start dancing, those feelings fade away, never to be seen again.

Swimming by Maddie Wafer

Drawing by John Hishmeh

Music is playing, creativity is flowing through my mind, determination in my body. I hear the next song play as another idea pops into my head. I put my pencil to the paper and begin. It starts with a couple of lines, first a head, then a neck, then the body. I’m feeling proud of my work. Some times I draw a cartoon character, some times it’s a movie character. I love to draw superheroes. I practice the simple muscu lar body all the time, and I practice them in different art styles. Sharp geometric lines and circular builds are my favorites. Giant mouths with long teeth, small heads, and big, tall bodies. I’ll often compare draw ings and see what I need to practice. When I’m finished, I look proudly, knowing I can do more than I think I can.

Water by Kyla Handley

Being in the water gives me a rush of se rotonin. My body feels light like I’m on a cloud. I can feel the water surrounding me like a blanket. The air is salty and cool as it blows in my face. The water is always the perfect temperature, even if it’s freezing. I swim farther out from the shore and feel the rush underwater as the water push

Digging my spikes into the box, I’m getting ready to swing. I eye the pitcher down then swing with all my might. I feel a cool breeze just as I make contact with the ball. CRACK!!! The hit feels tremendous. I watch the ball soar. I hear ooohs and aaahs coming from the crowd. I smell chili dogs coming from the snack shack. I see the ball fly over the fence; I am over joyed. I jog around the bases. When I hit home plate, the crowd erupts, and I am mobbed by my teammates. This is the best feeling of my whole entire life. Out of all the fans, I hear my mom cheering the loudest of all.

Video Games by Brendan Benz

The sounds of my keyboard clicking, my hand dragging my mouse into the perfect position, the view of pixels moving on the screen and changing every time I press a button. The smell of my air diffuser run ning in the background, the taste of lemon water cooling my mouth, the sound of my favorite music playing, the aroma of LED lights glowing softly in the dark. Talking to my friends in a voice call and having a good time, I feel awake and present while not worrying about anything else, such as whether I’m cold, too warm or hungry. And when I’m done, I feel perfectly relaxed to go lay in bed and read a book. I plop down on my soft bed that feels like an aura of clouds under my body. I let my book absorb me and take me on an adventure from the King of Aces. I fall asleep and let my body drop into the bed like a feather.

Dance — The Performance by Sydney Ryssemus

Dance is something that is and will al ways be part of my life. Ever since I was

“Swimmers, step up to the block!” I put my right foot onto the step. I fasten my goggles and swim cap. Looking across the lanes, I see two other Orca swimmers and three from the other team. “Swimmers take your marks.” I lean in, ready to dive as adrenaline fills my body. A loud beep fills the air and I dive in. Water splashes in my ears. Butterfly, stroke, backstroke, breast stroke, freestyle. Near the end my arms are aching, and my legs too. I finish first! I pump my arms in victory!

Music by Taryn Bryan

Music, especially rock, has been part of me since I was young. All the memories flood from the back of my head. I see my dad with me in his silver truck listening to Led Zeppelin and ACDC with the win dows down. Neither of us had a single wor ry, closing out all the negative thoughts, focusing on and cherishing this moment being with my dad. Now that I’m more grown up, I’ve heard many more types of music that really bring out the different personages I have. Now, pop and jazz are the top two genres in my heart. Pop brings out the energetic side of me that loves fun moments with my friends and family. Jazz is important to me especially because my mom works 24/7 and rarely gets a break. She always chooses to listen or dance to her favorites, including Ella and Frank Sinatra.

Sports by David Pass

When I see a sports field, I just want to get out there and play. When you’re playing you hear all the people cheering you on, giving you more confidence. You see kids running around, hitting balls, or tackling. When I’m running, my adrenaline is up, and my eyes are scanning the field looking for my team. I’m ready for anything but at the same time, I’m nervous. I’m thinking of if we will win or not. I love action-packed sports.

Continued from

By Allegra Rodriguez, 5th Grade

By Morgan Taylor, 5th Grade

Soccer by Sam Rivero

A kick-off to our side and the game be gins. I kick the ball to my teammate as he’s panting to get the ball. The summer breeze hits my head as I play forward and attack. My teammate cuts in front of me and shoots at a surprised goalie whose hands are up like a bear trying to get berries. The adrenaline rushes into his body and “Boom!” The sounds of pain I hear as this razor-keen goalie saves the ball at the ex act spot my teammate shot it. A drop kick and the game continues. The team shoots as the crowd’s jaws drop. Our goalie’s hand bends, like a gymnast at full stretch. The ball fires to the back of the net and cheers come from all sides to my ears.

Playing Music by Porter Klock

Right when I sit on that small seat in front of the drum set, the urge to start playing reaches me. When I grab the sticks, I start hitting each drum into a beat. While play ing, the sound flows through my body. I be gin to realize that it’s becoming repetitive. I decide to change it up by hitting the big tom, which makes a lower pitched sound. As I play, I understand that I need to make the song “pop.” So, I add cymbals and then go back to the main beat. The song ends up as verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus.

EMOTIONS

Students picked an emotion and wrote an imaginary story about the emotion.

Confidence by Angelina Hellmold

She is the prettiest one of all. Not because of the way she looks on the outside. Whether she is thinner, fitter, bigger or has clear skin or acne. Whether she has stretch marks — whatever she looks like. She is what every person should have. She faces the challeng es of social media, dirty looks, hurtful com ments. She’s the everlasting joy you feel of yourself. She should be in all of our lives, and she is in mine. As I look in the mirror, I see a masterpiece.

Independence by Sammy Ariyoshi

She is of no remarkable height, not tall, not short. Her hair is of a darker shade, black or brown maybe, and straight with the slight est bit of wave at the end. Her shoulders are unafraid but not proud, simply held high and broad. Her spine is ramrod straight, her eyes flinty like steel, just as dark as chocolate. She is neither beautiful nor ghastly, but the way she holds herself commands notice. She

teaches others how to stand up and take care of themselves. Independence is a hard-won ally, a thorny rose, pure freedom and pure life because life is real and not always fair. She says, “work hard and be yourself.” She is Independence and Independence is her.

Confidence by Elena Basso

She walks through the door and her face is glowing with happiness. Her hair is sway ing from side to side. Everyone stares. Her clothes are bright and unique. Proudly, she walks to a chair and sits down. On her way she compliments every little thing about the room, the people and the nature outside the window. Everyone wonders how she is so okay with just being herself.

Empathy by Leila Moaveni

When she walks around, she glows. Each step she takes comes closer to them. She walks with hope and kindness burning in her eyes. As she sits down, they look up. Hearing her asking “Are you OK?” gives them a glimmer of happiness that they have been needing. The encouragement and com fort that she gives makes her shine brighter than the sun. She feels their pain as they tell her what happened. They feel happy that someone cares and give her a hug. The em pathy she gives helps them feel less alone knowing that someone cares. She inspires them to reach out and do the same to others.

Confidence by Ryan Gamblin

He stands before everyone giving com mands and trying to help and lead his class mates to become their better selves. They trust him because of the way he speaks to them and how he makes them feel. He leads and they follow because they know he will never try to harm them.

By Italia Tinnel, 5th Grade

By Laird Forbes, 2nd Grade

By Sarah Dolan, 5th Grade

SPONSORING BACICH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL GARDEN

Reflections on Our School Garden

I love gardening because I love to see the burst of strawberries and flowers. —Zane, 2nd Grade

I like gardening because it can take your mind off your worries. It can also be really fun.

— Maggie, 2nd Grade

In gardening, all the hard work pays off. I like smelling the flowers and picking fruit and vegetables. — Maya, 2nd grade

The garden is one of my favorite calming places.

Sasha, 2nd Grade

I like gardening because we get to pick the lemons.

Jackson, 2nd Grade

I like gardening because all the hard work pays off in the end when you watch the plants grow.

Julia, 2nd Grade

I love to play with dirt in the garden. Also, it’s fascinating to watch the plants grow.

— Alexandra, 2nd Grade

I love to garden with my dad. Gardening is beautiful.

Colin, 2nd Grade

To learn more about

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No �G � O

OLocal

ALAN GRATZ

#7

In middle school, Alan wrote for his school paper and served as the editor, a role he continued in high school. He was also a feature and sports writer. In his senior year he interned with the local newspaper to find a way to get paid for writing. However, jour nalism was not something he was interested in pursuing. “I wanted to write a story that would stay on the shelf and be read and re read. My goal was to be a writer whose stuff had a little bit more permanence. Plus I liked to make stuff up and newspapers don’t really like it when you make stuff up,” Alan jokes. He attended the University of Tennessee and studied creative writing. Do you want to become a writer like Alan? Hop over to #9 for some writing advice. For a glimpse of a day-ina-life of researching, go straight to #2.

Choose Your Own Adventure with Author Alan Gratz!

#1

Boom. An explosion. Debris everywhere. Smoke drifts through the air. You’re blinded and confused by the sound. Is it a grenade thrown on the island of Okinawa, focused on its target—an American sol dier? Or maybe it’s gunfire from the Allies on D-Day, executing a mission to liberate Western Europe from Nazi control. Or is this the American Airlines Boeing 767, striking the north tower of the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001 . . . Alan Gratz holds the key to the answer..

Scared? Best to just skip to the end, #10. Wanna continue? Okay, let’s learn about Alan’s childhood in #4.

#3

#6

When asked about how he takes care of his mental health while writing about tragic historical events, Alan admits he throws himself into his work. He wrote about climate change over the pandemic. He had to read and research about the “heat death of the Earth” every day. It was a difficult time for him so he started seeing a therapist and leaned heavily on his family for support. “I would come out of my office at the end of the day and say, ‘Where’s my family? I need a hug,’” Alan says. He also participates in activities that bring him peace and happiness like taking walks, playing video games, reading, and going to baseball games. Alan knows his stories are important to tell, even the entertainment novels, because there’s a huge place in our world for en tertainment stories. There’s also a place for “social thrillers,” or novels that leave you with more questions than answers. Every year, Alan donates a lot of money to UNICEF because he deeply cares about their cause, especially with refugee kids around the world. “My books are doing something—perhaps not helping an individual person, but changing hearts and minds. I can rally more people to this cause,” Alan says. Need writing advice? #9 is the passage for you. Choose which passage you haven’t read: #3 or #7, and read about how Alan became a writer and how he creates story content.

In his office, Alan has a giant whiteboard which he puts to good use. He says, “I write down all the things I think are super cool. They can be unre lated.” Airships, ray guns, giant monsters, secret societies, and more…things he was fascinated by. He leans back in his chair and thinks about the connections between his super-cool words (some of which may not fit into a story). With this kind of brainstorming he created his fantasy trilogy The League of Seven. Not all of Alan’s stories are born this way—some of his most recent historical fiction novels with Scholastic were inspired by meeting someone. Prisoner B-3087 is a true story of Jack Gruner, who survived ten Nazi concentration camps and was introduced to Alan by Scholastic. Grenade, a novel about the Battle of Okinawa, emerged from Alan meeting a man who had been on Okinawa Island during World War II. As a middle school boy, he had been ripped out of school, lined up with all the others, given a grenade, and told not to come back until he had killed an American soldier. Some of Alan’s ideas are sparked off of things he read, something he heard in a podcast, or interesting historical events like 9/11 and D-Day. When writing about these events, he researches as much as he can before creating a character. Once the character is baked all the way through, he drops them into the middle of the event and lets them have their own adventure.

Interested in research? Go to #2. If you want to know how Alan writes about hard topics for his young readers, bounce over to #5.

WRITER: Emerson Swift, Freshman, Tamalpais High School

REPORTERS: Anya Esmail, Nicholas Chin, Tessa Bailey, Zoe Bailey, Kiera Eisenbud, Marguerite Kaufman, Semira Robinson and Cameron Linehan

MILL VALLEY MIDDLE SCHOOL, PHILLIPS ACADEMY ANDOVER, SACRED HEART PREPARATORY, SIDWELL FRIENDS, SAN RAFAEL HIGH AND TAMALPAIS HIGH SCHOOLS

An author who strives to change hearts and minds

“The research process takes around nine months—completing the outline takes another month,” Alan says. “I might be a year into this process before I ever even sit down to write the first words of the book.”

Alan writes a couple of chapters (about 5,000-6,000 words) a day. All the prep work for the novel results in just one month of writing the first draft. Then, it’s sent off to his editor. “She reads it and sends me back an editorial letter. It’s usually around 11 pages long. The first paragraph says, ‘Alan, this best book you’ve ever written. It’s awesome—chef’s kiss— this is going to be great,’ he says. ‘Now, here’s everything that’s wrong with it.’ That’s the rest of the letter.”

His job is to go back and rework it un til he’s produced his second draft… and so on

Did you miss how Alan comes up with his story ideas? Head back to #3. If you’ve read it already and want to know about Alan’s upcoming books, go to #10.

#9

Alan’s first piece of advice is to read. Read ing really helps you understand writing. You’ll see how characters, settings, and themes are developed throughout the story and what techniques the author uses. Secondly, write—a lot. You’re a writer if you’re writing. “My friends and I have an expression: B.C., because the only way you get writing done is putting your butt in the chair and sitting down in front of your com puter or notebook,” Alan jokes. He says that if you keep writing you’ll eventually finish the story, share it with someone, and write more stories. Alan’s simile for the process is like practicing free-throws in basket ball. You can’t sit on the bench and wish you could be better, you have to go out and throw some. Thirdly, keep an idea book. One of Alan’s professors in college gave him this advice and it’s stuck with him ever since. In this notebook, you jot down all your story ideas that you don’t have time to commit to now, lines from stories or poems that you love, snippets of conversations that you hear, and writing advice. Alan has gone through seven notebooks since receiving this advice. Now he carries a tablet so he can type and organize his notes online.

Find #8 if you want to dive deeper into what happens after Alan writes a book. If you have gone through all the numbers 1 and 3-10 and are ready to conclude your adventure, hopscotch back to #10 for Alan’s upcoming books. Thanks for joining this adventure!

#10

Alan has two new books! Two Degrees is a story about four diverse kids from three different parts of North America, all experiencing varying effects of climate change: a girl in California surviving a wildfire with her horse, two boys in Churchill, Manitoba fleeing land-stranded polar bears, and a girl in Miami, Florida who is trying to save her neighbor’s dog while a hurricane tears the city apart. Captain America: The Ghost Army, a comic book published by Marvel and Scholastic, is expected in January 2023. Alan is also working on a novel about Pearl Harbor, scheduled for the end of 2023.

#2

#4

Two boys chase a kickball out of the cul-de-sac on a hot summer day. They’re running through the woods to their “boys-only” secret fort, giggling about whatever story they’ve imagined this time. Alan Gratz is among them. Throughout his childhood, Alan always kept busy. Early on, his teacher parents encouraged him to read. “I like to read, but reading had to be exciting—it had to capture my attention,” Alan says. As soon as he could put two sentences together, Alan was writing. His first-ever story, the Mummy vs. the Vampire, was written in pencil on long computer paper, had lots of pictures, and was held together by a couple of staples. This experience led to another story in fifth grade.

“Real Kids Don’t Eat Spinach” was longer and had fewer spelling mistakes. Alan knew he wanted to be a writer—whether it was writing books, comics, plays, movies, television shows, or radio shows. It didn’t mat ter, as long as he got to tell stories.

Head over to #7 if you want to learn more about how Alan became a writer. Need to skip ahead? No worries, #3’s got all the action.

First, Alan visits the library. He checks out a mountain of books related to the time, place, or event he’s writing about. Then he reads and types notes. He records as many details as he can. “Many have referred to this as like a snowflake method. Imagine a snowflake that has a crystal heart, and then all those branching arms that come out from it. You start at the outside edges and work your way from the bigger picture until you get closer and closer to the heart of that snowflake and to the heart of your story,” Alan says. He keeps another doc ument on his computer where he jots down any possible story ideas or elements. For exam ple, when investigating 9/11 for his novel Ground Zero, Alan read a passage about a group of people stuck in an elevator after the first plane struck the north tower. The elevator didn’t fall but they could feel the heat and knew that the cables were going to snap and they’d plummet towards their death. Up on the 83rd floor, they opened the doors and dug through the drywall to land safely inside. Alan loved this dramatic scene and knew he had to include it in his novel. Not all of his drafted scenes end up in the novel. Once he’s brainstormed a sufficient amount of scenes, he develops the story outline. He writes all the scenes on note cards and goes back and forth between his computer and the whiteboard, filling in the plot holes sometimes returning to more research. “Next, I’m ready to write…”Alan says.

Choose #8 if you want to learn more about how he writes his novels. Pas sionate about the issues Alan writes about? Well, he is too! Find out how he supports his causes and takes care of his mental health in #6.

#5

Alan writes differently for kids than he does for adults, but still uses the same tech niques. For Prisoner B-3087, Scholastic asked Alan to tell Jack Gruner’s survival of ten Nazi camps as a child. Alan knew this was going to be a challenge. Honored to be asked, Alan privately clarified with his editor that they wanted him to write about the Holocaust for fourth-to-eighth grade readers. Alan said, “If I write this book, I can’t leave that out, I can’t sugarcoat any of it. To do that would do a disservice to Jack and everybody else who experienced it—everybody who lived and everybody who died.” When his editors gave him permission to write the good, the bad, and the ugly, he dived right in. At times, there was discussion about what was too much, but Alan found a way to reach the range of his readers. Instead of describing the medical experimentation that was done on the prison ers, he introduced the concept via a character that had been experimented on. This way, his younger readers could understand the issue on the surface while more mature read ers could fill in the blanks. Alan says that we already fill in the blanks as readers because a writer doesn’t write out everything. Before writing a novel he makes content decisions so his books can be read by a wider group of people. “‘How much should I hold back on?’ I ask myself. I will always tell the truth about what happened here. It’s that honesty, being so close to the truth, that a lot of readers respond to,” Alan says.

Alan is an honest writer—are you wondering what paved the way? Read about how Alan became a writer in #7. Curious about how Alan takes care of his mental health and/or donates to the causes he writes about? Head to #6.

Marin Ballet

Front, left to right: Mika Chow, Aleena Hutt, Emme Skapik and Isla Mackay. Middle Row, left to right: Lily Stout, Kaela Diosdado, Jeana Weng, Ella Johanson and Lila Williams. Back Row, left to right: Gemma Barneby, Zara Ubhi, Madison Wundrow, Catherine Hader (School Director) Olivia Orta and Helena Bartell.

United Markets congratulates all the teachers, staff and parents who help make it possible for students to discover the magic of dance. This year as Marin Ballet celebrates its 60th anniversary with a special spring Celebration planned for March, there is also a buzz in the air as its beloved full-length production of Nutcracker returns to the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in December. The students are preparing with hard work and long rehearsals for the joy of performing for the community in the colorful and fun show, with amazing costumes and sets. It is an enormous commitment, but it is so exciting to be able to experience the payoff for the dedication, when they hear the applause and cheers from the live audience ringing in the holiday season.

The Director and students share thoughts about ballet and dance:

“Marin Ballet is a safe space where everyone is respected, and we have fun learning together.” — Mika Chow, 7th Grade “I love ballet because I am a shy person, and it gives me the freedom to express myself.” — Madison Wundrow, 7th Grade “I love ballet because it helps me build me strength and stamina and because I have made amazing friends.” — Zara Ubhi, 6th Grade “The joy of Marin Ballet’s Nutcracker is unmatchable. The people are so welcoming, and the teachers make sure you are confident.” — Jeana Weng, 8th Grade “ I love being in the Marin Ballet Nutcracker, because it teaches us how much hard work pays off. It is also so much fun to perform and also to hang out with friends backstage.” — Aleena Hutt, 7th Grade “At Marin Ballet we nurture students to become strong and confident dancers, who feel the freedom to express their individuality in both class and performance.” — Catherine Hader, School Director

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