When I Grow Up by Lisa, age 8

Now I am a girl and I want to be free. I am the youngest and my sisters boss me around. When I grow up I will be a woman. When I am a woman I will be free because I will do whatever I want. I will have my own bed with golden pillows. After that I will be a grandma. When I am a grandma, I will walk slowly and I will have to work in a factory making clothes and I will be tired. I will have one vase of flowers for decoration and two cups, one for me, and one in case I have a guest.

Why? by Lisa, age 8

Go flush the toilet. Don’t pick your nose or it will get worse. Don’t touch that or something will happen to you. Don’t jump down the cliff. Why? Because you’ll die. Don’t touch that. Why? Because you might get hurt. Don’t play around while you’re in the streets. Why? Because there might be an accident. No there won’t. Don’t play with bees. Why? Because they will sting you. I don’t trust you. Don’t touch that needle or you’ll get AIDS. This is how you have good manners at a restaurant. 1. Don’t pick your nose. 2. Don’t eat with your hands. 3. Don’t play with food. 4. Don’t run.

My Mom By Don, Age 10

My mom’s name is Thuy Le. She was born in Vietnam on January 3, 1970. She lived in Saigon, Danang, Hue and Hanoi. During the war, she went underground with her family. Her father dug a hole for them to hide in. He dug it with his bare hands. It was dark and there were slimy worms and bugs there, and poisonous spiders that don't make webs. Her family was scared and nervous.

When my mom was a kid, she used a bicycle for transportation when. She played a lot of different games like jump rope and dominoes. She has five siblings. Her favorite food was noodle soup, rice and veggies. She went to school.

She came to San Francisco on June 9, 1996. She got married and her husband really wanted to move here. San Francisco felt like a second home to her and she wanted to go back to Vietnam. She missed all her friends and family and restaurants with pho. Her favorite part of her first day here was watching cars go over the Golden gate bridge. The bridge was the thing that surprised her most about San Francisco too because it is so big and the word golden was interesting to her.

My mom likes to cook food for me. Cooking is her hobby because it tastes so good and it makes her family happy!

My mom is a manicurist. She likes getting paid from her boss, but the bad thing about her job is when clients cancel appointments. She was nervous on her first day of work. The day felt so long and she couldn't wait to get home.

If she could have any superpower, she would choose super flexibility. Why? Because she would be able to help people fast.

About the Author

My name is Don. I’m ten years old. This is my fourth published story. I am also the author of The Iceman, The Boy Who Brought Back Winter, Bus Stop Fight and many poems. The hardest thing about this project was asking my mom questions and writing her answers down in my journal. All the translating was hard. The most interesting thing I learned is how my mom’s dad dug a hole with his bare hands for his family to hide in. I also learned my mom wanted to have fun in her new country but she also misses her family in her old country. My mom taught me that crying will not make me brave or make me get any friends.

The Future by Angela, age 9

Now I am a girl but when I grow up I will be single and I will be a woman. I will have eight balloons because I will have a party and I will invite eight people. I will have eight slices of pizza, eight Wiis and eight videogames because people will be to impatient to wait their turn, eight small rocks for slingshooting, eight plates, eight bowls, eight spoons, eight forks, eight pairs of chopsticks, eight cups and eight laptops so everyone can go to Barbie.com and look at Barbie jumping up and down and watch her say, “Hey, my friend Teresa and I are making a new movie!” When I grow older I will be a grandma even though I will never have kids. I will have glasses and I will have white hair and I will be lazy.

Teeth by Stanley, age 9

Now I am a girl, but when I grow up I will get new teeth. The teeth will be black and they will have flower stickers on them. The teeth will give me magic powers. I will fly to the sky. I will be like Superman. When I’m in the sky I will do the Teletubby dance then I will do the Barney dance. Everyone will say, “You are super cool!” When I fall out of the sky I will be a big, red, digital clock.

A List of Things You Should Do, A List of Things You Should Not Do, by Edmund, age 8

Flush your enemies or else you have to (write your consequence here). Pick your nose. Write your self-consequence if you want a consequence. Put your socks in your mouth because that’s your punishment. Break your own glasses. If you don’t have any, then you have to (write your consequence here). Throw a little bomb in the toilet. Eat your boogers. Break a violin. Carry a brick for trouble. Let a lion bite your super-smelly feet. I’m sorry, if you get in trouble for doing what I say. If this happens then tell the teacher. P.S. I don’t care. P.P.S. I’m not sorry.

Follow My Rules By Jennifer, age 10

Shut up, or I’ll shut you up. Stop texting, or you’ll pay the phonebill. Wash your hands in the chalkdust because I love it. Smell my feet. I washed them with soap. I love the color green. the color green makes me pretty. Give me four dollars please. I want to save up. The clock won’t be squeaky if don’t put barbeque sauce on it. Truly. Wash the floor. It’s sticky with tacky glue. Get off, it’s my turn. Let me play. Yurky is a weird word. Don’t be racist because that is horrible. Give me the remote. Please. I’m the boss here. Run faster! Slower! Just run faster please. I love that channel! Don’t change it or else I will pour hot brownie fudge with sprinkles on you. Don’t take something that is not yours. Don’t pick somebody else’s nose. Don’t steal from a bank or else you will go to jail. Always stand up straight or you will look weird when you are an adult. Don’t hold a knife or you will hurt yourself.

Snakes Are Warm by Stanley, age 9

Don’t punch the wall. Put tape on the floor, don’t punch the toad. Fly. Don’t fly. Don’t show your underwear. Don’t eat bugs or pull down your friend beccause you will cry. Go to jail or run an inch. Punch a piano and make music. Punch people’s teeth or slam your head on the toilet seat. Put a live snake in your shoe and see if it’s warm.

A+ in Math by Tiana, age 10

Don’t play with the knife or you’ll get hurt, Don’t kick the ball over the fence or you can’t play any more, don’t hit people or you’ll feel guilty, Do your homework or get 50 lines of “I will do my homework everyday,” Flush the toilet or you’ll stink the room, Don’t cry or I will not play with you, Don’t call me a name because my real name is Tiana, Don’t day dream in the middle of the streets or you’ll get run over, Do what you’re supposed to do and you’ll be ok, Don’t pick on people or you’ll have no friends, be nice to others and you’ll have lots of friends, don’t drink beer while driving a car or you’ll get in to an accident, don’t land on the sun or you’ll become dust, Study hard and you’ll get an A, But I’m not good at math, Yes you are, Try hard, I’ll never get an A, You will.

The Future Machine by Angela, age 9

The future machine always works, but today it works really badly. When Gummy presses the transport button the machine puts her in the past. The past is ugly. It smells like garbage, sounds like ghosts howling, and the foods tastes like tissues. The future feels rough, and it looks like a thousand grocery stores. There are only grocery stores, not a tree or plants to make oxygen, so Gummy brings her oxygen mask. She builds a Future Gun out of things she finds on the ground in the past. She presses the red button on the Future Gun, guess what? She transports back to where she was.

She keeps on trying to go to the future, but the machine keeps on going to the past. “I think this machine needs a rest,” she says. “I’ll just write some haikus while I wait.” Monsters eat dummy, the dummy is so ugly, I play ball outside. “I don’t think it is a real haiku,” she says. “I am not specific because I don’t know how to be specific.”

Instead of writing another haiku, Gummy tries the future machine again. She hopes this is the last time this machine will go to the past. “Ah!” she yells. She knows all this noise disturbs her parents while they are watching TV. But the future machine continues not to work!

Gummy uses the screwdriver to hit the future machine as hard as she can. “Take that future maniac!” she yells. She drinks some orange juice because she is tired. She is so sweaty that she almost cries. She does not give up so she goes back to the machine. She kicks the machine to try to make it work. She presses the transport button again. This time it works but the Future Machine is wrecked because she kicked it and hit it with a screwdriver.

The future machine has five grocery stores, smells like fresh air from the sky, tastes like mango, sounds like birds chirping, and it feels like the soft fur of a kitten.

Gummy wishes to go inside the machine again but her parents say no because of dinner. At night she wants to sneak to the Future Machine. She can’t because her parents always watch her. But if she ever does, her mission will be accomplished.
Every other day Gummy’s parents are not tired so they watch her. But not today. Today they are tired, so Gummy sneaks to the Future Machine and she goes to the future and her mission is accomplished.

This is what she sees in the future: Her parents are yawning, her mom is sitting on the toilet, snoring, and saying, “I like boo boo” after each snore. Then she wakes up and drops newspaper into the toilet. Her dad is crazy. He goes to his friend’s house with a hammer and breaks their window and yells, “Yay!”

His friend says, “What are you doing?”

“Breaking your window,” Gummy’s dad says.

“Why?”

“Because you are my friend.”

Gummy sees them argue. Then she writes a letter. It says:

Dear Mom and Dad,
I do not know what is wrong with you today. Dad, you used a hammer to hit your friend’s window, and Mom, you put newspaper in the toilet. I don’t want to see any of that again.
Bye,
Gummy

PS: I hate you.

Gummy just waits for the candy that she ordered to come. It is the future so it should be here by now. But her deliveries don’t come because the delivery man is mad. His face is red. Gummy goes back into the Future Machine to eat pie. The pie tastes like tomato. “Bye bye, Future Machine,” she says.

Gummy goes back to her house to eat an apple. Then she goes to a candy shop inside the Future Machine. The shop smells like cotton candy, the walls taste like chocolate. She also goes to a grocery store to buy a banana and another apple. She jumps out of the Future Machine and eats her food. “How come the fruits taste bad and the candies taste good?” she says. “Maybe I should ask the person who sells the fruit why it tastes bad.”

At night Gummy doesn’t sleep because she sneaks up to the Future Machine again. She says, “I’m going to live in the machine forever!”

About the author

Hi! My name is Angela. I am nine years old. I live in an apartment with my mom, dad, brother and my uncle who sleeps next to Barbie. I like science, playing games on the computer, and animals. When I grow up I want to be an artist. If I were an animal, I would be a bunny so I could escape from people with my stinkiness. I am scared of cockroaches. I wonder about puppies. Why do they keep on yapping around?

To Anthony by Giang, age 8

To Anthony

Sorry I kicked the ball at your face
I was mad because the ball hit me
When it hit me, it felt like a block of ice
coming out of nowhere
I heard you laugh at me
so I kicked the ball
I wasn’t kicking it at you,
but somehow it hit you

From Giang

To My Turtles by Anthony, age 8

To My Turtles

I’m sorry that Ivy and I did not feed you
I am also sorry that I dropped you in the tank
I am sorry that I did not stop my dad from shaking the tank
I’m sorry that I kept tapping the glass
I’m sorry that I did not feel your shell
I know you like it when I feel your shell

From Anthony

Puppy Death by Trang, age 11

Puppy Death

This is just to say
I’m sorry Little Bootie, Rosey, Whity, Stella,
Flora, Bloom and Flor,
because my uncle killed you
My sister’s kids saw what happened,
they said he hit all of you with a knife
They tried to stop him,
they pulled on his leg,
but he hit them with his hand
When I heard you were dead
I cried

From Trang

Goshi & the Three Dragons by Jason, age 9 & Yong, age 11

Chapter 1
The Secret

Long ago, three dragon eggs were scattered all over the world, one in the North, one in the Southeast and one in the Southwest. The numbers two, five and six were written on the eggs. If someone ever gathered them, a peaceful dragon called Genron would grant a wish to that person and the wish would come true. But every time the wish was granted, negative energy was restored in the eggs. If three wishes were granted, the eggs would be full of negative energy and they would release this energy and form a dragon that was pure evil. It would throw the Dragon Eggs and destroy everything. It had no name, only a nickname, The Smoke Dragon. This secret was hidden in a book that was in the library.

Chapter 2
The Magic Training Academy

Goshi went to the public library and found only one book about the secret of the eggs. He just wanted to be granted a wish. He didn’t care about the Smoke Dragon. He read it and he rushed back home. He packed up fast because he wanted to go and find the eggs. The next day, he went to the magic Training Academy and trained for five years. When he was sixteen, he had money to travel by plane with his book. When he landed, he was in the north in the continent of North America. When he went to California, he went to a stream in the mountain region. He felt like something was waiting for him.

Chapter 3
Hi Fatty!

The stream was polluted! It was about one hundred percent toxic. Whatever was in it would die in a few minutes. A chubby dragon broke out of its prison. It was about four feet tall. It had the power to pollute landforms, bodies of water and the air. The dragon was called Haze Genron.

Chapter 4
The First Battle

Goshi attacked the creature. It cried and turned red. It stopped and attacked back. Goshi blasted his lightning bolt effect. He summoned it by opening his palm and releasing a lighting bolt. It looked like a long zigzag. When the lightning hit Haze Genron, it fell onto a plain and the force left a big crack in the ground. A humongous jellyfish came out of the crack and drained all the energy from far away and blasted all that power at Goshi. It simply shifted its tentacles and a hurricane was made. Goshi blocked its power by creating his own hurricane. The hurricane was like a large knife or blade targeting the jellyfish. The destruction was so big that it cut the head off of the Jellyfish. But then its body disappeared and a meteor was targeting Goshi. He dived into the polluted water! He was so weak that he almost died. Something at the bottom healed him somehow. He was alive! He could swim so he came out of the lake and saw something round heading his way. It was Dragon Egg Number Two. He was happy. His next adventure was waiting for him.

Chapter 5
Hi Midget

The next dragon was Rage Genron. It was as short as a baby. It was just two feet tall. It introduced itself. It had the power of electricity. Sometimes when it was fully charged it grew so big that it couldn’t move.

Chapter 6
The Second Battle

Rage Genron grew because before Goshi got there, it charged up. Rage shocked Goshi and Goshi got really weak. Rage never stopped shocking him so Goshi fainted. Suddenly it began to rain hard. Rage was going nuts! Explosions were happening all over his body. A few hours later he was in a coffin. People thought he was dead, but he broke free. A kid stared at him. He said, “How did you do that?”
“You got to eat green vegetables. That’s what my momma once said.”
“Can you teach me how to do those moves?”
“Ok,” said Goshi. “I will teach you advanced moves.”

Chapter 7
Hi Ugly


The kid learned how to do advanced moves fast. The next dragon had a disguise and could turn into an ugly princess. It had the power to control water and wind and it could control whatever it liked but it had to use lots of energy. Its name was Onoshi Genran.

Chapter 8
The Third Battle

Onoshi Genran tried to punch Goshi. Goshi used his fire power by doing something with his fingers. Onnoshi started to dance. It never stopped. These moves caused a hurricane of spikes. In a few minutes Goshi would die. Luckily, the kid popped out of a bush and used one of the rarest powers, the Ancient Dragon Blast, by opening his mouth and releasing a dragon that came out and sliced up Onoshi. Onoshi died, but it fell into a lake and the water restored its energy. It turned into a four-foot tall gecko and attacked the kid. Goshi killed it with a kung-fu move.

Chapter 9
Wish Release

All three eggs were now united and a dragon came out. It was peaceful. It said, “I will grant you a wish.”
Goshi and the kid said, “We wish all the negative energy was gone forever!”

About the Authors

Hi! My name is Jason and I am nine years old. I live with my mom, dad, grandma and sister. This is my second published book. I am also the author of Curses. I like to watch TV, play videogames and play on the laptop. I am good at school, kickball and finding lost objects. I want to be good at building towers. I want to be a pharmacist when I grow up because they don’t have to go to college as long as doctors do. If I could be any animal I would be snake because snakes can slither fast and they can inject poison. My biggest fear is bugs.

Hi! My name is Yong. I am eleven years old and I live with my dad and mom. I like to videogames like the Olympic game on my laptop. I am good at building with Legos because I can make Homer and Harry Potter. When I grow up I want to be a baseball player and a very good scientist. If I could be any animal, I would be a tiger because they are very strong. I am also the author of My Face Is Made out of Gold, Yong and the Dragon and Attack of the Ninjas.

To Momo & From Momo, by Lisa, age 8 & Tiana, age 10

To Momo

I am sorry that my mom held you by the neck
and put you in the bathroom,
I know my mom didn’t like you because you made trouble,
like when you pooed in the living room
When we came back from China you were a grown-up
and you didn’t make trouble anymore,
But after one week we had to give you away
because the building manger didn’t let us keep you
I wish I could see you again
Please forgive my mom.

From Tiana & Lisa




From Momo

I will forgive your mom for holding me by the neck
When she held me this way
her hands felt all sticky
I will also forgive you
for giving me away
After you visited me one day,
I ran away
I wish I didn’t do that
so I could see you again
I am in a new family now
When they hear me purr,
they always pet me
And every time I smell fresh fish
I hiss

Written for Momo by Lisa

To My Rabbit by Sarah, age 8

To My Rabbit

I’m sorry that it was so hot
that you died
I wish you didn’t die
I had to take you to the hospital
so they could burn you up
I was so sad I felt like crying
But then, in my head,
I could see you when you
were two months old
You were so cute
I will remember
how you used to shake
when you were scared

From Sarah

A Smoke of Sadness By Don, age 10

To My Dad
A Smoke of Sadness

I’m sorry you can’t live with me
I never noticed that you
lied to my mom
about smoking and gambling
But I still remember you
You took me to the playground
I would like a father who cares and never lies
But I still had a lot of fun with you
I hear your voice in my mind
even though I don’t see you

From Don

Future Wars by Edmund, age 8 & Nathan, age 9

One hundred years in the future...

The Aliens used their scanner to scan Earth to see if there were real living people on the planet.

“The aliens are heading towards the satellite, use the super searchlight,” Captain Nathan said. He heard DJ music and found out that his soldiers were dancing like ballerinas.

“Stop dancing, you nincompoops!” yelled Captain Nathan. “Get started!”

“Get started on what?” said one of the troops.

“Did you even hear me?” Captain Nathan grabbed a pie from a table. “Eat pie troops!” He threw the pie and it hit one of the soldiers and slipped down his face.

“Oh,” said one of the troops. “Now I remember. Use the super searchlight.” All the troops ran to the searchlight.


“I don’t see an alien,” said Sergeant Edmund.

A minute later, a bell rang in the town. It meant the aliens were coming. They came parachuting down.

“Quickly, eat your hotdogs,” ordered Captain Nathan. The troops ate all their hotdogs then burped really loud. This made the parachutes pop. Spaceships zoomed through the sky.

“Hurry to the space pick-up!” said Captain Nathan. The pick-up threw rockets at the alien spaceships, but the spaceships made it to the ground.

“Charge!” said a glowing alien.

“AAAHHH!” said Captain Nathan.

One minute later, the soldiers yelled, “AAAHHH!”


“Stop!” yelled Captain Nathan. “We’re at the gun shack. Get your guns and hurry back.” The soldiers got their weapons.

“Charge!” yelled Captain Nathan.

“Stop!” yelled Sergeant Edmund. “Who built the gun shack so far away?”

“Well,” said a soldier, “if the gun shack was so—“

“Can you shoot the aliens already!” interrupted Captain Nathan.

The troops’ missile car dashed passed them. It shot its missiles at the aliens. KABOOM! The aliens were dead.

“That was a quick battle,” said one of the troops.

But it was just the beginning.

About the Authors

Hi, my name is Edmund. I’m eight years old. This is my first published book. I like to play games on the computer and watch TV. I also have a humongous collection of Hotwheels. My friends call me the Origami Master because I do lots of origami. One day, I invented a new paper plane. It flew over our balcony! It’s called the Megahawk. If I were an animal I would a saber-toothed tiger because they are furious and I am furious.

My name is Nathan. I am nine years old. I live with my dad, mom and my sister. I like to play videogames. When I grow up I want to be a videogame creator. If I could be an animal I would be a rabbit because they are cute and cuddly. Some day I want to be good at ring tossing. I used to be afraid of zombies because I had dreams about them, but not anymore. Now I have dreams about making friends with computers and I laugh when I sleep. I am also the author of Random and Sparrow and About my Dad.

The Magic Silkworm by Trang, age 10 & Anna, age 9

One day, princess Jenny found a silkworm under a mulberry tree. She thought it was cute and thought it would make a great pet. She picked it up carefully without dropping it and went back to her castle. She didn’t know that the silkworm was magical!
“I’ll put you in a container,” Jenny said, putting the silkworm into a pickle jar. Then she went to sleep. When she was sleeping the silkworm quickly spun silk and made a gown. When Jenny woke up she saw a beautiful gown made out of the silkworm’s cocoon. It shimmered in the light. When the king and queen saw the gown they were amazed.


“Who made this glamorous gown?” the queen said, smiling.

“I don’t know, mother,” said Jenny.

Out of nowhere, the Silkworm Prince appeared and said, “I made it out of my silk.” The Silkworm Prince closed his eyes while he was talking.

“How?” said the King.

“Well I am a silkworm,” said the Prince.

The parents laughed and laughed until they had cramps. The King and Queen did not believe the Silkworm Prince. “He’s dumb,” said the King.

“And he’s useless too,” said the Queen.

“But I am a silkworm!” said the prince.

“I trust you!” said Jenny.

“What?” said the Queen.

“I really love the Silkworm Prince,” said Jenny, “and I think I am going to have two baby girls soon.”

“Who is the father?” The King said.

“The Silkworm Prince!” said Jenny.

“YOU ARE GROUNDED JENNY!” the Queen said. “I mean it! Nothing will change my mind!”

“Noo!” Jenny yelled.

The queen was annoyed.

“I think you’re right, my love,” said the King.

While Jenny’s parents were talking, she left with the Silkworm Prince by tiptoeing out. The silkworm Prince took Jenny to a magical castle and this is where the babies were born. Only people who believed in magic could see it. People who didn’t believe in magic just walked passed it.

The King and Queen noticed Princess Jenny was gone! The king told the bravest knights to find his little girl, but the queen just panicked. The Queen said, “Where’s my baby?”

The knights looked far and near but Jenny was nowhere to be found. Rocky, one of the knight’s sons, believed in magic and other fairytales. He found Jenny in the castle.

“There you are,” said Rocky “You should go home.”

“No way! I don’t want to!” said Jenny. “My Parents are mean and cruel to the Prince and they don’t believe he is a prince!"

“Did you say a silkworm was a prince?” said Rocky.

“Do you have a problem with that?” said Jenny.

“Oh my god lady! Are you nuts?” said Rocky.

“How dare you say that to your future QUEEN,” said Jenny. “You are an insult!”

“How dare you say that to me, you you ... you ...you girly girl,” said Rocky.

Rocky kept on jabbering while Jenny slipped away and locked the door. The Silkworm Prince was right outside and was about to knock on the door. Jenny and the Prince went outside and put wheels under the castle then linked it to their car. When they were about to go, twenty guards show up and surround them. “Halt or else!” said one of the guards. Princess Jenny and the Silkworm Prince were shocked that they got caught. They thought there were no guards. Then the queen came out with the king from behind the guards. The queen took Jenny’s arm tightly and walked her back to their castle and locked Jenny in her room. The king grabbed the Silkworm and put him in the dungeon, leaving the two baby girls crying in the car.

“I will never see my Silkie again,” said Jenny, wiping a tear from her eye.

The Silkworm Prince walked back and forth in the dungeon, saying, “When will I get out of here so I can save my Honeybunch and destroy the king and queen?”

Jenny found a sharp piece of metal and scraped cement off the brick wall in her room. “I hope I’m not too late,” she said, wondering if her babies were dead. She scraped and scraped and made some bricks come loose then she pushed them out and escaped. Jenny found her babies still crying and fed them milk. She crept into her parents’ room and took ten bags of gold and the key to the dungeon and some clothes and lots of food. Jenny let the Silkworm Prince out of the dungeon and they went to the city and bought a house.

“Let’s get married,” said the Silkworm Prince.

“Ok,” Jenny said. “Let’s have a huge cake!”

About the Authors

Hi, my name is Trang. I am also the author of Fox and Bear and My Grandma Lives in Canada. I like Littlest Pet Shop, Sailor Moon, Winx Club and ice-skating. I like Halloween because I get candy and I like Christmas because I get presents.

Hi, my name is Anna. This is my second published book. I am also the author of Wolves. I am nine and a half years old. My favorite subject in school is math. I am good at reading. When I grow up I want to be a veterinarian. My biggest fear is a hundred needles going into my arm. I wonder if dead people can ever come back to life.

Trouble in Horseland by Madeline & Elaine, both age 11

Boom! Crash! A bolt of whitish-yellow light zapped the Earth. It looked like a lightning bolt, but bigger. Sarah and Amy started to float in the air. They saw a golden horse and hopped on to it.
“Hi!” said Sarah.

“Hi!” said The Golden horse. “What are your names? My name is Golden.”

“I’m Sarah,” said Sarah. “And this is Amy. She doesn’t speak that much, so I’ll speak for her.”

“Hey! Who said I don’t speak so often?” said Amy.

“Well, you don’t.”

“Wait a minute I don’t.”

“Stop arguing!” said Golden. “All this arguing is going to my head. And I need is to take you two to Horseland, which is on a cloud so you can beat the mean wizard, Kevin. He has puffy orange eyebrows and has an evil laugh. His teeth stick out and he does a little finger thing with his fingers. Kevin tried to kill our leader Red Ruby. Kevin raised his sword and cut Red Ruby’s back. Then he sprinkled sleeping powder on me. I fainted before she defeated him so I don’t know what happened. But no one likes to talk about it because he killed over half the horses and burnt our houses. We took two decades to rebuild the houses and three decades to restore the horses lives.”

“Why us?” said Sarah.

“Because you are the chosen ones,” said Golden.

“But why are we the chosen ones?” said Sarah.

“Because you floated up here from Earth,” said Golden. “Long ago a really nice witch put a spell on Earth. She said two humans would come and destroy the evil wizard with a sword. The sword would be magical to humans, and only humans. There’s a special shelf in Ruby’s cave. On it is the magical sword, a shield that the people can summon up, and a pink and blue magic flower. The last time the sword was sent out, it didn’t work because it was in my friend, Silver’s hoof. Don’t let Kevin get his hands on the sword. He will destroy every human being on Horseland and Earth. He will take over the world. He’s an evil mastermind. The Ruler is afraid the horses will steal the sword. She thinks they cannot always be trusted. Red Ruby the Ruler will drop the sword when the time is right. And then we can go up to Kevin and stab him.”

“Ok,” Sarah and Amy both said.

“Jinx,” both of them yelled.

“I jinxed you,” said Sarah.

“No I jinxed you,” said Amy.

“Cut that out you two,” said another horse who just showed up.

“Hi! Silver,” said Golden, turning to Sarah and Amy. “This was the friend I was talking about.”

“Hi! Golden,” said Silver. “One of you, get on to my back.”

“Alright,” said Amy.

They raced off to Horseland and saw the wizard Kevin standing under the sign that said WELCOME TO HORSELAND. He was looking into his crystal ball.

Kevin turned around and waved his wand into the air and he said, “ria niht ot ni meht hsinaV.”

The girls and the horses jumped behind the tree.

“Em hctac t’nac uoy,” Kevin said.

“Yes we can,” Golden said.

“t’nac uoy on,” said Kevin.

“Yes we can,” said Silver. Sarah and Amy hopped on to Silver and Sarah hopped on to Golden.

“Tuo emoc llab erif gib,” said Kevin. The four friends caught a big shield that fell out of the sky. The shield had a picture of Red Ruby, the ruler of Horseland on it. They used it to block the fireball that Kevin sent out.

“Stesut u onop se.” Silver knew a little of Kevin’s language.

The magic flower dropped a few seeds on some dirt in Horseland. It grew and grew. It popped right in front of Sarah. She grabbed it and handed it to Amy. Amy ripped a petal off and put it on top of Silver. The flower’s magic made Silver fly faster. She put one on Golden too. A sword fell from the sky.

Sarah caught it. “Go up to Kevin,” she bellowed to the horses, “so I can destroy him with the magical wand.”

Kevin heard her and said, “Em ot emoc drows cigam drows cigam!”

The magic in the wand hit Golden. Golden and Sarah dropped down to the ground. Luckily, Amy had one petal left so she ripped it off and dropped it. Before Golden fell to her death, the petal landed in her mouth and she ate it. The magic saved her life.

Meanwhile, above Horseland Kevin said, “Eid ll’ouy drows eht tuothiw.”

Just then Sarah and Golden floated back up.

“You will pay for this,” said Golden. “You’re selfish, You tried to kill us.” She flew up to Kevin and tried to stab him.

“Nwod gniog er’voy?” said Kevin. He reached for the sword and Golden ducked. Sarah quickly stabbed him.

Red Ruby thanked Sarah and Amy and gave them the magic items. Kevin sank down to Earth. He made a big splash in the Pacific Ocean. He wasn’t dead. The sun made the ocean sparkle and it restored Kevin’s life but his magic was gone.
“I need to go home for dinner now and Amy does too,” said Sarah.

“You can come here whenever you want. Just yell the words, Golden, Silver, Red Ruby, Horseland, we’re coming,” said Golden and Silver.

“And take these,” said Golden.

“What are they?” said Sarah.

“They are special pills that make you fly,” said Golden.

About the Authors

Hi! My name is Madeline! This is my fourth published book. I’m also the author of Things I don’t Believe in Anymore, Sorry and I Hate My Life with you. My favorite animals are penguins. I live with my mom, dad, and sister in San Francisco. I want to travel to different places. I like collecting Little Pet Shop toys.

Hi! My name is Elaine. My favorite animals are tigers. This is my first published book.

Attack of the ipod & the Happy, Tiny Mom by Linda, age 8

A scientist made an experiment with dust. She got the dust under her couch at home. She was trying to make dust that could control electronic things. She took a rocket to Mars and collected green slime that contained dead bugs. She came back to Earth and mixed the slime with the dust from under her couch. The slimy dust started to puff up and flew out an open window and landed on somebody’s ipod.

The ipod began to walk, talk and wack people with its earphones, and torture people. It went to a blue house. The ipod knocked on the door and the owner came out.

The owner said, “Hello?”

The ipod wacked the owner with its earphones. The owner’s face was bloody and it looked like a tiger had scratched him. The ipod went to each neighborhood and wacked everybody in the city. But the ipod didn’t wack a girl named Emily because Emily wasn’t an ordinary girl. She was a super hero named Water Wave. When she was little, Emily got shot by a spray of green, slimy water. She felt something strange. Then she got super powers. She could control water and water animals.

Emily heard a wack!! It was the ipod monster. It was in Emily’s neighborhood. After school Emily heard the wack again. It was still coming from Emily’s neighborhood. She ran home as fast as she could. When Emily got home, she was breathing hard. Emily stopped breathing for a moment. Emily’s parents were gone!! She looked all over the house. Emily heard the wack again. She heard a scream. She heard her mom yelling, “HELP!!”

Emily turned blue and grew scales. Now she was Water Wave. Water Wave saw the ipod take away her mom. “What are you doing with my mom?” Water Wave said. “Mom!!”

“I will experiment on you with my invention, the Shrink Ray,” said the ipod. The ipod found his shrink ray in the middle of town. “Yes,” he said in a deep, dark voice. The ipod went to the Shrink Ray and shrunk Emily’s mom.

Emily’s mom screamed, “Help me!” in a high, squeaky voice.

Water Wave was hiding under a fire hydrant, so she busted it open with her fist. Then a burst of water flew through the air and shot the ipod down to the ground. The ipod exploded in the air and never came back ever. The evil spirit never took over the ipod again.


Emily’s mom saw a tiny man on a leaf in the forest. “Hello?” the tiny mom said.

“Mommy?” said the tiny man.

“What?” said the tiny mom.

“Are you my mommy?”

“No.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m a mom, but not your mom.”

“Do you want to come over for dinner?”

“Sure.”

“Here’s some sauce that I found on the sand,” said Emily’s mom. “You can put it in the chicken that fell from the sky.”

“Uh ok.”

The tiny mom got stuck in the chicken while she tried to pour sauce on it. “Ahhhhhhhh! I’m stuck in the chicken!”

“What?” said the tiny man.

“Help me!”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not tall enough!”

“Climb then!”

“Ok.” So the man found a piece of string and climbed up the chicken then threw it to Emily’s mom. “Hold on to this!”

“Ok!” The woman grabbed onto the string and climbed out. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” The man and the woman ate the chicken and fell asleep and fell in love and got married.


About the Author

Hi, my name is Linda. I am eight and a half years old. I live with my mom, dad, two sisters and a brother. I like to draw and read. This is my first published book. I am scared of bugs and I share a room with my brother. His name is Leslie and he’s sixteen. He takes up a lot of space. My cousins are Ivy, Anthony, Evan, Kevin, and Jackie.

Spymaster's Death by Kimberly & Holly, both age 9

Stink and Ink were running to the Spy Master’s house. The twins were excited to see him because he helped them get rid of their horrible parents. Stink tripped “Ouch,” he said.

Ink helped Stink up then Ink fell down. “Ouch,” Ink said.

They laughed at each other as they got up. They didn’t watch where they were going and slipped and fell again.

“That hurts like running into a pole,” said Ink.

They both got up and dusted themselves off. They were almost at the Spy Master’s house. They saw a banana peel. They decided to jump over it. Instead they landed on it and slipped. They landed on their butts.

“Ouch,” said the pair again.

They got up and knocked on the door, but nobody answered. They saw the window and climbed through it. They found a note on the table.

Dear Stink and Ink,

I know that you climbed through the window. That’s O.K. because it’s Ink’s house now. I am suffocating from lung cancer. So in my Will I am leaving Ink my house and everything I own. Now Ink, you better share the trillion dollars with Stink. The money is on the floor. Please visit me in the hospital. You need to visit me because if you don’t I will haunt you forever, curse you, take back the money, and when you sleep I will give you nightmares.

Sincerely,
The Spy Master


The twins ran as fast as they could to the hospital, rode the elevator up to floor five hundred and five, ran through the wall and ended up in a forest, where many freaky one-eyed monsters lived. The monsters wanted to eat Stink and Ink so they blasted out lasers through their eyes. Stink and Ink grabbed two shields that fell from the sky. The lasers hit the shields and blasted right back into the monsters’ eyes. Their eyes exploded and the monsters died.

“Great,” Stink said. “We just killed twenty monsters that tried to eat us. Now we have to find the way out of this horrible world.”

“Just shut up and go find the way out,” said Ink

“No I have to find the way out and you follow, so you follow me.

“Let me think about that. No! No! No! No! I find a way out and you will follow.”

“Fine be that way, I’ll just find the way out by myself.”

“Fine! Fine! Fine! I’ll follow.”

“Great, I know a short-cut that can never fail and I found it.”

They ran through a forest for thirty minutes. Stink found some sleeping monsters hogging some arrows. Stink and Ink grabbed the arrows and threw them at the monsters’ eyes. Stink and Ink needed to enter a magical vortex to bring them back to Earth or else they would stay in this place forever. A voice spoke over them.

“I will kill you, and you too, I swear,” shouted the Monster King.

The Monster King had five eyes so he shot five lasers at a time. Ink and Stink found five magical spheres and they had five seconds before the spheres blew up. Five, four, three, two, one. The spheres landed in the Monster King’s eye and blew up. The Monster King blew over the mountains, off of the Earth and landed on another planet a hundred trillion miles away, called La! La! Land!

“If we run,” said Stink, “we can get back faster to visit the Spy Master before he dies.”

“I know,” said Ink.

They saw the magical vortex that could bring them back to Earth. They knew about the vortex because the Spy Master had mentioned it before. The vortex was a circle. The vortex shrunk a little bit every minute. When it was half-way gone, they quickly jumped in it and appeared in the Spy Master’s hospital room.


“We got your message,” Ink said. “So here we are.”

“I’m glad you came,” The Spy Master said. “I’ve got something to say. I’m going to die any minute now.”

“Noooooooo!” Stink said.

The heart monitor made a loud beep and the red zigzagging line straightened out.

After the Spy Master was buried, Stink and Ink visited his grave every year. Ink lived in the Spy Master’s house. Every time the twins met, they talked about how great the Spy Master was to them. Even though he left them that threatening note, they still forgave him because he helped Stink and Ink get rid of their horrible parents.

About the Authors

Hi! My name is Holly. I am nine years old. I like to read, write and play. I am good at drawing and running. If I were an animal I would be a cheetah because I can run fast. I really want to be good at kicking someday. When I grow up I want to be an artist. One thing about me that makes me different from other kids is that I like to share.

Hi! My name is Kimberly. I am nine years old and I live in San Francisco with my mom, dad and sister. I like to play Blackjack and I’m good at math. I want to be an artist when I grow up. If I could be any animal, I would be an alligator because alligators have sharp teeth and they eat meat and I love meat! I’m different from other girls because I hang out with boys.

Hua Ying Mei by Tiana, age 10

My mom’s name is Hua Ying Mei. She was born in China on October 10, 1961. When she was a child her family was poor because they had no money. Her parents were really nice because they took care of her and gave her clothes and food. She lived in a city called Toi San. My mom had to walk for transportation because she didn’t have a car or a bike. When she was small she played jump rope with her friends. She had two brothers and two sisters. She ate rice, vegetables, fish and meat. She went to a school with a big field filled with a lot of flowers.

My mom came to San Francisco on January 21, 1991. Hua Ying Mei thought that when she got here it would be fun. She also came here to get more money. Now she is having fun and she has more money. Her first day in San Francisco, she thought the place was beautiful because there were lots of trees and people were nice to her.

My mom’s hobby is sewing clothes for me and my sisters like shirts and jackets. When she was little she sewed too, so she's used to it. Her job is working in a sewing factory. She hates sewing the edges of the clothes together. She likes sewing the middle parts together.

About the Author

Hi my name is Tiana. My mom teaches me to speak and write Chinese. The hardest part of this project was asking my mom follow-up questions because I kept forgetting. The most interesting part of this project was learning about my mom. I turned ten this year. My favorite hobby is ice-skating. This is my third published story. The first story I wrote was "When I was Lost," and my other was "I Hate My Life with You."

My Grandma, Suxiang Chen by Stanley, age 9

My grandma’s name is Suxiang Chen. She was born in 1945 in China. She has four sisters and one brother. When she was young she just worked. She did not play games. She had to feed animals and sell things to get money. She went to school, but only for first grade. Her mom had to sell a warm jacket to get money to pay for the school. She ate rice and soup, but only a little bit. Sometimes there was no food. Her family had to grow rice and my grandma worked in the rice paddy when she was little.

My grandma came to San Francisco on October 15, 2003 to live with my family. She came so she could have a better life. Her fist day in San Francisco she went to a Chinese restaurant. Her first day here was exciting!

My grandma likes to look at pictures of China in books. They help her remember China. Sometimes I look at them with her and I see the places my grandma took me when I was little.

About the Author

My name is Stanley. I like math and science. I also like doing papier mache. I chew on my sleeves. I don’t know why. I like to play kickball. I am also the author of "The FF 200," "Monst Bump" and “The Number Nine Bus.”

Disaster Cake By Michelle W., age 11 & Nhung, age 8

“Let’s make a cake for mommy and daddy!” Jenny said, jumping up and down.

“Ok!” Benny agreed. They ran inside. When they looked in the living room they saw an old lady. It was their baby-sitter. She slept on the couch. She snored.

“What a rip-off! This baby-sitter is lame,” Jenny complained. “Anyways, let’s go make that cake!” Benny and Jenny froze and stopped Nhung and Michelle.

“Wait a minute!” Benny said. “Do we even know how to make a cake?”

“We’ve seen Mom make a cake for my birthday,” Michelle said.

“Where is the recipe book?” Nhung said.

“Let’s do it ourselves!” Michelle suggested.

“Okay, to the kitchen!” Nhung said.

Benny and Jenny went to the living room and found a black and white magic wand under their couch.

“Hey, Jenny, come here!” Benny said.

“Where did you get that wand?” Jenny said, her eyes widening.

“I found it under the couch!” Benny said. “Let’s use it.”

“Okay!” Jenny said.

They got a bowl, spoon, scissors, salt, ice cream, onion, rotten eggs, and play dough. Nhung poured ice cream into the bowl. Michelle poured in the salt and started to mix it. Nhung carefully placed the rotten eggs in the bowl, got a spoon, and crushed the eggs. Michelle broke the wand into bits. She threw it in the bowl. Nhung placed the play dough in. They also dropped in the scissors and Jenny chopped the onion. She sniffled and cried. Michelle gave the bowl to Benny.

“Here, Benny,” said Michelle. “Put this somewhere safe.”

“Okay!” Benny said.

“I’m going to ride my tricycle. I’ll be back in thirty minutes.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Nhung said, sitting on the couch watching television with the baby-sister.

The baby-sitter was still sleeping and she didn’t wake up.

“Is she dead?” Jenny said, poking the baby-sitter.

“Wait Michelle!” Benny shouted.

Michelle wasn’t there.

“Hey, Jenny,” Benny yelled.

“What?” Jenny said.

“Put this cake batter somewhere.”

“Ok…,” Jenny said. “But where?”

“I don’t know put it anywhere.”

Jenny walked to the bathroom. She carefully put the bowl in the toilet and gently closed the lid.

“I’m going to go back to Michelle’s room to sleep on her soft, warm, furry bed,” Nhung said, yawning.

“Who cares what you do!” Benny said, ignoring Nhung.

Michelle opened the door. “Where’s the cake?” she asked.

“It’s in the toilet,” Jenny said.

“WHAT!?” Michelle said, growling. “Are you an idiot? I meant in the refrigerator!”

“You never mentioned that! Next time, be specific!” Jenny said.

They baked the cake. They got a shovel from their dad’s closet. When the cake was done, they took it outside to the yard. They squirted some frosting on it and put candles on top. It was as wide as ten arms. They also poured spicy sauce on top.

“Done,” said Nhung.

“Me and Benny are going to the candy store and the park. Bye,” Jenny said.

“Okay. Bye,” Nhung said. When they left, a man and a woman came along.

“Ooh, that cake looks delicious. Mind if we try a piece?” the woman asked.

“Sure,” Nhung said. Then she cut two pieces of the cake.

“Thank you,” the man said. They took a bite. Then they choked. They collapsed and slowly died. The girls gasped.

“Oh my god! Are they dead?” Nhung asked. “I can’t believe they’re dead!”

“But how!?” Michelle stared at the cake. “The cake!”

“What about it?” Nhung said.

“The cake killed them.”

“Michelle, That’s the most ridiculous thing I ever heard in my life. A cake can’t move!”

“No,” said Michelle. “I mean that the cake is poisonous!”

“But we didn’t put poison in the cake.”

“Maybe it’s something else we put in the cake.”

“Then what did we put in the cake?”

“The wand! It still had magic in it! I thought it was a toy wand!” Michelle said.

Then Michelle put her finger to her head. The cake started to move.

“Grrrr,” the cake growled.

“I-it’s alive!” Nhung said.

“Ahhh!” Michelle screamed.

“Who ate me?!” the cake said, snarling.

“These people did, but blame us,” Michelle said.

“WHAT?! Are you out of your mind? We are going to be killed!” Nhung said, yelling.

“It’s a risk I’m going to take!” Michelle said.

She ran to the kitchen and found two toy knives.

“What are you doing?” Nhung said.

Michelle threw one knife at the cake. The cake started to get angry and grabbed Nhung.

“Help me, Michelle,” Nhung said.

The cake squeezed Nhung. Her face started to turn green. The cake grabbed a chunk of itself and shoved it in Nhung’s mouth. Then threw Nhung to Michelle. Michelle caught Nhung. Nhung was barely breathing. The cake was about to eat them both. Michelle went to her mom’s room and got a syringe from her mom’s drawer. Michelle was lucky that her mom was a surgeon. Then she went to her own room and looked under her bed. She found five water balloons, a slingshot, twelve rocks, and ten rubber bands. She went to her closet. She found a water gun in her jacket. She was lucky that she went to Great America with Nhung the day before and bought a water gun. She went to her Dad’s room and got a sack from his closet. Michelle carefully placed the stuff from under her bed in the sack then ran outside. The cake was about to eat Nhung.

“Stop,” Michelle said. Then the cake spit Nhung out. “I want to spar with you!”

“Fine,” the cake said, looking disgusted.

“Prepare to die,” Michelle said. Then Benny and Jenny came back.

“Hey, a talking cake,” Benny said, staring at the cake and drooling on his lollipop.

“Oohh, cake,” Jenny said. She dropped her lollipop and started to drool. “Mmm.” They stuck their hands in the cake and ate it.

“Nooo!” Michelle said, opening her mouth and running toward Benny, but it was too late. Benny swallowed it. In ten seconds Benny and Jenny choked and died.

“Nooo!” Michelle cried. Her tears were like rain on a hot day. Michelle growled. “You crossed the line.” She got the other toy knife and ran to the cake. She ran so fast that it looked like she was invisible.

“Where are you, ya little twerp,” the cake said, confused.

“Look up!” Michelle said. Michelle stabbed it in the head and threw the water balloons at it.

“Aahh!” the cake groaned, and swiped away the sack.

“Hey!” Michelle said, frowning.

On her velvet belt was her syringe and one of the rocks. She threw the rock at the cake’s head and it turned black and began to rot. She used the syringe to suck up the cake’s blood. She injected it into Nhung, Jenny, and Benny. Then they began to move.

“Ohh, what happened?” Benny said, throwing up.

“Eww! I will never eat cake again,” Jenny said, gagging.

“We sure learned our lesson!” Benny said.

“What lesson?” said Michelle, grinning.

“Never eat a cake possessed by magic that someone put in a toilet,” said Jenny.

“I totally agree!” Nhung said, swallowing her vomit.

The kids’ mom and dad returned.

“We’re back!” Mom said, smiling. “I brought cake from Reno. Who wants some?

“They’re DELICIOUS!” Dad said.

“NOO!” the kids yelled.


About the Authors

Hi, my name is Michelle. I am eleven years old. I have pet dogs and puppies. Marina, Mac and Mark are the puppies and Maya and Mickey are the dogs. I’m also the author of Hard Times for Butterblock and Pixie Trouble.

Hi, my name is Nhung. I’m about to be nine. My birthday is on August 21. My favorite sports are ice-skating and swimming. This is my second published book. I am also the author of The Flying Car.

.

How We Made our Class Mural by Holly & Kimberly, both age 9

At the beginning of the year, we got new lockers in our classroom, but actually they were not new. They were ugly and grey so we decided to cover them with a big collage of San Francisco.

We collected drawings, magazine clippings, pictures of street signs, pictures of kids in our class and photos of San Francisco landmarks.

The buildings are the biggest parts of the mural. To make them, first we drew the shapes of the buildings on paper. Then we cut them out and used sponges to paint them. We made window frame stamps out of foam and stamped the window frames onto the buildings then we cut out the windows and put pictures behind them so it looks like people are peeking out. We collected pictures of our families and put them behind the windows too and glued everything to the lockers with Mod Podge.

When you look at the road, you will see that it looks like a fantasy. First, we ripped up Chinese and English language newspapers and glued the pieces together into collages and used crumpled paper to paint the collages grey. Then our teacher cut the collages into sections of the road and we pasted them together on the mural. The road is sort of like a zigzag. When you look at the sky on the mural you will see stars, space ships, rockets and a helicopter.

Weird Thingy by Phong, age 10 & Jason, age 9

Bumpy and the Icebird by Kenny, age 9

Bumpy, Cutie and Bubble were at the Power House. The Power House had thunder, water, grass, fire and ice candy.

When they came in, Cutie said, “The man that gave thunder candy to Bumpy has to be here.” Then the man came.

“I am sorry to keep you waiting,” said the man. “I am looking for the Icebird. She will come out later. Right now she is resting up.”

When Bumpy, Bubble and Cutie came out of the Powerhouse, the man gave thunder candy to Bumpy and Bumpy ate it. The thunder went into Bumpy’s tail. The tail was gold and it was beautiful. The three friends went home. Bubble said, “Bumpy, your body is gold too.”

Suddenly there was a crash.

Cutie said, “Look the Icebird is freezing the whole town.’’

“What makes you say that, Cutie?” asked Bubble.

“Look,” shouted Cutie.

“Oh no,” Bubble said. “The Icebird froze us but not Bumpy.”

Bumpy ran so fast. Bumpy ran away from the house. The Icebird was mad at Bumpy so she tried to crush him but his gold body crushed the Icebird back because the candy gave him powers.


The Icebird said, “I will crush you with my ice power and you will die.”

Then Bumpy and the Icebird ran into each other. Bumpy tried to rest but he couldn’t because if he did, he would die and he didn’t want to die, so he kept going. Bumpy used his thunder power to push back the Icebird and she fell down in a hole dull of fire and lava and she died. The frozen house melted because the lava from the hole splashed on the street and made it so hot.

Bubble hugged Cutie and Bumpy. The man that gave Bumpy the thunder candy said, “Thank you.”


About the Author

Hi! My name is Kenny. I am nine years old. I like Pokemon and my favorite subjects are Writers’ Workshop and drawing. My biggest fear is getting bugs in my house. I am also the author of Bumpy’s Day.

MUNI Moments: An Occasional Series

During one of our class discussions about where to look for writing ideas, the topic of MUNI came up. MUNI is the bus system here in San Francisco. We rely on it for class field trips. Sometimes MUNI gets you where you want to go pretty fast, sometimes it doesn't. But either way, it's ripe with writing possibilities. Below is another "MUNI Moments" story by Stanley, age 9.





The Number Nine Bus
By Stanley

One time in San Francisco I saw a man eating a pie on the number nine bus. He had a purple backpack. The man had ripped pants and band-aids all over his eyes and he can see through the little holes in the band-aids. His backpack was a mess. It was covered in band-aids too. The man’s backpack was moving. Maybe a hamster was playing with paper inside of it. Here are ten things I think the man had in his backpack:

1. band-aids, because he might get hurt
2. a gun, so he can be safe
3. tape, to tape on the band-aids that fall off
4. glue
5. a notebook, to write about his hamster in
6. a pen, to write with
7. a pencil, to write with too
8. 2 water bottles with black water in them
9. a crinkling sound
10. a silver-black sharp thing

The man took a knife out of his backpack to cut the pie. When he finished, he got up to leave and put the knife on the seat then he got out of the bus. Everyone saw the knife, but no one sat on it or picked it up.

About the Author

My name is Stanley. I am eight years old. I live with my grandma, dad, mom and brother. I like to play legos. I am good at math. Someday I want to be good at sitting still. When I grow up I want to be a policeman because I love fighting. This year I want to learn to write better. It scares me when my teacher Robyn talks about diseases. I wonder if wild animals go on trips.

Swirling Pink Tornado by Bernice, age 10

“What are you going to be for Halloween?” asked Loretta.

“What do you mean?” whispered Tina. “I never wear a costume. I don’t even celebrate it except for the part where you go trick-or-treating.”

Loretta looked puzzled. “What? You don’t celebrate it? Why? I always celebrate it and it’s so fun.”

Ring ring. “Time to go to class,” said Tina.

“Hey, wait for me.”

But Tina was already in the classroom.

“Darn, that brainless Tina left me behind, and now I have to run. Great, my clothes are sweaty,” Loretta said to herself, digging in her backpack for perfume.

I’m a Barbie girl in a super world. Loretta’s cell phone was ringing. Loretta stopped looking in her backpack and answered her call.

“Hello, who is it?” Loretta said.

“Hi, it’s mom. Remember to eat healthier.”

“Whatever.”

“Loretta absent, again!” Mr. Husha yelled, combing his fingers through his beard.

Loretta was still in the hall.

“Ahhh! I’m late,” shrieked Loretta, running across the hall. “Finally I’m here.”

As Loretta reached for the pink glittered door, Mr. Husha swung it open.

“Hey you almost hurt my pretty little fingers,” Loretta said.

“If you ever come late you’re going to kiss the floor a hundred times!” Mr. Husha screamed, showing his silver and gold teeth.

Loretta was shocked and really embarrassed so she ran to her seat.

“Yippie! It’s Halloween and you know what I do every Halloween.” The class was silent and wondered what Mr. Husha would do.

“I bet that he’s going to give us a packet of homework,” said a boy in a green striped sweater.

“Well you’re wrong, Greeny,” said Mr. Husha. “You are going to go trick-or-treating and share all the candy with me except the mints.”

“Great, now I need a costume. Mr. Husha is now more than crazy,” Tina whispered to Loretta.

“To tell you the truth, you don’t need a costume. You’re already ugly so you can be the ugly step-sister in Cinderella and I can be Cinderella. All you need to do is to wear any old dress and paint a beauty mark on your face, ” Loretta whispered back.

“Uh, you think I’m ugly, you’re just not a real friend I am so not your friend,” Tina wrote on a paper she passed to Loretta.

Loretta said nothing and kept on thinking about what Tina had written. After class Tina started to hang out with Mura Lamba, the girl who had once stolen Loretta’s shiny pens.

Loretta was still angry about what Tina said to her and started to think of revenge.

During lunchtime Loretta secretly went to the janitor’s closet where the janitor lied around drunk and smelly. When Loretta got to him she wondered why the principal didn’t fire him.

“Hey Mr. Janitor can you give me a bucket of super dirty smelly and nasty black water,” Loretta said, pinching her nose because of the awful smell.

“So what will you give me?” the janitor answered.

“I’ll give you my chocolate cookie and one dollar and fifty cents so you can take the bus home,” Loretta said.

“I don’t live in a home, I live in my beautiful janitor's closet,” moaned the janitor.

Hiedi stared at the closet and was curious about why he liked it. There were spider webs that hung like leaves and bottles of chemicals piled up like football players.

“You call your closet beautiful but it’s smelly and dirty, I mean look at that dust and cobwebs. Don’t you ever go outside?” asked Loretta.

“Yeah yeah, this is my home, and I know you’re jealous of my pretty little home. So about the deal -- add a new pair of Superman underwear and you got a deal,” said the janitor.

“How about two more cookies?” asked Loretta.

“Ok, but I want an oatmeal and toilet paper topping,” the janitor sang, waving his beer bottle.

Then Loretta secretly went to Rite-Aid to buy some cookies. As she walked, a swirling pink tornado sucked her up.

“Ahhhh,” Loretta screamed. Wait a minute, if I don’t scream I won’t sound like a baby Loretta thought. So she said nothing and closed her eyes. This is so cool maybe if aliens are watching me they might think that I’m cool too,. When Loretta opened her eyes she was in a van decorated with lots of funky colors. There were about a thousand glow-in-the-dark peace signs stuck on the wall.

“Where am I and why does this van look so funky?” Loretta said to herself.

The air smelled like it just rained.

Just then a woman with a peace necklace, rainbow headband and brown hair as long as a small intestine (which is, I think is 20 feet) came into the van.

“Who are you and how did I get here?” Loretta asked the lady in front of her.

“I am you and I summoned you to come. I’m your future you.”

“Are you really, really the future me?” Loretta asked.

“Yes child, please don’t be alarmed about how I look. It doesn’t matter.

“So why am I even here and how did you get me to come?”

“Well I just happen to have some powers. Your question about why you’re here is about your plan for revenge.” future Loretta said.

“What about it? Is it going to ruin my life?”

“Well, when it happened I (or you) got in serious trouble, when Tina got wet her parents yelled at me then soon I was kicked out of the school. I couldn’t go to any school because they wouldn’t accept me.”

“So did your parents kick you out? How did you even get your education?” Loretta asked, staring at her future.

“Well, my parents kicked me out for the week so I went downtown to get a job. I played music with my guitar in the streets and people tried to take me to Child Protective Services.”

“Did anyone adopt you?”

“I don’t want to talk about that.”

Grrrr ring.

“Time is up child, remember what might happen.”

Just then the pink tornado reappeared and took Loretta back to school.

Think about it, Loretta told herself, landing in the empty hall. Hmm I better not do it. I don’t want to be kicked out of school. She thought and thought. “Ahh, I made up my mind I’m not going to spill anything." Loretta looked at her reflection on the shiny lockers.

Ring... ring.... ring.

Everyone was dashing out of doors, trying to get home as fast as they could but not Loretta or Tina.

“Hey I’m sorry. I will never make any rude comments and never do any tricks and will always tell you the truth,” Loretta said.

“Sure,” Tina said, laughing like heck.

“Okay I was going to spill dirty water on you,” Loretta said.

Just then Mura Lamba and the janitor came carrying a bucket of dirty water.

“Where’s my cookie?” they both asked.

Loretta stared at Tina.

“You were planning on that too?” Loretta asked.

“No, I just hired Mara to spill it on the stinky janitor so one day he’ll take a bath,” Tina said.

“I think that’s a pretty good plan,” Loretta said.

“You just pretended to be my friend so you could spill dirty water on the janitor?” Mara said, gritting her teeth.

“You call me stinky? Well I have a surprise for you,” the janitor yelled.

Then the janitor and Mara spilled dirty water on Loretta and Tina’s backpacks.

“Iiiilllllll,” Loretta and Tina yelled, dumping their backpacks in the lost and found box.

“If Mr.Husha asks, where our homework is, just say that your baby cousin threw up on it,” Tina said, pointing at their smelly backpacks.

“Good plan,” Loretta said, as they both walked to the door.

“Bye bye,” Loretta said, running to the bus.

The 9x arrived full of old ladies with long canes and hair as white as coconut meat. Tina climbed up the steps and Loretta ran to the 9ax bus, both waving their hands goodbye.


About the Author

Hi my name is Bernice. I’m ten years old and I live in San Francisco with my mom, dad, brother, and sister. I am good at origami and making clay sculptures. Someday I want to be good at math and science. When I grow up I want to be a doctor, cook, or a sculptor.

Three Poems by Nathan, age 9

A Playground in my Room

Dreams of videogames
Lego people come to life
Toy soldiers with fake guns

Good Story

Dad cooks me eggs because
He knows I like them
and I like fighting games and
spooky things
with blinking eyes
under the bed

Stealing Treasures

A magic knife under the bed
I pick it up
I put it back down
Powder falls on the knife
Then water falls on the powder
The knife comes to life
It flies around
and cuts open locks
and steals treasures

Sorry by Madeline, age 10

Chicken

This is how my mom kills chickens. She holds up the chicken and cuts its neck with a knife. The neck looks like a broken rubber band. She takes a dish and she grabs the chicken and all the blood comes out. She cooks the blood and it turns into a solid and it looks like jelly. She pulls all the feathers out and she cooks the chicken on the stove. When it’s finished we eat it. My sister likes it but I don’t. My mom tries to make me eat it, but I only pretend to eat it. I don’t really like meat because it is too hard to swallow.


Turtles

This is how my mom kills turtles. She cuts off the shell, and gives it to me and my sister to play with. We pretend it’s a bowl and we pretend we are dolls drinking tea, but in real life we don’t really like tea. While we play with the shell my mom puts the turtle in a pot of boiling water on the stove. Sometimes I peek in the kitchen and look at what my mom is doing, but she tells me, “Go play.” When it’s finished, my sister grabs all the legs for herself because those are the best parts. I never want to eat it, but my mom says, “You have to eat it.” I swallow it without chewing.


Fish

This is how my mom kills fish. She scrapes the scales off the fish, and throws them in the garbage can. They sound like Rice Krispies popping when they land on each other. Then she puts the fish on a dish. Sometimes she boils it in soup and puts ginger and soy sauce on it. My sister likes it but not me.


Ducks

This is how my mom kills ducks. She cuts the neck and squeezes it upside-down and the blood drops into the sink like red raindrops. Then she pulls the feathers off in little clumps. She boils it in a pot. My mom makes me eat this too even though I don’t like it.


About the Author

Hi! My name is Madeline. I am also the author of "Things I Don’t Believe in Anymore" and "I Hate My Life with You." I was in fourth grade when I wrote "Sorry" but now I'm in fifth. I have a younger sister and I live in San Francisco.

Bumpy's Day by Kenny, age 9

The lightning flashed on the playground. The playground was messy. Leaves and garbage were all over the place. I found a dog. He was alone. He had thunder powers. His eyes looked like fireballs. I took him home. I called him Bumpy. I gave him food and he ate it. Bumpy was playing ball. Then many robots came to my house and tried to burn it down. Bumpy used his thunder powers to burn the robots. One robot was red. He had a green gun. The robot was getting my Bumpy. The robot was also shooting his gun everywhere.

Bumpy bit one of the robots. Then two robot bosses showed up. They had two guns in their hands.

“You are not going beat our boss,” said one of the robots. “Now give us that dog!”

The robots had 16 lives. They were made of steel. They had fire power. Bumpy killed the robots two times. Then I started to fight. I kicked and punched and tripped the robots.


Then one friendly robot blasted bubbles out of his gun. “Are you alright?” he said.

“I’m alright,” I said. “My name is Bubble. I have water power. My dog has thunder power. How about you? Do you have powers?"

“My name is Scissors and my power is shooting poison. Will you be my friend?”

“Yes, I will be your friend.”

We dug a hole to make a hiding place to hide from the bad robots. We went inside and brought tools with us to change Scissor’s batteries.

About the Author

Hi! My name is Kenny. I am nine years old. My birthday is January 1. I have one brother. His name is Kevin. This is my first published story. My family and I live in San Francisco. I like Pokemon a lot.

Tinkle Sprinkle by Jeff and Phong, both age 10

Tinkle Sprinkle fell asleep with the TV blaring. A show about a crazy local lunatic trying to destroy the world was on. Two heroes showed up and stopped the world from Armageddon.

“Twelve o’clock,” said Tinkle Sprinkle. “Time for the wedding, I better not be late.” He reached the wedding in time. He took his spot and asked, “Do you, Frosty, take Fat Rat Man as your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do,” said Fat Rat Man.

“And, do you, Fat Rat Man, take Frosty as your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do.

“By the power vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you man and wife.”

Tinkle Sprinkle jumped up and threw off his cover and just sat there in bed breathing hard. He wondered what his dream was about and fell back asleep.


“Munch Crunch Munch Mmmm donuts,” said Tinkle Sprinkle, the only superhero who lived in Donutville, the village where radioactive donuts and chocolates lived. Donutville had houses made out of red chocolate. Dountville stood on a donut-shaped island next to a 100,000-mile mountain. They had to be careful because rockslides could kill them. Everybody loved fake cannibalism because they thought it made them the king.

While he was eating, an arrow made of blue cheese hit Tinkle Sprinkle in the face. He turned around just in time to slam into Fat Rat Man, the most victorious rat in the world, but Fat Rat Man bit Tinkle Sprinkle’s jelly-filled belly.

Tinkle Sprinkle screamed, “Owwwwww,” and threw poisonous shrunken donuts made out of babies with rabies. Tinkle Sprinkle suspected that Fat Rat Man was up to something. So when Fat Rat Man was about to leave, Tinkle Sprinkle bugged him with an electronic spying device.

Fat Rat Man ran into his Fat Rat lair in the hills, screaming, “Fat Rat crew attack!” His crew followed his instructions and stole all the food sources from Donutville so they could get fatter and real Donutville donuts would starve to death.

Tinkle Sprinkle listened to the bug on Fat Rat Man and he heard the crew’s plans. Tinkle Sprinkle waited until they stole every food source then refilled the donut supply from his sticky armpits.

Tinkle Sprinkle yelled, “Angus donut, attack!” Tinkle Sprinkle was also an Angus Donut, but his boss was on vacation, so Tinkle Sprinkle was in charge for now. Frosty, the Angus donut jumped out and threw flaming donuts at the Fat Rat crew, burning them to death. One of the crewmembers shot rotten cheese at Frosty.

Tinkle Sprinkle said, “P.U,” and shot a gallon of white glaze at Fat Rat Man’s mouth. Fat Rat Man started to puke like a pig. Whoosh! Suddenly Fat Rat Man turned around and puked a great tornado of white glaze at Tinkle Sprinkle.

Tinkle Sprinkle dodged the tornado, shouting, “Fat Rat is a yuck, who has a rubber duck, every time he turns around it goes cluck cluck.” Fat Rat Man got so angry his blood boiled and his tail blew up turquoise, oozing blood. The drops of blood fell like hail on Frosty’s head and he fell to the ground like an old building hit by a wrecking ball.

Frosty suddenly said, “What can I do for you, sir?” Fat Rat Man’s blood could control people, and Fat Rat Man controlled Frosty.
Fat Rat Man knew that he could only control Frosty for a limited time. So Fat Rat Man told Frosty to dance like a ballerina so he could kick Frosty’s butt. After Frosty danced for one minute, Tinkle Sprinkle shoved some warm milk in Frosty’s mouth. All of a sudden, Frosty danced like Bill Clinton.

Frosty screamed like a rock star. He said, “Ooo yeah I like that Fat Rat Man, huh. I love Fat Rat Man! He’s my idol!” Tinkle Sprinkle reached for Fat Rat Man’s minivan and slammed Frosty with it.

Fat Rat Man was so angry he screamed, “Cheesy donuts, attack!!!!!!!.” Suddenly a loud rumble broke out and rocks fell on everybody’s head.

“Ahhhhhh!!!!!” Everyone in Donutville screamed as rocks fell on their heads. When the rocks finally stopped, everybody was dead.

About the Authors

Hi! My name is Phong and I am a crazy 10-year-old lunatic who plays on the computer. I usually play Boy Tipping on nick.com, Pokemon Diamond, and Naruto Clash of Ninja 2 on Game Cube with Jeff when he comes to my house. This is my third published story. I am also the author of Nine Nightmares and Peanut Butter Zombo.

Hi. My name is Jeff and I like to play on the computer. I also like to play two square with my friend Phong. This is my second published story. I am also the author of A Sky Without Clouds.