HARVEST TIME! By Alex, age 8

Last fall we planted purple kale, rainbow chard and lettuce in Room 2's garden. Yesterday we finally harvested all of our winter greens. Look at all the colors. The chard has green leaves, and red or yellow stalks and veins. Yesterday, we ate lettuce with sesame dressing. Today, we will steam the chard and kale with rice for lunch. We will eat light brown rice because it has nutrition in it. We will eat it with soy sauce or sesame dressing. Next week we will plant beans. We can’t grow tomatoes because Tenderloin summers are too foggy.

THE BEAUTIFUL LADY By Liyi, age 8

Birds flew across an orange sky. Squirrels jumped through dead leaves on the ground. The sun was setting over the sea. Children climbed the monkey bars and grown-ups ate icecream on benches.

“Why are you crying?” Ann asked her sister.

Katy did not answer. She opened her notebook and wrote the words Beautiful lady.

Ann saw what she wrote. “Who’s that?”

“I don’t know,” Katy said.

“Come on, Katy, just tell me.”

“Let’s go home.”

“No!” Katy said. “Aren’t you going to tell our parents that you’re sad?”

Katy did not answer.

“Come on Katy, answer me. Just say something.”

Katy kept crying.

“Don’t cry Katy. It’s getting late. Let’s go home.”

Katy stopped crying and said, “Ok.” She turned left.

Ann pointed right and said, “Home is that way.”

“I know a short cut.” Katy tiptoed to the monkey bars without Ann.

Ann walked home alone. At the door, she felt a prickle at her back. She took it off and looked inside. She saw a porcupine climbing on her books. “How did that get there?” she said. She felt something wet on her back and it hurt a lot. “Mom!” she called.

Ann’s mom hurried over to her. “What happened?”

“A porcupine got in my backpack and it poked me!”

Ann’s mom carried her to the hospital. The doctor put medicine in the pokes and kept the porcupine and did some tests on it to see if it was poisonous.


When Ann returned home from the hospital she could not find Katy. She looked everywhere. She went outside and finally she found her at the park. “Where have you been? What are you doing out here?”

“Umm. Nothing, “ Katy said. “I just stayed here.”

“Let’s go home and go to bed.”

“Ok,” Katy said.

At home Ann asked Katy, “Can you please tell me who the beautiful lady is?”

“No,” Katy said.

“Just tell me Katy.”

“No.”

“I’m telling mom.”

“Then I’m telling dad that you are bothering me,” Katy said.

“Fine,” Ann said. “I won’t tell mom.”


At school the next day, Katy met a new kid named Jennifer. She was good at hula-hooping and she had smooth hair.

“Hi,” Katy said to Jennifer.

Jennifer did not say anything

“You did not even tell me your name,” Katy said. “Who’s your teacher?”

“Ms. Water. Who’s your teacher?”

“My teacher is Mr. Sock,” Jennifer said.

“Are you scared?” Katy said.

“No,” Jennifer said. “Why should I be scared?”

“Because Mr. Sock is so mean. Once he said GET OUT OF HERE to me and my sister, but we didn’t do anything wrong.”
The bell rang and everyone went home.

In the schoolyard Ann saw Jennifer. They stared at each other. They recognized each other from preschool. Ann remembered the first time she saw Jennifer. Ann and Katy were building a palace and a castle out of blocks. Jennifer came over to them and knocked over their kingdom then she grabbed Katy and said, “What do you want to play now?”

Ann and Jennifer said hi to each other on the yard and started to fight and shout. Then they went home and took baths. Ann went to bed and fell asleep. She had a dream that she hit Jennifer’s head and gave her amnesia. Ann was the master of Jennifer, but when Ann woke up she was not.


The next morning Ann and Katy got dressed. Their mom said, “Quickly, you’re getting late for school.”
Ann and Katy ate breakfast while their dad drank tea. They went to school. At recess they played tag. When recess was over their teacher gave them a math test. Ann gave Katy a note. It said, Katy, I know who is beautiful lady. Sophie told me Jennifer is beautiful lady.

Katy wrote a note back. It said, How did Sophie tell you? I told her not to tell anyone. I was so scared I cried. I knew Jennifer was coming, that’s the reason I cried too.

Ann read the note and wrote back: Why did you cry?

Katy wrote: I think Jennifer is going to make some trouble between us like in preschool.

Ann read the note and the girls quickly finished their math tests and gave them to their teacher. They put their chairs up and went home. Their mom was in the kitchen on the telephone. She hung up and looked at the girls. “That was the hospital,” she said. “They got the results of the porcupine tests. They found out the porcupine belongs to a girl in your class named Jennifer.”

“How can a test tell you that?” Katy said.

“I don’t know. It’s science.”

“I knew Jennifer did that kind of stuff,” Ann said.

The next day at recess, Ann pushed Katy on the swing. The girls talked and giggled. Jennifer was jumping rope. She stopped jumping and walked over to the where Ann and Katy were swinging. “Hey,” she said. “Could I play?”

Katy and Ann closed their mouths.

About the Author

Hi! My name is Liyi. I am eight years old. I live in San Francisco with my mom. I am good at math and hula-hooping. I want to be good at painting. When I grow up I want to be an astronaut because I want to see what everything in space looks like. I hate kickball. I’d rather get shots than play kickball. English confuses me when two different words sound the same. If I were a planet I would be Pluto because it is icy and I like to make people shiver. I wish I wasn’t so shy because sometimes I just stand there. The Beautiful Lady is my first published book.

CONNIE'S MAGIC By Anny, age 8

It is cold and windy. Connie flies in the sky with the birds. She doesn't have any friends but she has a magic wand. She found it behind the trees.

Her stepmother calls to her in the sky. "It’s time to make cakes."

Connie leaves the sky. She goes to the kitchen. Her stepsister Ling is at the table. Connie asks her for help. "Get the sugar and milk and eggs," Connie says.

Ling says, "No."

Connie stomps to the cupboard and takes out the flour." I wish you would leave if you're not going to help," Connie yells.

Ling throws all of the eggs on the floor and steps on them.

"Get out!" Connie says. Connie goes to her stepmother. "Mei," Connie says. "Ling's bothering me."

"I am not!" Ling says.

"Don't talk to Ling like that," Connie's stepmother says. "Go to your room and stay there.”


Connie flies back to the sky. She hears music. On top of a sky mountain there is a girl playing a flute. The girl flies away and Connie follows her. She catches up with her on the other side of the sky mountain. "What is your name," Connie asks.

"Hi! My name is Amy."

Connie asks if she can be Amy's friend. "Don't let my stepmother and my stepsister know we're friends," says Connie.

“Why not?”

“They are mean.”

“How?”

“They always tell me to do everything.”

“I’ll save you,” Amy says. “Let's use our magic to get to my garden.”

"But l don't how to use my magic," says Connie.

"What do you mean you don't know how to use your magic? You’re flying! I will show you one time only. Here's how. First, point your magic wand at the ground, that's all."


The girls fly to Amy’s backyard. They fill cans with water and pour it over the flowers. Their petals open and the flowers have faces underneath. The flowers stare at Amy and Connie then start to chat. The petals of a red rose blow open. Its mouth moves. Its sharp teeth shine. “Hi,” the rose says. “Welcome to our garden.”

About the Author

Hi! My name is Anny. I am eight years old. I live in San Francisco with my mom and dad. I like to play the keyboards. I am good at writing and swimming. I want to be good at math someday and I wish I were better at drawing. I want to be a nurse when I grow up so I can help people. I don’t get why preschool teachers in China don’t let us hug our moms and dads. If I were a tree I would be a redwood tree so that I could grow tall. This is my first published book.

STARING THROUGH TEARS By San, age 9

Look

You step off the plane into the Hanoi airport and your life changes. Airport workers hold up signs that say which way to go. People pull their suitcases behind them as they walk. Long lines form. Motorcycles on the road speed by. Confused faces wonder, What will I experience in Vietnam?

Smell

Smells of mit in baskets fill the air. The fruit is thick and yellow, pokey on the outside but smooth on the inside. Baskets of rice hang from poles women wear across their tired shoulders. They say, Ai muon mua com? Dust flies in the air and you walk through it. It looks like you’re staring through tears. Wear a gauze mask to protect yourself.

Listen

Horns honk around 4pm. It's rush hour. School bells ring. Restaurant workers bang on pots, shuffle noodles and chop meat. Customers close the door, which makes a screech. Policemen blow horns. They want the cars to move. It is very crowded and noisy. The streets have no lanes. They make me think of tangled hair.

Taste

Try famous Vietnamese dishes like spring rolls or pho. When you walk into a restaurant, they will give you the menu right away. You can make your own spring roll. It will not taste salty or sweet. Chew the thick meats and fresh vegetables. Crunch the carrots and sip the dipping sauce. Oh boy, you can eat as much as you want!

Touch

Whenever you touch anything in Vietnam, be sure to wash your hands. The water is dirty too! Nothing is one hundred percent for sure clean. Your hands feel rough and dry from the soap and water. Most things are dusty but more things are fun!

About the Author

Hi! My name is San and I live with my mom and dad in San Francisco. I like to play on my keyboard and read books, especially comics like Ultracute. I am good at figuring things out and drawing. Someday I hope I am braver because now I’m too shy. When I grow up I want to be a journalist or an artist. I am different from other kids because I am usually the smallest in my class. Optical illusions mix me up! If I were weather I would be hail because I want to be cold and hard. People touch my soft cheeks too much. If I had one wish I would wish for all my friendship troubles to be erased. I am also the author of The Frog who Lost his Crown.

THE BAD EXAMPLE By Arnold, age 9

"I dare you!" John said.
"No," Jason said.
The crowd said, "Go go go go go!"
"No," Jason said.
"I will give you thirty dollars," John said.
"Do not bribe me with money!" Jason said.
"You scardy cat," John said.
"Am not," Jason said.
Are to," John said.
"Shut up," Jason said.
"You scardy cat," said John.
Jason said, "Am not."
John said, "Prove it."
Jason ran up to a tree and hugged its trunk. He reached for a branch and he missed. He stretched his arms as he dropped and hurt his backbone and his ankle on the ground. He looked at the dirt. Mealworms wiggled through the grass and ants carried leaves to their anthill.

Jason woke up in the hospital. He had a cast on his ankle. His parents came to see him.
His mom said, "What happen? Your teacher said you were hurt. Are you okay?”
"I'm fine," Jason said. "Can we go home now"?
They went home and Jason’s parents told him to never listen to that boy.

The day Jason got his cast off he went outside for recess. He climbed the monkey bars. John pulled on his leg and Jason kicked him in the face. A purple bruise oozed on his cheek and broken teeth fell out of his mouth.

Two kindergarteners named Steven and Nick saw John and Jason fighting. They watched for a while then Steven stepped on Nick's foot. Nick yelled and punched Steven in the stomach. Steven whacked nick in the face. John and Jason heard the little kids fighting and broke it up. Their teacher heard about what they did. She said, “Can you both stop those little kids if they fight again?”
Jason and John thought about it and both said, “Ok” then they started home together.
“I’m gonna get you,” John said.
“I’m gonna hunt you down.”

About the Author

My name is Arnold. I’m nine years old. I live on Eddy Street in San Francisco with my two brothers and my mom and dad. I like to draw and swim. I want to be good at math someday. When I grow up I want to be an FBI agent. I wonder why whales have spouts. Why not gills? If I were weather I would be rain so I could help save water. I wish my brothers and I would get along so my mom won’t be in pain.

SHADOW CLIFFS By Brandon, age 8

Eating

Shadow Cliffs is a big park in Pleasanton with a lake and water slides and a place for picnics. At Shadow Cliffs we had to pay to go inside. We could pick a spot to eat. We ate McDonalds.

Swimming & the Boat

When we finished eating we went swimming. The deep end of the lake was cold. When you dive you will hit your head and you will drown. The last time I was there I dove and almost drowned. Dustin saved me. I said, “Thank you.” I went to get my boat. When I got my boat I went to the deep side. I played and I fell down in the water ten times and my mom just came out of nowhere. She just pushed me and I fell down again. I told my mom to stop and I put my boat next to the playground.

Football

I got my football from my mom’s bag and I told my mom to play with me. I threw it far. My mom missed. She threw it back. I dove down to catch the football and Dustin joined the game. Dustin was on my team. I took my boat and told my mom not to play with the football.

Missing Kid

Somebody’s parents came up to the lifeguard and said, “Our kid is missing!”
The lifeguard said, “Everybody out of the lake!”
All of the other lifeguards came to the lake. They all had on flippers and they found the child. He was next to the lifeguard tower all along.

Going Home

I wanted to play with my boat and I got my boat. My mom rode in my boat. She almost popped the boat and we packed up to go home. It was my brother’s turn to sit in the front seat of the car. I sat in the back and we went home. I saw a road sign that said Road Closed. I told my dad to go back. He said, “No, this road will be ok.” I fell asleep in the car. When I woke up I was at home and I helped my dad to carry stuff upstairs to our apartment.

About the Author

My name is Brandon. I live with my mom, dad, sister and brother. My age is eight. I live in San Francisco. I like to play Legos and I am good at ice-skating. I want to be good at reading. When l grow up, I want to be a driver for 101 Trucking like my dad. If I were a plant would be a weed with thorns because then if someone tried to pick me they would get poked. If I could have one wish I would wish for a drivers license. I am also the author of Trip to Vietnam.