WHEN I AM 80, Poetry by Sharlene, age 9

I am a Little Girl

I am a little girl.

I love secrets.

But I am not good at keeping them.

I always tell my mom.

I love my plastic duck.

When you squeeze it its cheeks turn red 

and it talks and laughs.

But I don’t remember who gave it to me.

When I sleep, my duck rolls around in the bed with me.

I am dreaming my dad won the lotto.

When I wake up I get a new dog.

It always bites my plastic duck.

Until one day it disappears.

My mom says, “It might be under the counter.”

But it is not.

I am very sad.

I try my best to find it.

But I can’t.

When I am Eighty

When I am eighty years old I will look for my duck because

It might help me remember myself being young.

But of course I won’t play with it 

because I will not be a baby anymore.

Well, might have thrown it away!

So what’s the whole point of keeping it?

I’m already old.

But I’m going to get a new house.

When I go to my new house I will find my ducky!!!

I will be so excited.

My eyes will be wide open.

I will drop my cane 

and will hug my duck 

so tight.

When I am Thirty

When I am thirty I will go to Macy’s.

Smooth, blue sweaters will hang from metal racks

And fancy shoes will shine on their shelves.

Then the earth will move and I will move and the shoes will dance by themselves.

The earth will keep shaking but Beyonce will keep singing from the TV swaying from the ceiling.

The sales lady will tap on the cash register, acting like nothing’s wrong.

The perfumes from the counters will float up the escalator and swirl through my hair.

The cash registers will beep and crash to the ground.

I will leave the store but I won’t remember where I parked the car.

About the Author

Hi, my name is Sharlene. I am nine years old. I live in San Francisco with my dad, mom and my brother. I like to draw because my brother is a wonderful artist and I want to be as good as he is. I am good at math and my teacher says I’m ready to learn the lattice method and long division problems. I want to be good at cooking because I want to help my dad earn money. When I grow up I want to be a veterinarian because my mom said that it is a good job, and I love pets. If I were a machine I would be a meat slicer. If I had powers I would want to control things with my mind because I am sometimes tired and I don’t feel like standing up. At home I speak English and my mom talks to me in Vietnamese. This is my first published book.

THE ADVENTURES OF MAC By Emiliano, age 8

One day Mac woke up and smelled pancakes. “Mom,” he said. “What smells so good?”

“My pancakes,” she said.

“My bus is here,” Mac said. “Bye, Mom.”

“Bye,” said Mom.

At school Mac went on a field trip to the movies. On the way to the movies, Mac saw a witch going into a store. When the witch came out she looked sick. She was coughing a lot. She was so sick she went home. 

Mac really wanted to help her so he went to the wizard for a potion to help the witch feel better. Mac got the potion and went to the witch’s house. He looked and looked but he did not find her. She was not home. She was not shopping. She was not working. Mac did not know if she even had a job. She was not at the library. Mac thought he was not looking in the right places. Mac wondered where he would go if he was a witch.

Mac went to the woods. On the way he saw a little boy. Mac said, “What’s wrong?”

“I have no friends,” the boy said.

“I will be your friend,” Mac said. “What is your name?”

“My name is Jeff,” the boy said.

“Jeff is a nice name.”

“Thanks,” Jeff said.

The new friends found a little house. Mac said, “Maybe that’s the witch’s house.” They decided to investigate. But before they could get inside, they saw the wizard changing into the witch. Mac said to the wizard, “You don’t need to be a wizard or witch for us to take care of you.”

“Sorry,” the wizard said.

“It’s ok,” Mac said.

About the Author

Hi, my name is Emiliano. I live in San Francisco with my mom and sister. My dad lives in Sacramento and I visit him. My mom and dad are from Mexico. I have two cousins. If I could choose a super power I would choose to fly so I could get to school on time and also so I would not have to walk. The Adventures of Mac is my first published book. I had a lot of fun writing it!

CHRISTMAS STORM By Daniel, age 9

I was six. It was Christmas. I woke up before my uncle. He was still asleep next to me. He had a sleeping face and two purple-black eyes because he got in a fight the night before. My dad was already up. He said, “Wake up, everybody. It’s time to put up the lights.” 

My mom pulled out the chairs. I climbed into a chair beside the Christmas tree. I wrapped the tree with lights. I said, “Wow, they’re heavier than I thought.” 

My mom plugged them in then the lights glowed different colors. I said, “Awesome.” I opened my mouth and patted my hands on my cheeks. Wow. Surprise. Electricity. I looked out the window. The clouds turned grey and lightning struck. Thunder rumbled and cracked. The lights stopped blinking and fell down from the tree.

About the Author

Hi, my name is Daniel. I am nine years old. I live with my mom, dad, my two bothers and my two aunties in San Francisco. I like to “pwn cod” people in Modern Warfare 3. I am good at drawing. I want to be good at music. When I grow up I want to be a policeman because I want to fight crime. If I were weather I would be sunshine so I could torture people who hate the heat. I want to be famous for selling art. My favorite author is Jeff Kinney because he writes books that are fun to read.