The following blog entry was written by Sarah Solomon, an intern here at READ.

**Update: The first issue of Stand and Voice is here. And it looks fantastic! Chock full of stories, poems, essays, and artwork--all by teens--Stand and Voice is truly an accomplishment. Kudos to Baobao et al.

What does it take for a teen writer to be published? Teens seem notably left out. At least, this is the view of Baobao Zhang, who attends high school in Virginia. In order to mend this modern literary tragedy, she has started an online literary magazine – Stand and Voice. And it is just for teens. When asked how the magazine got started, Baobao, explained: "It got started around April this year when I was talking to a friend. I was getting rejected by — god knows what — every magazine in the country probably. We were talking, and we’re sure there are other teens who have this problem getting published, especially in adult magazines, because people don't want to take teens seriously. So we thought it would be cool to give people an outlet for their voice. Since then I’ve gotten published."

In terms of the technical preparations, "We had to find a web hosting company—we did it with Yahoo— and it's fantastic because you can edit it online and don't need software. We had to write everything about us. One of the challenges we had was to find a staff of volunteer editors, but we found them now." They also were lucky enough to be advertised by another magazine, Teen Ink.

Once the magazine was properly set up, it was time to start getting submissions. I asked Baobao why she thinks it's so important for teens to have their voices heard in today's society. Her response: "There's the adult world, and they don't take teens very seriously. And then there are the kids' magazines that don't take teens very seriously. We lack a voice. Modern media says we're irresponsible and lazy, but I don't think so. I think we have something to say."

Very well said.

On her hopes for the magazine: "I hope teen writers will have the chance to get published and put themselves out there. One of my goals is to spread this magazine to educators across the country. Kids that don't like to read can find something they're interested in."

Baobao and the rest of the editors have a whole process of deciding who to publish. Baobao says, "We have a review process. You send something in, when we're looking at it we're reading it anonymously and we edit it anonymously. We also have a rubric."

Writers can submit poetry, short fiction, personal essays, editorial essays, one-act plays, and even book movie or music reviews. Artists can submit drawings, paintings, prints, multimedia, photography, digital art, cartoons, and sculptures and ceramics.

All writing must be emailed to submission@standandvoice.org in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf), in a double-spaced standard font (such as Times New Roman). Since the writing is judged anonymously, put your name, date of birth, grade level, state, and name of school in the body of the email, but do not put information in the file. You'll also find a complete list of instructions at the site.

The first issue is going to come out in August. Deadline for the issue is July 27.

If you are a teen writer and want to be heard, submit your writing to Stand and Voice. If you are a reader, get ready to read some original writing from teens across the country.

READ thinks that Baobao is poised for success. After all, her poem "In Search of Sleeping Beauty" will appear in the first issue of READ this fall. We hope that Stand and Voice is a raging success, and wish Baobao and the rest of the team good luck!

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Boys and girls!

Children of all ages!

READ Magazine is proud to present...

THE ONE...

THE ONLY...

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE!!!

(See this is where you applaud madly and scream with glee.)

Click here for Willie's goodness.

As I mentioned previously, I attended the National Book Festival in Washington D.C. this past Saturday. Authors were everywhere and it was all I could do to keep a professional air about me.

First up was Patricia MacLachlan. Ms. MacLachlan is the author of the 1986 Newbery Medal winning novel, Sarah Plain and Tall. Have you read it? Because I am very sorry to say that I have not. Could you please tell me how great it is without ruining the plot for me? Email your thoughts on the book to word@weeklyreader.com. Or just leave a comment below.

Anywho, Ms. MacLachlan stepped up to the microphone and started to tell us about the time she received a letter from an 8 year old boy. It read:

Dear Ms. MacLachlan,
   Thank you for writing Sarah, Plain and Tall. It is the second best book ever!"

"Sadly, I never found out what the first best book ever was." She told her laughing audience.

"As a child," she went on, "I would invent imaginary friends and characters for myself. ... I see there are a lot of children here today and I just want to tell you that you are living the lives right now that you will write about later on in life."

Ms. MacLachlan seemed very relaxed throughout her talk. She told us about how she sometimes finds it really really hard to write. In fact, sometimes she hates writing! "I don't always know how to write plot," she said. "What is plot? Seriously. What is it? Plot is hard!"

Admitting you don't know where a story comes from is the first step to recovery, I suppose. The second step, in this author's mind, is keeping her ears open.

"One evening, I was eating dinner with my family and my daughter wouldn't touch her food. I asked her why and she said, 'Because the broccoli is moving on my plate.'" Awww. How cute is that? Good enough to write a short story about. Yeehaw! Inspiration, thy name is child.

"Life is mysterious. You never know what's going to happen." Ms. MacLachlan wrote her latest book, Edward's Eyes, for her mother, who has Alzheimer's disease. In it, she included a great many characters from her mother's life (friends, loved ones, etc.) in order to help her remember. What a story, huh? I want to read it just for that truth.

When the Q&A portion came around, Ms. MacLachlan was asked by one of her youngest fans, "How do you stay focused as a writer?" She replied, "Well, it takes me a long time just thinking about a book. Sometimes I think about a book for a year or more before I even begin writing it. Oh, and I play a lot of computer solitaire."

Still more to come from the 2007 National Book Festival.

Stay tuned...

Before you get started reading this entry, you should click here to read a general overview of the YPulse Tween Mashup.

Both Deavon and Seth commented on Tuesday's blog entry. Neither of them quite understood what the word "tween" means. Sorry guys, my fault for not being clear. A tween is basically a young person that falls between the age of 10 and 13. It can be quite a confusing time in life. Tweens aren't kids anymore but they aren't quite teenagers either. They want to be soooo bad though. And in an effort to grow up too fast, tweens sometimes start acting older than their age even though they might not really know the mistakes they are making as they make them. It's OK to make mistakes. Everyone does. That's how you learn. Just don't run the race so fast! You'll miss all the good stuff.

GOOD STUFF GOOD STUFF GOOD STUFF!

Heh. Nice transition. As if.

I learned about quite a few things at the YPulse Tween Mashup last Friday. First and foremost was that I never really knew the extent to how drastically times have changed. When I was a tween... well first of all, the word "tween" didn't exist when I was a tween but whatever. As I was saying, when I was a tween, my friends and I certainly had our distractions, our games, our fun. But we never could have fathomed all the myspaces and youtubes and AIMs of the future. When I was a tween, I had this clunky Garfield phone in my room. Looking at the picture now makes me both nostalgic and, admittedly, a little angry actually. You see, the handset there in Garfield's back? Well, when you pick it up and put it to your ear, there's this big button that sits there next to your mouth. All you have to do is breathe on it just a little too forcefully and Garfield hangs up on you. End of conversation. Sorry friend. Call back later when the Internet comes to town.

Well we all know that the internet (or internerd as I like to call it) is here to stay now. Everyone is so wired these days! It's almost impossible to remember a time when "www" simply meant... well it didn't mean anything. I'm losing track here. Why don't I just chill out and tell you about Kiki.

Nope, not even trying for transitions anymore.

I learned about Kiki magazine at (where else?) the YPulse Tween Mashup. Kiki is the magazine "for girls with style and substance". If you're a tween or early teen girl, you want this magazine. It's full of wise fashion sensibility, tips for better health, book reviews, and even nifty projects you can take on yourself!

You know, there's a lot of magazines and websites and clothing stores and music and media and T.V. and celebrities and all sorts of nonsense telling you who you should be. The masses and the advertisers shout, "Britney is cool! Be like Britney!" And lots of people do exactly what they are told. But Kiki is one of the few entities that doesn't tell you who you should be. Kiki asks you who you want to be. And then they try to tailor their pages to suit your needs. I had a chance to meet Jaime, Kiki's founder and editor at the Mashup. She's a very nice woman with two tween daughters herself. She started the magazine with their, and your, best interests in mind. To learn more about Kiki, or ask Jaime a question, click here.

And while we're on the subject of being a girl, something I'm sure I know nothing about, you can also check out Beinggirl.com. It's a website "for girls, by girls" that answers all your questions about, well, anything girl related, and that includes slumber parties! Click the image to the left to read more. (How do they get it to blink? Wild.)

In Beinggirl's own words, "Girls have fun. Girls have opinions. Girls have a lot of questions about stuff like PMS, dating, their bodies and even serious subjects like addiction and abuse – just about anything you can think of that has to do with being a girl."

Don't look at me. I'm just here to give you literary news. But definitely check out Beinggirl.com if you seek answers.

Let's see, what else is in the news?

Just stop it. Your transition ship has sailed long ago...

Well that's just fine and dandy cuz I think it's getting a little too tired in here to write anymore now anyway. But we'll be back soon, from the front lines of the YPulse Tween Mashup... or not... At any rate, I have a funny feeling that WORD's gonna be in DC again tomorrow though.

Stay tuned...

I think that Sarah Moffet said it best in a comment here:

This weekend I visited the Twilight Zone. It was supposed to be the National Book Festival, but I must have made a wrong turn off Constitution Avenue. Instead of stumbling onto a somber, sparsely attended book fair, I found the Mall overtaken by the masses, who were beaten back from overrunning authors by platoons of Junior League members. Even more terrifying were the forty-people-deep lines for the vegetarian vendors (and believe me, half the people in those lines were not vegetarians), rivaled only by the wait to purchase books in the sales tents. People, everywhere, were carrying armfuls, bags, and strollers of books.

America reads. Who knew?

Yes folks, Sarah is talking about the National Book Festival. It's that one, special time of year when writers travel from all corners of the world and all walks of life to converge under large, outdoor tents with the sole purpose of speaking to their captivated audiences about the power of the written word. Well, and to promote their latest works, too. Let's be honest. :)

The 7th annual National Book Festival took place in Washington, DC this past Saturday. It was brought to you by first lady of these United States, Laura Bush, the Library of Congress, and Dr. Billington, the Librarian of Congress. Don't tell me you've never heard of the Library of Congress? Well, they're only just the BIGGEST library in the country! Here to preserve information and help promote literacy throughout our great nation, the Library of Congress is akin to... well... the mother ship of all Dewey's Decimals. But don't just take my word for it, here's what they have to say about themselves on their website:

"The Library's mission is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations."

Boo yah! Word. And so forth... At any rate, they're a really big deal.

This was WORD's second year in attendance and let me tell you, we were thrilled. To be able to sit on the outskirts of a book and listen to the person responsible for it is something no silly blog entry can relate to you. Who's your favorite author? Have you ever seen him/her in person? No? Oh, you simply must! Keep your eyes open for when they're coming to your town. Most authors have websites these days. You can track them down like the hungry bibliophile that you are. Just... be careful of psychotic tendencies. Please.

At any rate, WORD was there. It was a gorgeous late September day and the authors were in bloom. Mystery writers, biographers, fantasy word smiths, illustrators, poets, historians, young adult novelists, and plot maestros of all genres got up on stage, one by one, and spread their good words out to us--to all of us eager readers, who would love for nothing more than a good book to curl up with (and maybe a wasted cliche to spot every once in awhile just to say, "Hey! I got my eye on you... writer!").

You see, writers in general are an unpredictable brood. You never know when a writer is going to say something profound... or flake out. Public speaking is not always a writer's forte. But in this case, you're not going to show up to the National Book Festival and give a half-hearted shpeel like, "Well, duh, I dunno why I write books. I guess it's because I like... you know... like to uhhh, write... or something."

Oh no no no. These heavy hitters are the real deal. And later this week, you will see for yourself what I mean.

Stay tuned...

In the meantime though, you can check out last year's coverage of the 2006 National Book Festival by clicking here and/or here.

OR!!! ...

You can check out the National Book Festival Young Readers' Online Toolkit! Yah! Totally! Do that! Do that right now by clicking here!  

This past Friday I was in New York. The city. Ask me if the brights are light. Go on? ... Well they are.

The YPulse Tween Mashup was held at the Jacob Javits Center. If you've never been there, it's this big, long building that houses, among many other things, the Book Expo America.

YPulse is this whole other web site out there in www land. It's also a finger on a pulse (the name is not accidental). It is dedicated to understanding what makes tweens tick. Cuz as it turns out... you're quite an interesting bunch. :)

Hosted by Anastasia Goodstein (YPulse's puppet-master and author of Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens Are Really Doing Online), the event was a mix of old school practices and the wave of the future. There's a whole lot of both out there. You probably don't remember this, but there was a time long ago when there were no computers. There were no cell phones or emails. No iPods or earmuffs. Nah, I'm just kidding. The world has always had earmuffs.

Here's a question for you: Which do you prefer?
a) texting your friends
b) emailing your friends
c) talking on your cell
d) writing a letter in longhand scripture using a quill and ink before having to walk all around the house searching everywhere for an envelope and a stamp and then having to, after all that work, walk to the mail box or the post office and mail the thing

No! It's a serious question! Leave a comment below. Tell us a, b, c, or d... and tell us why.

But that's what the Mashup was all about. It was a bunch of old folks sitting around in a room, scratching their heads and saying, "Um. Does anyone understand tweens? ... Hello? ... lil' help?"

So have you ever heard the word "tween" before? Maybe sometime 'tween lunch and dinner? Well, it's nothing to be afraid of. It's not a label or a brand name. It's just a way of classifying. Like Gen X or horseshoe burns on a bull's... no, I kid. Here's what the Urban Dictionary has to say about it:

Tween: A word that is used by marketers to describe youths between the ages of 10-13. Although some believe that tweens are actually between the ages of 10-15. Despite the fact that tweens have always existed, marketers continue to lay claim to discovering them. ... No one discovered the tweens.

Ha! Right on. Embrace your 'tween-dom while you have it, friends.

So as a tween, what are your favorite web sites? Keep in mind, this is not a ploy. If you say, "WORD", you will not get a free tee shirt (although we will be flattered). Just curious is all. Tell you what though, if you write up just a few paragraphs about your favorite web site, we just might post your writing here. Put "favorite web site" in the subject line of an email and send it to word@weeklyreader.com. Make sure and tell us why you love it!

YPulse: It's a neat thing. In this day and age, we're all wired. The old and the young alike. We might as well have some dialogue about this cyberspace place... right?

What's up?

Later this week: More from the YPulse Tween Mashup...

I just discovered this wicked cool site called imbee. What does the word imbee mean exactly? Well, that I cannot say. I cannot say because I do not know. Perhaps it is the declaration of a very self-conscious yellow jacket? Perhaps it is an acronym for "Ivan Makes Better Eggs, Emily." Whatever it means, imbee looks like fun.

imbee.com is a web site that is part social networking, part education, part blogging. Mix all the parts together and you've got a great place to go for students aged 8-14.

If you are a student that falls within this range, you can check out the free tour at imbee.com. The tour is given by imbian, a very friendly, cartoony, stick-figury kinda guy. Then, after being thoroughly impressed and intrigued, you can sign up to be a member of the site! Just know ahead of time that you will need a parent, guardian, or teacher to verify your registration. imbee is a secure web site that has your best interests at heart.

Once you are signed up, you'll be able to connect with other kids in classrooms across the country. Trade cards with them, discover new bands with them, learn about what they are learning, you name it!

And teachers, if you sign up your class, you'll be able to post writing assignments on your own imbee blog and your students will be able to have their own blogs as well! Read all about the many opportunities by clicking on the apple.

OK, advertisement over. Enjoy!

The following post was written by Alicia Zadrozny, Associate Editor of READ and Writing Magazines.

It was Friday night and I was in the mood for a party. I had spent the day perusing Book Expo America, picking up book galleys and meeting authors. (I'm hoping heaven is a lot like BEA, lots and lots of free books, but sans the bathroom lines.) Anyway, I headed downtown to Webster Hall not knowing exactly what to expect from the Rock Bottom Remainders, an improbable band formed with mostly famous and best-selling writers. Some of the better known members include Stephen King, humor columnist Dave Barry, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, Mitch Albom and Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons. Frank McCourt made a special guest appearance. Roger McGuinn, formerly with the 1960s rock band The Byrds, was billed as the concert's "real musician." The $25 admission price benefited children's literacy programs.

By all appearances, this was going to be a concert like any other. Lines of people waited outside the venue to get in, after the show had already started. There was a surly bouncer and even a snotty reporter who huffed and puffed when told she had to wait in line.

By the time I got inside, the band was in full swing playing their favorite rock music through the ages, such as Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and the Monkees. So now you're probably wondering if these writers sing and play instruments as well as they write. Well, I'll spell it out for you. Stephen King: Terrible. Scott Turow: Truly, truly terrible. Dave Barry: Tape his hands down and take away that guitar. Mitch Albom: If only you had spent your Tuesdays practicing that keyboard. Amy Tan: Gets my vote for the worst singer-ever.  I'd go through all the performers, but that gives you a pretty good idea.

Most likely, it's a certain sort of person who's going to love this kind of concert. It's the person who gets the joke behind the joke. It's not their corny cracks at each other. It's the fact that Stephen King gets people to pay money to hear him howl his way through Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London." The "king of horror" is also a master of irony. His real song was, "I'm so bad; I'm good."

Roger McGuinn saved the musical day to an extent with "Turn! Turn! Turn!" along with some other old hits by The Byrds. So what if his accompanists couldn't stay on key with him? I didn't really mind. It was just plain funny to see these writers have so much fun together. They looked like a bunch of goofballs, sure. But they are also very smart goofballs.

Editor's Note: We here at Weekly Reader love and admire the above artists for their day jobs. Any negative criticisms toward their musical ability is overshadowed by the brilliance that comes through in their true work: Teaching the blind to bowl. God bless you fine people.

The following blog entry was written by Sarah Chassé, a copy editor of READ, Writing, and a whole bunch of other Weekly Reader magazines.

Watching TV rots your brain, right? Not necessarily. I spent last night learning some great new vocabulary words from my television--and no, there isn't a new reality show called Playing Scrabble With the Stars. We're talking the finals of the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee, which aired live on ABC.  The competition, held in Washington, D.C., featured 286 spellers from the United States and Canada. In the 13^th round, eighth grader Evan M. O’Dorney of Danville, Calif., spelled the word serrefine (seh-ruh-FEEN) to become the Super Bowl of spelling’s newest champ.

OK,  so maybe serrefine (an adjustable spring clamp used in cardiovascular surgery) isn't the most useful word—you can't exactly drop it into casual conversation. But it's still a cool word to know. Here are some other unusual words from the Scripps finals you can dazzle your friends and family with:

rascacio: (rah-SKAH-see-oh) a scorpion fish found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Cape Cod to Brazil

bouleuterion: (boo-leh-TEE-ree-on) a council chamber in ancient Greece

schuhplattler: (SHOO-plat-luhr) a traditional folk dance from Bavaria and Austria in which dancers rhythmically strike their thighs, their knees, and the soles of their feet

grognard: (groh-NAHR) an old soldier

aniseikonia: (ah-nigh-sigh-KOH-nee-uh) a defect of binocular vision in which the two retinal images of an object differ in size

My favorite word from the bee was definitely schuhplattler (just don't ask me to demonstrate it). Have a favorite word of your own that you'd like to share? Drop us a comment! (And make sure you spell your word correctly!)

The following movie review was written by Jessica Livingston, Associate Editor of Know Your World-Extra Magazine.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

"The world used to be a bigger place," says Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (in theaters today, May 25). "It's still the same," answers Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). "Now there's just less in it." More false words have never been spoken. AWE packs in more action, more humor, and more suspense than the first two Pirates movies combined.

When we last left Sparrow, he was at the bottom of Davy Jones' Locker and Barbossa was brought back from the dead to help. In AWE, the motley crew of pirates needs to save Sparrow. They must band together with pirates from across the globe to save piracy itself from extinction because the East India Trading Company is out to control the seas.

There's an ancient sea goddess bound in human form. And don't forget Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), who wants to save his father from Davy Jones. And will Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) earn back Will's trust after it seemed like she was in love with Sparrow?

Oh, and there's also a little matter of Sparrow seeing hallucinations of crabs made of stone, an elusive peanut, and multiple versions of himself (although I don't think anyone would complain about that, especially the women in the audience!).

Confused? OK, admittedly, AWE is a little hard to follow if you aren't paying attention. So pay attention! Aside from all the action-packed swashbuckling, thieving, and double (and triple, and quadruple) crossing, there is also an intricate plot unfolding so keep your eyes open for it!

Even though the running time is over 2 hours and 45 minutes, the action never stops, and you'll never look at your watch. (Unless you make the mistake of drinking a large soda while you're watching!)

From the morose opening where captured pirates, including a little boy, are being hanged, to a spaghetti Western-ish standoff, to the most un-romantic wedding of all times (followed by the most romantic kiss ever), to the sword fighting, to Keith Richards making a cameo as Sparrow's father, you're in for a summer blockbuster.

Dead men might tell no tales, but AWE is one tale you won't want to miss!

The following interview was conducted by Jessica Livingston, Associate Editor of Know Your World-Extra Magazine.

Ahoy there, matey! It's that time again--the pirates are back! Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End sails into theaters tonight! When we last left the crew, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) was at the bottom of Davy Jones' Locker. But the real shocker was that Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) is back among the living! Weekly Reader recently caught up with Rush and found out all the dirty details (and we do mean dirty! Haven't pirates ever heard of soap?) about the new film. We'll bet all our pieces of eight that you won't want to miss this!

WORD: How is Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End different from the other Pirates movies?

Rush: The first movie was mostly about the curse on Barbossa and all of his pirate gang. In Pirates 2, the introduction of Davy Jones brings a much greater supernatural/mythological feel to the story. In the third film all of the numerous story lines that have been established really start to clash. Questions such as "Is Jack Sparrow able to survive the power of the Kraken?" or "How did Barbossa come back from the dead? Who helped him? Why?" and "Does Elizabeth feel guilty for betraying Jack?" ... Well, all of these crucial issues find surprising solutions.

WORD: I read that in this movie, it has been said that "piracy is at stake." What does this mean?

Rush: The pirates from all over the world--whether they are from England or the Caribbean or Africa or Asia--they are being stamped out and executed by the East India Trading Company, which is like a corporation that wants to control the seas for their own profits. This is more or less what happened in history. The great age of piracy only lasted from the mid-1600s until the early 1700s.

WORD: Everyone in the Pirates movies seems to be "bad guys"--pirates, thieves, traitors, etc. Yet pirates have a huge appeal. Pirate costumes were even the most popular costume this Halloween. What do you think the appeal is of being a pirate?

Rush: In their day, a lot of the pirates were probably adventurers and sailors who had a criminal past. They might also have come from impoverished backgrounds or situations where their chances for success in society were minimal. At sea they were free from the laws of any country. It was a tough and violent life, but perhaps being a pirate gave them a sense of freedom, and they could create their own memorable identity. I think this is why people admire them and dress up like them at Halloween or for parties. Books like Treasure Island and plays like Peter Pan made the pirate life seem very attractive and adventurous.

WORD: Did you feel a lot of pressure making this movie, knowing how popular the first two Pirates were and how much money they made?

Rush: We all knew the first movie told a very fresh and exciting story, but because it was such a huge runaway hit that meant the next two films had to be really good. And the writers and the producer and the director were determined to make them great. They liked the characters as much as the audience did and they wanted to create a memorable and worthwhile epic. Parts 1 and 2 are like one big movie with an intermission. Pirates 3 has bigger and better stuff in it. It really goes right off the edge of the map.

WORD: Did you do your own stunts in this movie?

Rush: I worked very hard on my sword fights. I had to prove to the audience, as the oldest pirate, why he was still the meanest leader around. Which meant he had to be deadly with a sword--and fight dirty and unfair--just to survive. All of the actors, of course, have stunt doubles because sometimes in the big wide shots with dozens of pirates fighting at full speed, it is too dangerous for the actors. When you watch the film on DVD, see if you can pick when and why the doubles might have been used.

WORD: Is this the most challenging movie you've ever been in? Why?

Rush: Some movies are challenging even if they are relatively small in budget and focused on few characters because there may be complicated emotional story lines that the actors have to make very truthful and honest and interesting. A film like Pirates also offers a challenge because of the size of the budget and the scale of the production. Sometimes I would be filming complicated sequences with lots of dialogue, on a badly rocking ship 30 miles out to sea, with a monkey on my shoulders and its trainer always yelling out instructions to it, or with cannons going off and debris and smoke going everywhere. So I suppose it has been the most challenging, but that has also made it the most fun and the most memorable. We have been together as a team for over 4 years now, so it's been a big part of our lives.

WORD: Growing up, were you a fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland? Was it exciting when they redesigned the ride to have characters from the movies?

Rush: I only got to go to Disneyland with my two kids about eight years ago when I first went to America, but I knew about the ride because we used to watch the Mickey Mouse Club on TV when I was little. It is a great honor for me, and kind of crazy, to know that Barbossa is now in the ride as a fixture. I hope to take my grandchildren to see it, even though I don't have any yet.

WORD: Were you always a fan of pirate and adventure movies? What do you like about them?

Rush: I've always loved sword fighting movies. My favorite is Scaramouche, which isn't about pirates, but I recommend that you check it out. It is a very old movie, but it has one of the longest sword fights in the history of movies set in a theater, and the actors are really doing it--all of it. Adventure movies like Indiana Jones and Zorro are great, particularly when there is a blend of action and humor.

WORD: In a summer full of sequels, why see Pirates?

Rush: There are seven and a half hours now in the trilogy. It is a big work. It has many significant principal characters, as well as a gallery of very popular minor ones. Also the plot is full of many details about the period, the attitudes and the conditions, and hopefully it is unpredictable and full of surprises. The main characters are forced to make very important decisions about what they truly believe in. So as well as being fun, I hope people try and imagine what they would do in the same circumstances. I know just from reading chat rooms and fan web sites how involved and perceptive the audience is.

WORD: What was your favorite part about filming this movie? What was your least favorite part?

Rush: My favorite part was the sword fighting rehearsals and then being able to visit many different parts of the Caribbean, which is so far away from Melbourne, Australia, where I live. My least favorite part was when the monkey would get anxious or frightened and shriek. I was scared he was going to bite my nose.

To find show times for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, click here.

To learn about how your class can order Know Your World - Extra, ask your teacher to click here.

Have you always wanted to write a children's story and to see it published? Well, here's your chance. There's a nifty contest out there that you can enter. Sponsored by the bank ING Direct, the "Adventures in Savings" contest is open to aspiring writers ages 6 to adult.

The Task: Write a children's story for 4-7 year olds that teaches kids a lesson about responsible money management (earning, spending, saving, investing, etc.).
Categories: You can enter your story in one of three categories, depending on your age: 6-12 years old, 13-19 years old, and 20+ years old.
The Prize:    Three prize-winning stories will be published and illustrated, and the winners will each receive an ING Direct Savings account with $1000.
Deadline:    June 30, 2007

Find out more about the contest rules and requirements, and submit your story here.

ING Direct also has a pretty cool site that allows you to travel to places such as Moneyland, South Spending, the Republic of Savings, and Investor Islands -- and tackle topics that range from the value of money, to setting a budget, understanding credit, and building savings goals for the future. Now that's something I think all of us could use -- a little bit of help setting up a budget!

If you want some inspiration to get started with your story, here are some neat children's stories about money:

• The Ant and the Grasshopper, from Aesop's Fables
• Daddy John's Debt
• Noom and Raj Start a Business: The Abc's of Money

Flora Fyrdraaca knows taking shortcuts in Crackpot Hall can be risky. After all, when a House has eleven thousand decaying rooms that shift about at random, there's no telling where a person might end up. But it's not just household confusion that vexes Flora, what with Mamma always away being Commanding General of the Army, Poppy drowning his sorrows in drink, and Crackpot Hall too broken down to magickally provide the clean towels and hot waffles that are a Fyrdraaca's birthright.

Yet Flora is nothing if not a Girl of Spirit. So when she takes a forbidden shortcut and stumbles upon her family's biggest secret--Valefor, the banished Butler--she and her best friend Udo plunge happily into the grand adventure of restoring Valefor to his rightful (or so he says) position. If only Flora knew that meddling with a magickal being can go terribly awry--and that soon she will have to find a way to restore herself before it is Too Late.

One year ago today, our little literary blog came into the world. With a flourish of trumpets and another flourish of manic typing, WORD came to be. Now WORD is officially 1. And he's more jazzed than ever to be here!

In its 2nd year on this planet, WORD will be bringing you more writing tips, more book news, and much more student writing! Click "submit your writing" on the right hand side of the page to send us your stuff! Poems, stories, essays... it's all good! Yah! You can also write us any time at word@weeklyreader.com.

And now in celebration of this glorious day, we give you a few of our contributors' thoughts on what WORD means to them.

DALLAS WOODBURN, WORD CONTRIBUTOR
In first grade, I started keeping a diary. I remember being disappointed that my conversations were always one-sided. No matter how many times I poured my heart out on those pages or asked questions about what I should do, the only response I could hope to find was within my own mind. Being involved with WORD, I feel like I finally get to write in a diary that responds back. I get to be a part of a community of writers just like me! If I am struggling with writer's block, I can blog about it and others will respond with support and advice. If I read a good book, I can talk to other people who have read it, too -- and find out what else they're reading. When I finished my novel and blogged about it, other WORD members responded with a barrage of exclamation-pointed congratulations and cheers. Who needs a diary when we've got WORD? Happy birthday, WORD, and here's to many, many more! :)

DEBBIE NEVINS -
Managing Editor, READ, WRITING, and KNOW YOUR WORLD - EXTRA
   In the beginning was the WORD. For me, WORD has been the beginning of a whole new literary adventure, since I wasn't really into blogs before we launched this one. I think this is the coolest thing ever, and I just want to say, Blog on!

SANDHYA NANKANI - Senior Editor, WRITING
Words have always been magical to me. WORD is magical to me as well because it connects me to the readers of our magazine every single day. It's one thing to put your thoughts down on paper for your eyes to see; it's another thing to put your thoughts down for the world to see. It takes guts to hit the <send> button and that's why there's nothing more exciting to me than checking the WORD inbox and seeing it filled up with words by you, our prolific and poetic student writers. You are brave and inspire me with your writings about your lives, your experiences, your fears, your dreams, and your epiphanies.

JEFF IVES - News Group, Editor
WORD is more than just another blog to me. WORD is the calm center of the internet storm. When everything in cyberspace roils with the madness of rumors … When online newspapers have boring and confusing headlines that I don’t care about … When all hope for an enjoyable, relaxing read have faded into the abyss of my monitor … That’s when I turn to WORD. And it never disappoints. While I have made my own small contributions to this wonderful blog, I think we all know that WORD is bigger than any one person. WORD is made by all of us and for all of us. And it shall never perish from this internet. Happy birthday WORD. You may only be a year old, but your place in my heart is endless.

BRYON CAHILL - Literary Editor, READ & WRITING
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