Click here for Student Writing Showcase 2008.

That's not much fanfare! Well, I could tell you about all the great student writers we have showcased this year. I could discuss the wonderful authors who have leant their voices and commentary (like M.T. Anderson, Karen Cushman, and Cynthia Leitich Smith). I could describe the way neat-o video version of 1,000 Words. I could tell you all about the Letter To Self article and writing prompt. I could write up a super-duper self-promotion that shows in detail how each one of these things makes for a really cool place to chill out, read some excellent student writing, get inspired, and moves you to write whatever your heart desires! I could... and I kind of just did... but I think I'll just pipe down and let you check it out for yourself.

AND if you do get inspired and DO write something. Send it to us at word@weeklyreader.com. We're always looking for the best student writers to publish right here on WORD!

Cheers mates! Enjoy!

The following is a WORD Bloggy endorsement from Esther Yan, a 6th grade student.

The readandwriting website is very interesting in two ways. One way is that they give an opinion on a book. For instance, they were giving an opinion on the Chronicles of Narnia. A Canadian reviewer said, "The chronological order makes the books more strictly allegorical than they really were intended to be...". Another way is that they have many categories. Some of the categories are "Books and Authors", "Get Published", "Writing Tips", "1000 Words", and more.

There are four ways that I would use "www.readandwriting.com". First, I would use it for finding books. I would go to "Books and Authors" to find some comments or opinions on the articles/stories that they have in READ and Writing magazines. It would be helpful for writing an article about a story for English/Language Arts.

Second, I would use it to find cool websites and interesting articles. For instance, if I was curious about the National Book Festival, I would simply click on "Cool Links" and scroll down until I found the section that was talking about the National Book Festival. It's easy as 1-2-3!

Third, I would click "Writing Tips" and check out the writing tips. The tips they give are very interesting. For instance, they tell you about revising. Did you know E. B. White (author of Charlotte's Web) revised his story 8 times?

Lastly, it tells that you shouldn't give up on your writing when you are confused. In the movie A Christmas Story, the main character Ralphie has to write a theme for the teacher on what he wants for Christmas, so he writes that he wants "a Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time". He imagines his teacher saying, "Poetry. Sheer poetry, Ralph! An A+!" But when he gets back his paper, it doesn't have an "A+" on it, instead, it says, "You'll shoot your eye out!"

Those are four ways that I would use this readandwriting website.

Thanks for the raving review Esther!

Check back here tomorrow and every day for two weeks straight for Ann Arlys Bowler Poetry Contest Runners-Up!

In a recent Animals issue of READ, we asked you what you thought about the play, Babylon's Ark. Here are a few 9th graders' responses from Bourgade Catholic High School in Phoenix, Ariz.

The Babylon's Ark story was harsh. What they did to the animals was mean and not healthy. The people trying to help them were very kind and respectful but the owner of the zoo didn't care.
     Animals should just be treated as humans. Be kind to them because they have a life too. They live on earth not just to be treated as a pet that you can kick around. They are here to bring life to us and joy, and they are friends.
     -- Jennifer Guzman

The animals are sick, hungry, and dehydrated. The Iraqis took over the zoo and they are making it a base. This was all caused by war. Now with the Iraqis out of the zoo there are people from the U.S. that are trying to help out the animals. They are having a tough time because most of the animals are really sick.
     I think that it is a great thing that people are helping out the animals at the zoo. Now with the troops helping them out there will be no more Iraqis able to enter the zoo and kill the remaining animals. I still think it is dangerous for the people at the zoo. They hear a lot of guns and one of those bullets can hit you and you can die.
     If it was my zoo I would have bulletproof walls and it would be blocked off so no Iraqis can come in and use it for a base. I would also put bombs where there are no animals because that is were the Iraqis would hide and it will blow them up.
     -- Blake Comella

If it was my zoo I would never abandon my animals. I would always care to them and make sure they are getting the same requirements as other zoos or better. So if someone tried to take over my zoo and turn it into a base. I would do everything in my power to stop them and make sure all the animals are safe.
     -- Vince Fielder

I would set a zoo up by, first hiring people that love animals and are not scared of them. Second, they have to be cheap And third, they have to know what there doing... if not, get out of here. I would set up some crazy electric fence so no animals can get out and no one can get in and steal any either. 
     -- Kristopher Verdugo

If I had a zoo I would separate the animals into groups and give the animals a theme I would pick the theme depending on the animal. I would keep the birds in one big cage so they can fly around. I would also have timers for the food so every three hours the food will fall on the floor.
     I would put the fish in a clear tank and make it look like the ocean, and I would also clean the tank every three days.
     I would clean the zoo every Sunday and clean the cages every day. I am going to give the animals a good meal and feed them lunch and dinner.
     I would hire trainers to train the animals so they can not attack the people. I would throw toys in the cages for the animals so they can play with them. I would give the animals a bath and dry them. I would also hire veterinarians to check the animals health, and make sure they have all there shots.
     -- A.J. Magdaleno

You've been here before. Oh yes. OK, well I stole that first line, "You've been here before." from Stephen King. It's actually the first line of his terrifying novel about a small town that pretty much goes nuts, Needful Things. But I digress...

Did you ever see our Student Writing Showcase from last year? Well now's your chance. Click here, take a look. I'll wait.

Pretty cool, right? Well we're doing it again this year... except the only difference is that this year, we want YOU! That's right! We want YOUR WRITING in our 2008 Showcase!

Send your best stuff to word@weeklyreader.com. Poetry, fiction, essays, whatever you've got, we want it!

Be sure to write "Student Writing Showcase" in the subject line of your email (or "SWS" if you're into the whole brevity thing.)

I don't have an actual deadline for this one. The deadline probably should have been like last month. Oops. See, you're not the only procrastinator!

Alright, for the sake of argument, let's say the deadline is January 31. OK? But it doesn't really matter cuz you're going to email your writing to us right now, right? Woo hoo! Looking forward to reading it!

Word.

In the January 4th issue of READ, we presented a Charles Dickens classic called The Child's Story. The ending was a little difficult and we asked you to tell us what you thought of it. The following is an interpretation by student READer Maggie Smith.

In Charles Dickens's short piece titled The Child's Story, a lone traveler walks along a road and interacts with characters that represent stages in his life. Each of these characters call to the walking man, and invite him to join them in whatever activity or occurrence sets apart that particular age, such as learning as a child or teenager, or being in love like a young adult. At the end of the short story, the narrator speaks directly to the traveler as a grandchild to his grandfather. This surprising point of view makes the piece take on new meaning.

For example, the clever narrative explains the grandchild's understanding of the grandfather's life, and how he or she knows that their grandfather loves to remember and to enjoy simply being with his family, and they love him back. When I read this passage, I envision a grandchild telling the story to his beloved grandfather as their happy relatives look on. The line "because this is what you do to us, and what we do to you" explains the close relationship this family has.

Also, the grandchild narrator mentions several events that explain the grandfather's life. The mention of the young man falling in love just as "somebody I won't mention did with Fanny" is clearly the child hinting shyly at his grandfather's wife, presumably named Fanny. In addition, all of the children of the middle-aged "always busy" gentleman leave to go to sea, India, abroad to seek riches, and Heaven. These specific examples are probably the grandchild's way of mentioning his aunts and uncles.

Lastly, the narration in Charles Dickens's story sheds light on how young children view life in simple stages that seem vastly far away. The grandchild uses simple language and foreshadowing, while never exactly stating what is going on. The reader must deduce the meaning of each character and event by themselves. Also, the child's mention of the journey as "magic, and very long when he began it, and very short when he got half way through" emphasizes the simple, sparse viewpoint of the child.

In conclusion, this revealing and surprising narration in The Child's Story is bright, beautifully simple, and uses small clues to illustrate both the child's and the grandfather's lives. Charles Dickens used this to his advantage, and this story still rings true even today.

If you haven't yet read Dickens's story, you can find it on page 14 of the January 4th issue of READ... or here.

In the January 4th issue of READ, we presented a Charles Dickens classic called The Child's Story. The ending was a little difficult and we asked you to tell us what you thought of it. Here are just a few of your responses.

Jack Spahr
The last line of the story titled The Child's Story was: And I think the traveler must be yourself, dear Grandfather, because this is what you do to us, and what we do to you. The traveler was one who went on his way along the path seeing as a young boy grew from a boy to a grandfather. I suppose that the traveler would be the grandfather as he travels through life. As he travels he follows a path almost like a time line until he comes to the end. Unfortunately I did not understand the "because this is what you do to us, and what we do to you" part of the final sentence. Perhaps it has some meaning relating to what he and the child did as they both went through the path. As he walked and met the boy time and time again they did many things together. I'm not too sure about what it does mean although the sentence does hold some significant meaning.

Abby Johnston
The Child's Story seems like it was written by someone older than a child. This story seems like some kind of life story wound into something interesting to keep a child amused. The last line surprised me, but after I thought about it, it made more sense. These children were either dying or going far off to somewhere, just like a grandfather would, yet the parents weren't terribly sad, they knew it would happen and they accepted it. I think this story helps the grandfather accept dying.

Chris Covert
The last line in The Child's Story was very well-written by Charles Dickens. It was easily comprehended and sent a large message. It was very powerful. It did not surprise me because that title stated that it was a story from a child. I understood it. The last line states that the boy thinks his grandpa is the travelling man because he watches people change as they grow up until they leave and all he can do is remember them, as the boy can watch his granpa get older and pass away, leaving the boy to remember him.

Connor Fitzgerald
It did not surprise me much to know that the speaker was talking to the grandfather. The last sentence told that the speaker was speaking to the grandfather, and as the story progressed from the beginning I began to know that. Thankfully the story was easy enough to understand, and I began to figure out its deeper meaning once I was finished. I already explained what its basic tale was. The traveler goes on his travels and meets along the way multiple people. He's simply meeting the same person after an amount of time and doing things with him. All in all it was a fine story though with a good deal of meaning to it.

The last line of the sstory did surprise me a little because it sounds like one of those stories that tells you a lesson, and usually someone older tells you something like that. I think that I understand some parts of it. One part I believe I understand is throughout the story it is telling you what is important to people at each age. For example, it was important for the child to play, and for the young boy to learn, and so on. The child could be telling the story of how they thought their grandfather watched them grow up, and watched them go through those phases in life. Plus, he won't be able to find them becouse they grew up, and are "gone" forever. Only when he wants to remember them, is when he can see everyone again. I hope that explanation made sense, because it did to me. :)

Later today... come back to WORD to read Maggie Sullivan's extremely thought out and insightful explanation of Charles Dickens's The Child's Story...

In the meantime, if you haven't yet read Dickens's story, you can find it on page 14 of the January 4th issue of READ... or here.

Well, here we are. 2008. Back to school, back to work, yada yada yada.

In the holiday issue of READ, we said that we would post student writing during the last week of December. Well, we tried, but were obviously unsuccessful. Sorry about that. We will resolve to do better in '08. Starting with our first student writing piece this afternoon!

Come on back.

Word.

Dim the lights and cue the dramatic music.

Tonight ... on The Great Book Publishing Challenge ... we'll decide which novel will be published. Will it be the romance? The mystery? The western? Your votes decide. So, who will be ... the next great American novelist?

Does this sound like a reality show you'd watch? It might sound silly, but some publishers are running American Idol-style competitions to publish books. An article on NPR talked about how a social networking site ran this competition, and it actually found very talented people to get published.

I think it's great that people are getting excited about writing. And this is definitely a way to get your foot in the door of the publishing world.

But I wonder what the "audition" round would be. Instead of wannabe singers screeching "Unchained Melody," would it be wannabe writers sitting in front of a computer, staring at a blank screen? Would it be a video clip of a person stuffing his manuscript into an envelope and getting a paper cut? (Ouch!)

Would you enter a contest like this? You know what, I think I would. Of all the reality shows out there, this seems like it would be the one with the least amount of humiliation. No eating pigs' brains, no vying for the love of a washed-up 80's singer, no singing. And the chance to become a published author. Sounds pretty good to me.

If you entered this contest, what would you submit? A poem? A short story? Your biography? Hey ... wait a minute. No need to even enter a contest. [Shameless plug alert] You can be published on this very blog! Yay! Go on and e-mail your masterpiece to word@weeklyreader.com.

Jessica, out!

Spotlight fades to black as credits scroll over the screen.

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...

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...

"There's nothing here. It looks like there was something. But now it's gone. This place is dead. And we need to bring it back to life."
      - Mike, 11, Town Council, Red District

Well, we didn't get any student reviews of Kid Nation yet. I suppose the contest deadline was a little ridiculous. Sorry about that. Just trying to stay topical here. At any rate...

I really really really enjoyed the first episode of Kid Nation. Aside from the fact that I have some of the same qualms about it that others do--it's kinda messed up to drop 40 kids in the middle of nowhere and say, "OK, survive."--it's a super-duper reality show. To read some disturbing controversy about Kid Nation, click here.

It's going to be interesting to see everyone work together to make the town work. There were already problems during the first couple of days. But they all seemed to be resolved. Even Greg, the vandal, the bully, the Blue District rebel, seemed to have a change of heart at the end of the show. I guess the golden star worth $20 grand might have had something to do with his sudden urge to help out. But that's ok. Money is a great motivator. Greed, however, is not.

"I'm a beauty queen. I don't do dishes."
    - Taylor, 10, Town Council, Yellow District

Oh man, Taylor. There are no beauty queens here! Get over yourself! I'm just kidding... mostly. I'm glad she didn't decide to leave at the end of the show. The town council would have fallen apart if she did. Not because she's a great leader or anything... but leaders need to stay in place or else your nation falls apart. No matter how terrible a job you're doing. Ahem. I think Taylor's going to end up turning it around herself. I really think she's going to step up before the end of the show and show what she's made of. Go Taylor!

I was sad to see Jimmy leave. At only 8 years old, he was the youngest kid on the show and also the only one to choose to leave the town at the end. Oh well.

Kudos to Sophia (Green District) for winning the gold star!

Best quote of the night was when the town council chose to keep seven new outhouses over a television set:

"We got the Port-O-Potties! Yah!"
     - Jared, 11, Red District

Question: If they had chosen to take the TV, what kind of reception would they have had? I have a feeling nothing. They'd probably be watching 24 hours of snow and fuzz a day... not to mention pooping in the road.

OK, that's my silly review. It's not very good but the show was!

Here is WORD's gold star to you -- the deadline is null and void. Send your review of any Kid Nation episode this season to word@weeklyreader.com and we'll post the best up here on our humble bloggy. The first one we post still gets the tee shirt. It's not worth $20,000 but it has a cute doggy on it.

OK, now here's Jared doing some Shakespeare...

Yah!

Did you watch Kid Nation last night? Did you like it? What did you think?

OK, here's the deal, write up a review of the show and send it to word@weeklyreader.com. We will post the best one here, on WORD, tomorrow. And here's the best part -- the winner will receive a free tee shirt!

But you have to write it quick because the contest deadline is midnight tonight!

Oh, and if we don't get any reviews, you'll have to suffer through mine tomorrow. Better get writing!

Word.

Dear Sir/Madame:

Thank you for your interest in our publishing company. While your manuscript was interesting, we are not currently in the market for that type of novel.

Best of luck on your literary journey.

Sincerely,
Publisher X

Harsh!

Have you ever wanted to submit an article idea/the great American novel to a publisher, but visions of a letter such as the one above haunt you in your dreams? Well, first of all, if you ever have a nightmare about sitting naked in English class, well, dreams of rejection letters wouldn't seem as scary. Anyway, while it might be discouraging to receive such a letter when you've poured your heart and soul into your masterpiece, know that even famous authors have been rejected at some point in their careers.

That's right. Kerouac, Orwell, and many other prominent authors were actually rejected. Why? I don't know. Maybe the authors needed to do some editing. Maybe the editor was having a bad day and rejected everything that came across his or her path. Maybe some poor intern spilled coffee on the manuscript, leaving it illegible. (I sure hope that intern got a stern talking-to!) Who knows.

Every aspiring writer should know this. Everyone gets rejected. So keep writing, and keep trying to get published. Live the dream. And maybe, someday, someone will be kicking himself for letting your masterpiece slip through his fingers.

Do you have a great idea for a magazine article? While getting the idea from your head to your computer might seem difficult -- "How do I get that interview? What’s a great pun I can use for the introduction? Just how am I going to end it?" -- writing is the easy part. It's getting published that's the difficult part. How do I know? Well, before I landed this awesome job at Weekly Reader, I too tried my hand at freelance writing, with varying degrees of success. Luckily, all you aspiring writers out there in computer land can benefit from my tips--written from experience. I learned the hard way so you don't have to.  :)

           

For starters, pick a magazine you want to send your idea to, and make sure they accept submissions. Try to look on its Web site to see if there are any guidelines. If you request the guidelines, send a self-addressed stamped envelope. Editors aren't going to shell out their own dough to send you a response. And know your audience! If you want to write an article on the newest monster truck in a magazine about cooking, chances are, it's not going to happen.

           

Next, send a query letter or e-mail. What's a query letter? I'm glad you asked. This is a letter stating what your article is going to be about, why the readers would be interested in it, the proposed word count, info like that. Most editors will not read unsolicited manuscripts. If they like your idea, they will contact you and work out the details.

           

And on that note, when you are sending your query, send it to someone. Preferably a real person whose name you saw on the masthead. (Yes, this requires some research. But researching by reading magazines is definitely more fun than researching for a big history paper. At least, it is in my opinion.) Editors hate it when they receive letters addressed "To whom it may concern." Even worse if you address it "To Sir," and the editor is female. Trust me on that one.

           

Be prepared to send out lots of queries without any response. Editors are busy people--writing their articles and blogs and all--and if they don't like the idea they might not write back. Rejection comes with the territory, but it builds character. (Or characters for your next story. Get it?) If an editor does say yes, don't pitch the idea to a different magazine as well. It'll get the editor mad if you recant, plus it's just not cool. You never know who knows whom, and sometimes scorned editors talk. You don't want to be blacklisted from all magazines!

           

Anyway, dear writer, those are some of my tips. Now go forth and, well, write! And good luck to you.

Do you have the end of the school year blues?

Is the promise of summer vacation just mere days from your grasp?

When you're sitting there in Geometry, gazing out the window, does a little piece of you die inside?

Well, you'll be out soon enough. In the meantime, feel free to gripe about your woes here. Write a poem about your terrible plight and send it to word@weeklyreader.com. Put "End of School Blues" in the subject line and we'll post the best one here.

Word.

Why hello there! Happy Thursday to you!

READ Magazine's publishing year has come to an end. Our last issue took the form of a web site called Student Writing Showcase. We received so many great submissions for it. Thank you all!

Next year, we want to publish a new piece of student writing in every issue of READ (and Writing for that matter). Right now though, we are specifically looking for poems and stories about MAGIC. We are also looking for poems and stories about MONSTERS. Please email your work to word@weeklyreader.com. Put either "Monsters" or "Magic" in the subject line (depending on what your writing is about).

A writer's work is never done, eh?

Word.

Yesterday was the final day of the International Reading Association (IRA) conference. I don't have anything really exciting to report because I spent pretty much the entire day in the Weekly Reader booth. I didn't meet any authors or go to any lectures because I was chillin' at the home base, mixing it up with teachers from all walks of life. And that, in itself, was something special.

I'm about ready to leave now. The four of us that headed out here together in an oversized minivan just five days ago are ready to pile back in and groove on back to the states. Canada was truly a blast, eh? I thank you for your good will and best wishes.

Before we leave this fine country, we're stopping by a small, mostly unknown place called Niagara Falls. I hear they've got, like, a bunch of water or something? I dunno. That's just what they tell me. ;)

So yeah, overall, the trip was just jam packed with inspiration and ideas. Gotta give a great big shout out to IRA for making it all possible. How does one give a shout out? Um.

YO IRA..... WORD!

Yup, that oughtta do it.

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
     - Grouch Marx

Coming soon to WORD: More student writing than you can shake a stick at! How's that for barking up the right tree???

Wow.

You know what? The International Reading Association (IRA) conference is superb! I cannot begin to tell you how much fun we are having here! ... oh wait, yes I can. And it starts now.

So today was Tuesday, the penultimate day of the show. And, true to form, the day started out miserable and quickly moved to fantastic... and here's how. (Editor's note: The following paragraph is boring. Please skip ahead to the **starred** paragraph to read the good stuff.)

I was scheduled to work the Weekly Reader Booth at 8:00 a.m. I arrived at the convention hall in plenty of time, but of course, just as I was about to gear up to talk to my first teacher of the day, I realized that I had left my business cards back at the hotel. It seems like a minor thing, but really, they are essential for making contacts. So I ran back to our rental van and attempted to drive back to the hotel. I say "attempted" because the traffic back to the hotel was horrendous! I was on the verge of a meltdown in rush hour traffic because I knew that there was a very important lecture I wanted to attend at 9:00. I somehow managed to maintain my rage and turn the van around and head back to the convention hall. Grrr! Oh I was so mad! I can't even tell you.

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**I arrived back at the convention center JUST in time to power walk to my lecture with not a second to spare. I sat down just in time for the beginning of a speech by Mo Willems and Brian Selznick.

Willems is an author/illustrator who has penned and drawn gorgeous children's books such as Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus!, Edwina, The Dinosaur That Didn't Know She Was Extinct, and Today I Will Fly!

Selznick is the author/illustrator of many young adult novels including The Houdini Box, The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, and most recently, the highly acclaimed tour de force, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. (We recently featured "Hugo Cabret" in Writing's April/May issue. Maybe you saw it on page 4 in Write Stuff?)

Together, Willems and Selznick spoke about their love of writing and drawing and how they go through their creative processes to come up with fascinating new ways to tell a story! And they spoke with such humor and such love of their work that it really put their captive audience on the edge of their seats. Willems is an author who's sense of humor and love of life is impossible to ignore. "When I was a child," Willems said, "I was, what is now called, a 'reluctant reader'. back then, it was called 'a boy'." He then went on to assure us he was kidding. Boys love to read just as much as girls do. For sure.

Willems' sheer enthusiasm and good will erupted out of him and we, the audience, were mesmerized. He even conducted a draw-along session where he taught us all how to draw a pigeon. (Mine was a little off, but then again, most of what I do is a little off.)

When it was Selznick's turn to speak, he came out shining. His award-winning new book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a young adult novel the likes of which the world has never seen. It's "part book, part graphic novel, part movie, part historical fiction, part everything." Reading "Hugo Cabret" is akin to living it. I would love to tell you about the plot but there's just too much else to talk about. You can learn all about this extraordinary book by clicking here.

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After that INCREDIBLE experience, I went back and worked the booth some more. I met with many fascinating teachers (maybe one of them was yours?) and I got a lot of great ideas for READ magazine! Look for great things next year! And, as always, you can ALWAYS contact us and let us know what you think of our magazine (and Writing, too) by emailing us at word@weeklyreader.com. And while I'm on the subject of plugging our stuff... have you checked out our Student Writing Showcase yet? I mentioned it the other day... anyway, check it out if you get a chance. It's only just the beginning of what we want to do with YOUR stories and poems!

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I MET NAOMI SHIHAB NYE!! She's the author of The Flag of Childhood: Poems From the Middle East, This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems from Around the World, and What Have You Lost?, among many others.

Ms. Nye is sooooooo excited to be.... oh wait... maybe I shouldn't announce this just yet? Hmm... ok, well I really see no harm in it. So check it out! This past year, Writing's student writing contest called "Take Me Away" was judged by the fabulous Ursula K. Le Guin. For next year's writing contest, I am pleased to announce that we have signed on the glorious Naomi Shihab Nye to be our guest judge! How cool is that?! Ms. Nye was all smiles when we talked about it today! And she can't wait to read your work! The theme of the contest won't be announced until September, but I can tell you this with confidence: you're gonna like it. :)

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So after THAT happy experience of meeting Ms. Nye, I went to hear S.E. Hinton speak in front of a HUGE audience! Ms. Hinton is the author of the classic novel, The Outsiders. It is a timeless tale of a young boy named Ponyboy who is stuck in a gang of "Greasers." But are the Greasers really that bad? Or are they just misunderstood? What makes a bad boy bad? Who decides? I don't know, you tell me.

Ms. Hinton started writing The Outsiders when she was only 15 years old!! The story was based on her personal experiences in school. There were two sets of gangs, The Greasers and The Socs (or "Socials"). And she was fed up with both of them. She wrote her anger and disappointment and it turned into art... and it has stood the test of time.

During her speech, Ms. Hinton did speak at lengths about writing and how hard it can be. She said that the year she was writing The Outsiders, she "got a D in Creative Writing." It just goes to show that anyone can write! Even near-failing writers! You just have to find something you love to write about and get it down!

"After writing The Outsiders, I took a break," Ms. Hinton said, "When I finally came back and decided to write again, I realized... that I didn't know how to write! I couldn't write on a typewriter... I couldn't even write letters to my friends!" She sighed under the weight of the memory. "Many writers will tell you that there's no such thing as 'Writer's Block'. Well I'm here to tell you that yes Ma'am, there is."

So to make a long story short... there is always hope. All you have to do is do it. So do it. Get to it. And send it to us. Click on submit your writing in the right hand column or send your writing directly to word@weeklyreader.com. What have you got to lose?

Nothing. Exactly.

Goodnight Toronto!!!!

-WORD

Day Two, Sunday
We set up our Weekly Reader booth here at the International Reading Association (IRA) conference. It took pretty much all day and was more or less uneventful until, near the end of the day, one of our walls came crashing down. To make a short story shorter, we got a new wall. Yah!

Day Three, Today
The day started out slowly. The hotel coffee was wretched, and the ride to the convention center was filled with trying to cope with the fact that the coffee was wretched. But as soon as we got to our booth, happy faces were genuinely turned on as we greeted teachers who came from all across North America.

Many of them were very familiar with READ and Writing magazines and they were ecstatic to learn about our brand new electronic issue! Wait, this deserves a whole new section here....

CHECK IT OUT!!
The first annual Student Writing Showcase is here! Get on the phone! Tell all your friends! Sing it loud and clear! What is it? We will have a future blog dedicated to that. But for now, see for yourself! Click the link above or go to www.weeklyreader.com/showcase. And start thinking about what you want to submit for next year's Showcase. Because, oh yes, we'll be doin' it again! Count on it.

Day Three, Today (cont.)
When I wasn't "working the booth" and showing off our magazines, I also got a chance to see Lisa Klein, author of Ophelia, speak about writing, reading, and teaching Shakespeare. Ophelia was the love interest of Hamlet. In Shakespeare's play, Ophelia goes mad (crazy) and drowns herself in a river. In Klein's book, she takes the character and rewrites her part. Ophelia does not actually die in this daring, innovative new novel, but rather, she actually fakes her own death and escapes from the kingdom of Elsinore to live a new life. This is fantastic stuff! It's so cool when new authors can take old works and re-write them in ways that readers of the past had only contemplated, don't you think?

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," Klein said in her speech. "I often ask myself, 'What would Shakespeare do?'" Ha! Who hasn't? :)

If you haven't read this book, you have to check it out. But if it slips your mind or you just have too many things going on now (what with prom, summer vaca being almost here, cracking down for finals, etc.), fear not! READ magazine is going to attempt to do something very cool with this book in the coming year. Details to come...

I also met Jane Yolen today. She is the author of many books including Pay The Piper:A Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale. We have collaborated with her on a number of projects over the years and most recently, she read a fairy tale written by a student writer on none other than (you guessed it!) Student Writing Showcase!

And if that weren't enough to fill a whole week (let alone one day!), I also met with the hip cats over at Flocabulary! And yes, I understand that saying "hip cats" makes me sound like a complete poser, all apologies. But these guys are great! You absolutely have to check out their web site! Shakespeare as Hip-Hop?!? Shut up! Awesome!

And speaking of fantastic web sites, I also met a guy from Teaching Matters. I have so much to say about this organization that I will have to wait until a later date to get into an in-depth discussion here, but for now, giver their site a well-deserved gander!

There's just so much cool stuff goin' on at IRA this year but unfortunately, I have to get some sleep now so I can be fresh again in the morning.

Until then,
WORD!

Thank you to all the students who wrote conclusions to "The Pirate's Life For Me", a story that was featured in READ Magazine (Issue Date April 27, 2007).

Just wanted to let you know that, yes! we got them! And we'll be posting the best of them next week, right here on WORD. But that's not all...

We have also received many "1,000 Words" interpretations concerning a certain turtle that escaped from a picture frame! This image, of course, was in the April/May issue of Writing magazine and we will be posting the best of those next week as well!

Next week's shaping up to be big in the world of student writing! You're not gonna want to miss this!

So come on back! Every day next week, starting Monday, May 7 all the way through to Friday, May 11! It's pirates and turtles week here at WORD!

Who loves, ya baby?*

*Editor's Note: Please don't sue us, Telly Savalas.

Really? That's too bad. Why?