I'm reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It just came out last month and it is extraordinary. It's about a little German girl named Liesel during World War II. When her younger brother dies, Liesel steals a book (The Gravedigger's Instruction Manual) near his gravesite as a memento of how she felt that day. Her mother realizes she cannot take care of Liesel with the world crumbling all around them, so Liesel goes off to live with the Hubermanns'.

Throughout the book, Liesel is touched by the written word and the constant threat of war and death. The Nazi party is more and more prevalent every day, but Liesel learns their wickedness through the actions of her Papa, Hans Hubermann, a good man who plays the accordion beautifully and takes in Max, a Jew, and hides him in his basement. Liesel quickly becomes great friends with Max and she tries not to think what will happen to him (to all of them) if he is found.

I won't say anymore except that this book was published first in Australia as Adult Fiction. Here in the U.S., it is being published as Young Adult. What does that mean exactly? Well, you could look at it two ways:

1) The publisher believes there is a better chance this book will sell to younger readers.
2) This is just one of those groundbreaking books that matures the minds of young readers--a book that will help you grow up by showing you all shades of good and evil the world has to offer.

Oh yes, and did I mention that The Book Thief is narrated by Death himself? Check it out. You won't be sorry.

It's been a stressful couple of weeks.  Final exams are looming large and near, and my schoolmates and I have been fretting over term papers and tests.  However, this weekend my school hosted a "Relay For Life" event to benefit the American Cancer Society.  Students form teams (ranging from a handful to hundred people) and take turns walking around the track to show support for cancer victims and the search for a cure.  The event lasts 24 hours, and the goal is for each team to have at least one member walking around the track at all times, even in the wee hours of the morning.  I signed up to take part back in February, when I had no idea it would be such a busy weekend for me.  Now, the day of the event, part of me wished I didn't have to go, and yet I thought of my day-care sitter Jeanie and our dear family friend Karen who both passed away from cancer, and I knew I had to do something to honor their memories.  So I tore myself away from my desk and headed across campus to the track.    

Well, before I knew it, an hour commitment turned into three hours, then four ... walking around the track, I met new people, made new friends, and listened to cancer survivors -- some of them my age! -- tell their stories.  Indeed, being involved in the Relay for Life really put everything in perspective.  In the big picture, worries like term papers, tests -- and writer's block! -- seem trivial and insignificant.  What really matters is spending time with those dear to you, and striving to make the world a bit better place, one step at a time.

Writing-wise, getting involved opens your eyes to new experiences and ideas, if only in that it is a way for you to  meet interesting and inspiring people to write about.  As I was finally tearing myself away from the Relay for Life to go back to my room and get back to studying, volunteers were lighting candles to symbolize cancer victims, survivors, and a hope for the future.  Everyone who had been somehow touched by cancer lit a candle and carried it around the track.  I saw this ceremony through a writer's eyes, mirroring the way experiences illuminate your writing hopes and dreams -- and also how as a writer, you can touch people with your words and give them hope for a brighter future.

For more information on the Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society, please visit www.cancer.org.

Two weeks ago,  Gregory K. Pincus, a writer in Los Angeles posted an invitation on his blog GottaBook. He invited readers to write "Fibs" - six-line poems that use a math formula called the Fibonaci sequence.

The pattern is like this - each line must have a certain number of syllables which equals the sum of the syllables in the line above. Before you think it's too complicated, here is the basic six-line pattern:

1
1
2
3
5
8

Within a week, news of this invitation had spread like wildfire across the Internet - and more than 100 blogs were linking to GottaBook--and piles and piles of Fibs were pouring in. The New York Times even wrote an article about this! 

Here's our Fib:  

This
Blog
Calls for
A round of
Applause from all you
Dedicated fans out there.

Want to post a Fib on WORD? Post a comment.

Hello, Word-sters! I'm Meredith, a health reporter and writer who works here at Weekly Reader with Bryon and Sandhya. This contest offer showed up in my e-mail inbox this morning and I wanted to share it with you all:

What's the REAL DEAL on Growing Up in the Age of AIDS?

Who can enter? Anyone 13-18 years old living in the United States
What should you write? A story or script dealing with HIV/AIDS (up to 10 pages)
When is the deadline? June 13, 2006
Where can I get more information? www.ScenariosUSA.org/contest/
Why? It's been 25 years since HIV and AIDS first emerged. This means you're the first generation to grow up in this era--for you, AIDS has always been around. How do you feel about it? This contest gives you the opportunity to share your thoughts with the world.

Scenarios USA is an organization that helps teens make films, BET is the cable network Black Entertainment Television, and the Kaiser Family Foundation is a nonprofit health care organization. They've all teamed up to give teens a chance to talk about the impact HIV/AIDS has on their communities, relationships, and lives. Submit a story or a script of up to 10 pages on the theme, "What's the REAL DEAL on Growing Up in the Age of AIDS?" and you could win the chance to have your entry filmed by a Hollywood director and shown nationwide on BET in 2007.

Put on your thinking cap and get busy! You can submit an entry by yourself, with friends, or even as a class. There's an application and more resources for you and your teacher at www.ScenariosUSA.org/contest/, including a "Mini Creative Writing Workshop" to help you get started. Good luck!

Meredith is the editor of Current Health 2. You can check out her magazine online by clicking here.