- Story by Abigail Slack, Grade 6

 

House after house, building after building flew by and a soft drizzle lingered in the air. How could my parents do this to me, Jennifer Lantaly, the cheerleader, an A+ student? Make me move away from everything I loved, everything I had ever cared

about!

 

"All because of his stupid job," I huffed.

 

"Honey," Mom said, "this is it."

 

I glanced out the window and a beautiful redbrick house stared back at me. I had to admit it was spectacular. Every inch of the yard was green. Grass spread out all along the yard, the bushes were slightly overgrown, and the large pine trees were dense. There it was, my new home, right there, nestled in the trees, just sitting there, waiting to be opened.

 

Dad pulled into the driveway and the large, rumbling moving truck screeched to a stop on the street. I climbed out of my father's silver Volvo, slamming the door and making my parents jump. Even though I was disappointed because of the move, I was overwhelmed with curiosity. I had the strangest feeling that a secret was hidden somewhere in there, just waiting to be discovered. I hurried up the front steps and slowly, I turned the handle and the door creaked open.

 

I gasped. I had never seen anything so beautiful. An old brown staircase sneaked up a wall and the kitchen was bright with many windows. There were counters and old brown cupboards. I walked into the kitchen and reached out my hand and touched the glassy, brown counter. It felt cold, like the window of a car on a winter day. I took in

every detail. Inside a nook, surrounded by windows, I gathered, was the place to put a table. It was cute and homey. I advanced up the creaky stairs, running my hand along the smooth railing. I walked down the hallway and peered into a bedroom. I could tell that this was my room. No master bathroom or giant closet. There were just a few windows on a soft yellow wall.

 

"My bed will go perfect with these walls," I thought. Just then, I noticed something shimmering on the white carpet. I knelt down and saw a locket with a note. The sun danced upon the golden locket. I reached down and picked up the note. A strange riddle was written on it. It said, O lucky one who finds this locket, a place beyond your dreams awaits you, a magical world and just one simple word, wear the locket and simply say 'open', to discover the amazing world of Anazora.

 

"What is this?" I asked myself. Was this some sort of trick? Could I really wear this locket, say "open", and discover a new land?

     

Even though I should have told someone, I was dying with excitement. I slipped on the locket and fastened the clasp. Shivering with anticipation, I said in a loud, clear voice, "open." My brown golden locks swished behind me and the room around me became unclear. Just like that, the room disappeared and a burst of light surrounded me.

Click "read more" to, um, Read More!

Why do you write? 

This is a question I always ask myself at the beginning of a new year -- and, each year, my answer is more or less the same: because I want to connect with people and make a difference in the world through my written words.

The world, however, is an awfully big place, and sometimes it can be daunting to think of your words out there, attempting to touch the people who read them. I'd like to share a story that always helps me find inspiration and motivation when I get overwhelmed:

A terrific storm pounded the coast all night long. The following day, a man walked alone along the beach that was covered with hundreds upon hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of starfish that had washed up on the sand by the high waves and were now stranded.

Far ahead of him on the beach, the man saw another beachcomber who was constantly bending down, straightening up, throwing something -- stones? -- into the ocean, and then bending down again.  As the first man walked closer, he saw that what the other man was throwing into the ocean was not rocks or sticks, but rather starfish, one by one by one.

"What in the world are you doing?" the first man asked when he reached the second man.

"I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean because if they don't get back in the water soon they will die," he answered.

 "But there are hundreds -- thousands -- of starfish on this stretch of beach alone," the first man protested. "What possible difference can you make?"

"Well, to this starfish," the second man said, holding one of them in his hand as he prepared to toss it into the waves, "I can make a big difference."

With each word you write, you too can make a big difference.  Here's to a new year full of imagination and inspiration.

Hello Writers!

Just a quick note here to tell you about what's going on with our 3 major writing contests this year.

1) TAKE ME AWAY - The winners of the Take Me Away contest have been chosen and notified. Thank you all for participating. We had over 1,700 entries this year! Wow! The winning poems and stories will be published in the April/May issue of Writing magazine.

2) Student Writing Showcase - The deadline for ALL student writing showcase entries is tomorrow, Thursday, January 11, 2007. Make sure to get your entries in before midnight tomorrow night! There are no rules or restrictions in this contest. (How refreshing!) Simply email your poems/stories/essays to word@weeklyreader.com. Make sure to write "Student Writing Showcase" in the subject line. The winners will be published in a special bonus super duper wowee zowee electronic magazine on May 11, 2007. This contest is brought to you by the editors of READ and WRITING Magazines.

3) Ann Arlys Bowler Poetry Contest - The deadline for this contest is Wednesday, January 31. You still have a few weeks to compose a brilliant poem of lyrical bliss. Think beauty. Think art. Now stop thinking and write! Click here for more information and to print out the submission form.

That's all she wrote, my friends! Make sure to get in while the gettin's good! Can't wait to read your work!

Peace.

It's a new year and it's time to read some new books. "But which books?" you may be asking. Fear not. The answer is here in this very blog entry! Here at Weekly Reader we have piles of interesting new books! While no single human being could be expected to read them all, I’ve made a spirited attempt over the last couple weeks. Here I present to you three books I recommend to fill your winter downtime.
First, there is a book about a misanthropic Australian high school student caught up in a deadly plot.
Second, preview a book about the dark ironies of a Boston slave living through the Revolutionary War.
Third, check out a book about mice saving the world from eternal darkness. This could shape out to be a very interesting year …

Teachers are everyday heroes, there’s no doubt about it. But it’s not everyday that we get to see a movie about students who are heroes too. Today, an inspiring and relevant movie about an out-of-the-ordinary teacher and group of students comes to theaters near you. Freedom Writers is a must-see.

 

Freedom Writers (MTV Films/ Double Feature Films) is a true story about a gutsy English teacher at Wilson High School in Long Beach, Calif. who uses writing and literature to change to the lives of her high school students. It is based on a 1999 book The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them, by The Freedom Writers and Erin Gruwell. 

 

A first time teacher, 23-year old Ms. Gruwell (played powerfully by Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank) arrives at the first day of school hopeful and optimistic about the year ahead. She knows that her racially diverse students came from tough backgrounds—most are gang members in a post-Rodney King Los Angeles and live in the ghetto—but she is unprepared for the fights and her volatile classroom. Still, Ms. Gruwell is tougher than her pearls and red jacket demeanor. She sticks around. 

 

One day, when one of her students draws a racial caricature about Jamal, a black student in her class, she uses the incident as an opportunity for a lesson on tolerance. She tells her students about the Holocaust and begins to talk to them about the struggles of people throughout history and across all races.

 

As the movie progresses, Ms. Gruwell realizes that if she wants to connect with her students, she has to first understand where they’re coming from and listen to them. She gives each student a black and white composition book and asks them to start writing everyday—anything; poetry, lists; songs; journals. Her students first reaction is "Everyday is a war for us out there. How is studying grammar and literature going to help us?"    

 

In response, Ms. Gruwell assigns The Diary of Anne Frank to her students (many of whom have never owned their own books) and begins to teach them about the Holocaust and the Civil Rights movement. As the students read these stories, they start to write down their own life stories--and become a community engaged in a "Toast for Change."

 

"The kids learned to pick up a pen instead of a gun, and the act of writing saved them," says director and writer Richard LaGravanese who based his moving screenplay on the book The Freedom Writers Diary, a collection of the students’ and Ms. Gruwell’s diaries.

 

"Writing might be one of the best vehicles for some of my students to escape their horrific environments and personal demons. Even though they're not held captive in an attic or dodging bombs in a basement, the violence permeating the streets is just as frightening--and just as real," reads one of Ms. Gruwell's entries in her diary. In the movie, Ms. Gruwell uses writing to teach her students that literature can change lives because it shows you that you are not alone.  

 

"I have great respect for Anne Frank for writing about her life in the attic, but to me, my neighborhood is somewhat like her attic. ... Like Anne Frank, I live through the pain of being stuck in my house because I don't want to become a casualty of war, gang warfare that is going on outside of my bedroom walls," writes one student in her diary.

 

So, how do you make a movie out of a book? LaGravanese selected excerpts from the diaries in the book and spent months interviewing the original Freedom Writers. The result: an emotional and realistic drama that sheds light on some of their most compelling stories and struggles.

 

Eva (in a powerful performance by April Hernandez) is a tough yet sensitive Latina girl whose father was arrested when she was a child. She witnesses an accidental shooting and has to decide whether to protect her friend or reveal the truth (i.e. do the right thing). Andre (played by Mario) has a brother who is on trial and may go to jail. Sindy’s (Jacklyn Ngan) family came to LA from Cambodia. She hasn’t been to prison, but has lived in a refugee camp and saw her best friend shot in front of her. As the movie progresses, each of these students struggles to make the right choices for their lives. Will they succeed? You must watch the movie to find out.

 

Freedom Writers is an inspiring and humbling film with magnetic performances by Swank and the cast of newcomers who play her students in Room 203.  The chemistry between them is palpable. But, it’s so much more than that. It’s a message of hope, tolerance and empowerment, an example of how the voices of teens need to be heard, and about how human suffering can be lessened through sharing and understanding.

 

We're all familiar with the famous inscription on the Statue of Liberty: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

 

Well, I was thinking about this quote while watching the movie--and it struck me that it fit Ms. Gruwell pretty darn well. She opened her arms to a group of students who had been abandoned by the system and gifted them with respect, hope, and tools for survival. In turn, her students were brave enough to let go of their fear of change and accept the lamp of light that was offered to them.

 

Now, these are what I call heroes. If you want to be humbled and inspired this weekend, go watch Freedom Writers. Then come back here on Monday and let's talk about it. ...

 

Did you see the movie? What did you think? What was your favorite scene? Did you know about the Freedom Writers before the movie?

 

Freedom Writers is rated PG-13.