“Awesome!” Mr. Huffington said, clapping his hands OCTOBER Come on, Josh,” Mom urged one day. “It won’t kill you if you join band.” “Yes, it will,” I retorted. “I’ll take away your video games,” Mom threatened. “OK, fine!” I finally gave in after weeks of argument. “I’m sure the way to fit in at […]
The Gold Pocket Watch
“I lost my watch! I lost my father!” The Eiffel Tower was the ideal pickpocketing spot. Tourists were the most likely targets because of their ignorance and trust in the locals. Much of Paris’s underworld hung around the Eiffel Tower, preying on unsuspecting, over-trusting visitors. One clean, quick, unseen swipe, and the fool had lost […]
Flight
I had forgotten what it felt like to fly I watch as the plane speeds down the runway A lurch The wings turn upwards as the wheels retract The plane flies gaining height dips to the right then the left now it steadies itself It climbs higher reaches a peak and then climbs higher touching […]
Letters to Bobbi
I wish I could say that life in space is great, but it is far from that Dear Bobbi, There is definitely a risk in sending letters. I know that. However, there is more of a risk in trying to visit you or send a holo-message. Then I’d get caught for sure. Holograms always pass […]
Frustration, Happiness, and Pure Amazement
How I Found Chanterelles Rain splattered against ice-cold windows, and fat, foggy, clouds hung low. I was in my dad’s twenty-one-year- old Honda Accord, zooming along the highway. It was four-thirty, and I had just gotten out of the two-hour Chinese School that I attend every Sunday. My dad, sister Mia, and I were on […]
Whirling into Whispering Wind
I fall into a golden, crisp carpet of leaves watching as the wind whirls them into a painting of bronze butterflies their wings rustle and I am by the sea again remembering the summer I love the aroma of sweet-scented cinnamon sprinkled on warm pumpkin pie crunchy apples and maple leaves brushing the air with […]
Eyes
From that moment I became a self-appointed crusader and protector of the birds Even as a child, I was fascinated by wild things. Some of my first memories are those of my dad marching me into the wilds of the jungle and pointing out troops of monkeys, kaleidoscopes of butterflies, and schools of fish. The […]
My Sag Harbor
The heavy door is embellished With a whale knocker And on the side a doorbell That no longer rings. You walk up the porch steps And turn the cold metal knob Pushing against the force That never wants you to open the white door. This is my Sag Harbor. The houses are small With dogs […]
Magical Childhood
Being carefree is one of the best gifts in childhood Memories… I am six years old. I am the hero of this story. Me and my friends are inseparable. For hours we play Star Wars. Some of us are Jedi, others Sith, and some Clones. The bottom line—it is pure magic! The worst fight we […]
One Last Chance
This was the last audition for a whole year, and Ella was a nervous wreck Ella wrapped her legs around the cold metal of the folding chair, held her résumé, headshot, and sheet music tightly, and clenched her teeth. She didn’t want the moms sitting in the back and the kids around her to see […]
Out of My Mind
Out of My Mind, by Sharon M. Draper; Atheneum Books for Young Readers: New York, 2010; $17.99 Eleven-year-old Melody Brooks is a genius. She remembers everything that has ever happened to her, from the lullabies her parents sang to her as a baby to the words from every documentary and TV show she’s ever watched. […]
Dancing Birds
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” It was a cold Sunday morning in the fall. The trees were bare and looked like they needed a coat. The ocean water lapped up against the sand, liquid ice. Two boys played by the beach, each daring the other to go farther into the freezing water. A little girl sat […]
