Fiction
Alex skied down the mountain and breathed in the scent of the pine trees. Everything was peaceful. He spotted a cluster of dark blue puddles of water seeping through the cracked ice. He longed to investigate and decided to stop and take a peek. As he got closer there was a quick flicker in one [...]
Fiction
THIS IS A TRUE STORY Guang’s stomach grumbled. He sighed, took his bread out of his backpack, and looked at it, trying to control his appetite. “Remember, don’t start eating it as soon as you get off our doorstep!” his mother had said as she placed the bread in a small paper bag with her [...]
Fiction
By Molly O’Toole Illustrated by Ravela Smyth Beep! Beep! I spring out of bed when my alarm sounds, but no alarm was needed to wake me up. I have been waiting for this day my whole life. I keep my pajamas on, because I need to wear clothes that aren’t important for cooking. My stomach [...]
Fiction
The Galactic Soldier Code To protect the peace of the Milky Way, To fight bravely on land, sea, air, and space, To execute the orders of our superiors, We are the Galactic Soldiers. Jade’s cell was a small, cramped space, with bare white walls and floor, except for a small bed, sink, toilet, and mirror. [...]
Fiction
His breathing deepened as he drifted off to sleep. His chest rose and fell in a rhythm that comforted his sister sitting next to him. Ellie Harrison wrapped her arms around herself in a hug and closed her eyes. She tried to sleep like her brother, but it was impossible to get comfortable in the hard [...]
Fiction
PROLOGUE I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want to move to America on July 17, 1956. My life was perfect in Japan. I had good friends. I had finally made the baseball team. Everything was perfect, but then I had to move to the U.S. The same country that fought a war against Japan. [...]
Fiction
Tears filled my eyes as I stared back at my mother. I turned and fled out the door, not caring that it was the middle of the night. The yard was filled with deep shadows, and leaves crackled beneath my feet as I ran over the open expanse of tufty grass and into the forest [...]
Poems
Hazy gray-gold light Patterns on the wall. Mystical. Creaking door, A frisky tail, and she pounces Ever so light. She prances, Arches her back, kneads deep into the blanket, And collapses. I curl around her, A snug cocoon. One. Her eyes mere slits A faint meow, Contented. A caressing hand, Smoothing her rumpled fur, Soft [...]
Poems
We stand in the old kitchen On the white rustic floors With cloth draped over the table My tiny hands are ready She gets the flour As I stretch to get eggs At the back of the fridge My fingers slip She saves it from behind We laugh We lower the mixer Add the ingredients [...]
Poems
The cold air Hits me instantly, spontaneously, As I step out the door. My breath Puffs on the cold air in little white clouds, Forming a quick wisp of silky fog. Snow Soft, white, like winter’s blanket, Spirals from the sky, landing on The creases of my shirt, Landing on my eyelashes, Creating a cold [...]
Poems
I am bold but I still have fear Small as a bug on a leaf Step by step to center stage Spiders up my spine Shoulders back Lump in my throat Swallow hard Cloud in my head Think straight Words in a cocoon Make their way out Start to fly In the bright lights I [...]
Book Reviews
Kira-Kira, by Cynthia Kadohata; Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing: New York, 2006; $6.99 Once in a blue moon, you come upon a book which you believe is the pure embodiment of perfection. You read the novel in what seems like a single breath, and by the time you have read the last perfectly tailored word, you would be just [...]
Book Reviews
The Silver Donkey, by Sonya Hartnett; Candlewick Press: Somerville, Massachusetts, 2014; $8.99 "As they approached the hollow where the man lay, they were aggrieved to spy him sitting up. Clearly he was not dead. And although they had crept as quietly as they could, and kept themselves hidden behind tree trunks and weeds, the sharp-eared [...]
