Read All About It!

This past week, Open Books had the enormous privilege of welcoming back a wonderful group of fifth graders from O.A. Thorp Academy for an Adventures in Creative Writing Field Trip. The students had previously attended a workshop on poetry in October of 2009 and subsequently slam-jammed their poetry credentials. In February of 2010, these same tremendous students put their prose skills to the test as they wrote about a number of good, bad, funny, and other kinds of days from their own lives. The following is one story that I personally couldn’t resist holding off release until booklet publication. Enjoy the creative musings of our young author below:

A Weird Day

By Zach

One day after I got out of school I had to walk home, which I don’t do. I was walking home on Austin street. I saw a man flying up in the sky, I was looking at everything to see why that guy was flying. Maybe he had rocket shoes, I don’t know. I just kept walking. Then boom! I found myself on the ground. I looked back and forwards, then I opened my eyes and saw a football player saying “get up, get up.” I told him “if you’re looking for the ball I don’t have it.” Oh? He got off me and said “sorry.” I ran home and saw my house was made of chocolate. Then I woke up and was happy that my weird dream was over.

Once again, we had the amazing fortune of filling two rooms with excited field trippers ready to slam some poetry this past Tuesday. Both groups came from St. Barbara Elementary School, and were a compilation of 4th/5th graders and 8th graders. Per usual, each kid rocked in his and her own literary manner. The 4th/5th graders used some beautiful imagery to describe the ways they used to be, while the 8th graders told the tales of who they are today. While hesitant at first, the latter crowd was inspired by the quirks of a science teacher to get over their teenage selves and write with conviction (hey, weren’t we all that way once? . Here are a couple samples of the awesome work done by both groups on the 26th of January:

Boredom
8th grade Class Poem

Boredom is science class
It tastes like gum that has lost all its flavor.
It sounds like the clicking of your teacher’s heels.
It smells like coffee breath.
It looks like a clock without batteries.
It feels like you’re stuck in slow motion.

I Used to Be…
By Isabella (5th grader)

I used to be a puppy
Energetic and full of life
Bur now I am ignored, thrown away with no one to comfort me
I used to have one family with joy in my heart
But now I am heart-broken and miserable without a thought
I used to be a rich young girl with all the toys in the world
Someone with toys to play with
But now I am a young teenager with no toys to enjoy
Having a dull time and bored with no toys to play with
I used to be a caveman without a channel to enjoy
I didn’t have cable or a channel to enjoy
But now I am full of imagination with channels from here to there

How to begin? I could start by saying that my name is Jake Wilson, but what’s in a name without a story to back it up? Well, it just so happens that my birthright has a tale to tell. The legend begins outside Atlanta in a mild February some twenty-three years ago. My mother Roxanne patiently awaited my impeding arrival as her second child and first son. The latter piece of information, however, was unbeknownst to herself or anybody else. The earlier sonograms and multiple doctor opinions had all concluded that, barring a five percent discrepancy, I was destined to be a girl. Suffice to say, I made quite an entrance with my delivery. My father John recalls stammering to my mother that I was in fact a boy, to which my mother replied: “you’re a liar!” Little did I know that my dad had been given free reign to choose a boy’s name. This, of course, was in light of the 95% probability that I was to be a girl. As a consequence, he chose Jake, a moniker carried by actor John Belushi in my father’s favorite movie of all time: The Blues Brothers. I proudly carry that name to this day, and try to live up to my namesake like I was “on a mission from god”.

Now then, with my beginnings out of the way, let me briefly say how excited I am to be joining the Open Books team as a literacy intern in the spring of 2010. Writing has always been a great passion of mine, and derives directly from my early love for reading. Having the opportunity to share and spread these delights with children and adults of all ages makes me extremely excited to be interning with this organization. This comes on the cusp of my graduating from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. I know what you’re thinking: politics to reading? Sounds like an odd transition. However, it is my firm belief that the political future of this country rests partly on a positive approach to social issues such as literacy rates. Engaging the future readers and writers of America will no doubt aid generations to come, be it in the realm of art, literature, news media, philosophy, politics, etc. So, with that little spiel out of the way, I’ll close by saying that I myself am pretty much an open book, and if you have anything you’d like to ask or know about me, don’t hesitate. Until then, so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen goodbye!