Read All About It!

All of us at Open Books are mad readers, but it took Natalie to bring mad numbers to our midst. She graciously stopped work on our budgets and other plans for world domination to answer…

Natalie and her answer to #7.

The 10 Questions We Always Ask

1. How would you spend your last 24 hours if you knew the world would end in the morning?

Reminiscing with family and friends while eating endless sweets from a Willy Wonka-like candy store.

2. What was your dream job when you were 5?

Ballerina.

3. If you could have dinner with 3 people (real or fictional), who would you invite and what would you eat?

I would go to a pub with my grandfathers — Nathan (the one I never knew), Jack (the one that left too soon), and Conrad (the one that made me his own).

4. What was your favorite childhood toy or game?

Lite-Brite.

5. If you had one superpower, what would it be?

To be able to transport myself from place to place with just a blink of my eyes.

6. What secret obsession do you have that no one knew about before this interview?

My newest obsession is crossword puzzles.� My addiction started very recently, but now I can’t get enough.

7. What makes you laugh uncontrollably?

My husband.

8. What book are you reading right now?

Technically, I placed a moratorium on reading books for the month of November so that I could focus on writing my NaNoWriMo novel; however, I have snuck in a few pages of Great Expectations.

9. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

Mint Chocolate Chip.

10. What is playing on your iPod/record player these days?

Latest iTunes purchases include Rihanna, Rob Thomas and Train.

Here in the colorful offices of Open Books, there’s nothing I’m more thankful for than the cheerful, intelligent, compassionate service of our truly wonderful volunteers. From our family to yours, I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving season.

A perfect representative of our dedicated and all-around-fun-to-be-around volunteers is Becky, one of our dynamite writing mentors. If you haven’t already, check out some of the amazing stories folks like her have helped draw out of elementary, middle and high school students this fall. Thank you, Becky!

Name: Becky Bohanan
Neighborhood: Lakeview
School: Chicago Theological Seminary
Open Books program: Creative Writing Field Trips

The 10 Questions We Always Ask!

How would you spend your last 24 hours if you knew the world would end in the morning? I would take my husband and dog on a road trip to anywhere – with plenty of Taco Bell stops and singing in the car.  Too bad we don’t have a car… I guess we would have to steal (borrow?) one.

What was your dream job when you were 5? Veterinarian

If you could have dinner with 3 people (real or fictional), who would you invite and what would you eat? Mark Twain, Tina Fey, and Ron Weasley.  I would make a lasagna and a cheesecake.  And there would be plenty of wine on hand.

What was your favorite childhood toy or game? I loved my Glowworm.

If you had one superpower, what would it be? To never have to sleep or eat (unless I want to).

What secret obsession do you have that no one knew about before this interview? Studying numerology, Tarot, and other fun divination tools.

What makes you laugh uncontrollably? Really bad jokes.

What book are you reading right now? The Body of God: An Ecological Theology by Sallie McFague.

What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Cookie dough with caramel on top.  And sprinkles.

What is playing on your iPod/record player these days? Ben Folds and Alison Krauss.

With joy and thanks to the young authors, I present some unforgettable tales from this week’s creative writing field trips:

Smack Down vs. Raw 2009
By Carlos Garcia

“Open up, open up!” I was yelling in front of Target. I was waiting for WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 and I wanted to be the first one. I get the game every year.
My mom told me to calm down. I felt my heart beat like a cheetah running through an open field chasing a deer. The only problem was that there were, like, 30 more people in front of me, so I told my mom and dad to come with me.
“Man, you’re acting as if you were in a Jonas Brothers concert.”
I gave my dad a look as if to say, you don’t know what you’re talking about. My dad gave me back a look saying, you better be quiet.
Back in the line I felt like a blueberry about to be popped. I was so close to reaching a record of my own. I felt like Luke Skywalker about to become a Jedi.
Oh! Now I was through the front door with my face squished on the glass. I fell down on the floor and someone else got squished.

Finally, the moment I was waiting for happened. The doors opened, we got in and I bought the game.
My mom said, “Are you happy?”
And I said, “Yes.”
-Fin-

The Bad Day
By Abigail Martinez

One night when I was three years old I went to the bathroom. I used it and I had finished and I called my mom to clean me because I was a little girl so I could not clean myself.
Well, I waited for my mom for like, twenty minutes so I started to sing some Enrique Iglesias songs. I was almost done with the song. I finished and fell asleep.
My mom came and saw me and called my dad. My dad brought the videotape recorder and recorded me. My mom had cleaned me and took me to the room.
I woke up ten minutes later. I got out and went to the living room. They started to laugh at me. I asked them, “Why are you laughing at me?” My brother told me to look at the TV and I looked and it was me in the bathroom.
I went to the room mad. My dad came to cheer me up. He carried me to the living room. He put on the tape again. I went to my room and I fell asleep. The next day they made fun of me more than they had the day before.

Dearest friends of Open Books,

We are in great need of volunteers for our creative writing field trips on Tuesday and Wednesday morning of next week. I know many of you may be leaving town for Thanksgiving, but if you are in Chicago and available on Tuesday and/or Wednesday morning, I urge you to join us for some pre-turkey-time fun!

WHEN: 9:30 a.m. – 12 noon, Tuesday, Nov. 25, Wednesday, Nov. 26
WHERE: Open Books, 213 W. Institute Place, Suite 305
RSVP: comment below to confirm ASAP.

The students and all the Open Books staff will be very thankful for your time and participation. Check out this story from yesterday’s adorable group!

This is about a good day. One day I was going to a field trip. I was going to Open Books with all of my class. I had a lot of fun in Open Books. We had to read a poem. Open Books was like a library. There were people that help. Their names were Anna, Joan, Brittany and Lane. They were asking questions to us. We were sitting in groups. Our helper was Joan. I did like it, because we had to write our story and read. – Leslie, 4th grade, South Loop Elementary

How about this comment from the end-of-trip survey of one of today’s super 6th graders: “I had the best time of my life!”

And of course, you can always let the photos speak.

All I can say is WOW and huge thanks to everyone who helped this week! We had not two but three trips and great volunteer turnout. Woohoo! Volunteer participation makes all the difference! If you can’t join us on Tuesday or Wednesday next week, please mark your calendar to rejoin us for our next post-Thanksgiving field trip on Tuesday, Dec. 2 and any T/TH thereafter. – Erin

A very big Open Books thank you goes out to all of the great volunteers from GE and Building with Books!  As we prepare to send one very large shipment out to our partner Better World Books they provided the much needed help.  This fantastic group of student volunteers gave up their day off of school to lend a helping hand and GE generously let us borrow some of their employees. Hopefully they had as much fun as we did!

For more information about Building with Books check out their site at:

http://www.buildingwithbooks.org