Maybe you received one of my urgent Messages-in-a-Bottle! If so, it was a plot to get you HERE! And I’m so glad you are here! (If you want freebies for your bookstore or to request a store appearance, send your store address by clicking here.)

And if you’d like to HOST AN ANYBODY PARTY, here are some GRAND ideas sure to produce mad hoots and joy!

(If you haven’t received a Message-in-a-Bottle YOUNG WRITER'S KIT, click here, and give the address of your store or school.)

 

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Exercise One:

A WELL-READ, QUICK-THINKING EXERCISE:

If you could be Anybody for a day, who would you choose?

If you could be Anything for a day, what would you choose?

If you could be any animal for a day, what would you choose?

The teacher reads out the following scenarios. You must think of a book – and a person, animal, or thing to shake from that book to save the day.

For example, in THE ANYBODIES, Fern needs to get rid of a spider and so she tries to shake THE WORLD OF BATS, so a bat will flap out of the book and eat the spider. (Because it’s dark, she ends up shaking a tornado out of THE WIZARD OF OZ, which also gets rid of the spider ...)

You are on a desert island with nothing to eat and no fresh water to drink. What book do you choose to help you? What items will you shake from that book?

You’re lonesome and need someone to play with. What book do you choose to help you? Who will you shake from the book to keep yourself company?

The key to your house has fallen out of your pocket and into a crack between the boards of your porch. You can see it, but the crack is too small to fit your hand through. What book will you use to help? Who or what will you shake from that book?

Think up three scenarios – like the above – on your own.

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Exercise Two:

As a CRAFT:

Draw a picture – or use clay or playdough – to show yourself in mid-transformation – half still you and half another person, thing, or animal!

As a WRITING EXERCISE:

Choose one of your answers to the above questions, and then write a scene in which you change form. Is it an emergency? Are you coming to someone’s rescue? Are you nearly caught?

Page II >>

AWARDS

for a few
of our favorite schools...

Most Amazingly Inventive EVER! Hardee Junior High a school-wide read with hallways that made the book come alive, including a cricket attack! (Fearless leader: Louise Jones)

Biggest Brightest Audience

Rampello Project (Fearless leader: Carol Hogue)

Most Gracious (and what a talent show!)

Dowdell Middle School (Fearless leader: Joshua Newhouse)

Bravest Boldest Art

Mulrennan Middle School complete with floor-to-ceiling tornado! (Fearless leaders: Nancy Moran)

Most Quirky and Compelling Group of Kids

Burnett Middle School (Hello, Dallas!) (Fearless leaders: Nancy Phillips)

Most Brilliant Quick-Draw Questions

Marvelous Martinez Middle School (Fearless leader: Jeanette Whitman)

Best Novel Sketchers

Adams Middle School (Fearless leader: Abigail Dyer)

Spunkiest Funniest Questions

Eisenhower Middle School (Fearless leader: Erin Devlin)

Most Generous
It's a TIE: These two schools had HUGE book drives through www.booksindeed.org!
Swift Creek Middle
(Fearless leader: Ava Lee)
and
Holy Comforter Episcopal School
(Fearless leader: Laura Powell)
Both in Tallahassee, FL

Most Fabulous Listeners
St. Bernadette's, Drexel Hill, PA
(Fearless leader and someone to whom I dedicated The Slippery Map: Sister John Marie)

Best Combination of Manners and Sass!
(a boomerang school that keeps me coming back for more!)
Sanford School, Hockessin, DE
(Fearless leader: Ms. DeSantis)

Most Dedicated to their Writerly Dreams!
Stonehurst Hills, Upper Darby, PA
(Fearless leader: Ms. Mahoney)

Biggest Readers!
North Star Elementary, Hockessin, DE
(Fearless leader: Ms. Schweizer)

Most Dedicated Parents!
Pocopson Elementary, Pocopson, PA
(Fearless leader: Theresa Gambardella)

Best Wowzy Audience
(complete with yeehaws!)
Lakeland Highlands Middle School
(Fearless leader: Ms. Page
and her two fabu assistants!)

ALL of the Oscars
(Best Script, Best Actors, Directors, etc...)
Renaissance Academy
(Fearless leader: Dr. Caffrey)

Beachiest Peachiest
Oakgrove Middle School
(Fearless leader: Ms. Titus)

Most Brilliantly Creative
Liberty Middle School
(Fearless leader: Ms. Meginnis)

Most Brilliantly Illuminating Questions
Legacy Middle School
(Fearless leader: Ms. Thrailkill)