Below are stories written by Parsley students as entries for the 2007-2008 North Carolina Young Author's Contest. The following 4 were selected to proceed to the county level competition.

MAGIC TREE HOUSE VACATION UNDER THE VOCANO
INTERVIEW WITH JACK

I’m here to talk about your trip to exciting Rome.  My first question is how on earth did you get away from the exploding volcano?  Well first we ran as fast as our little feet could carry us.  When we got to the bridge it was gone, but then a big strong man came and carried us up to the tree house.

Ok, where did that big strong man come from?  That strong man came from one of the Gods of Rome.

How did he get so strong?  He got so strong by exercising.

Okey Dokey, third question, what did Rome look like in the ancient time?  Rome looked old and worn, but smelled good.

Also, how did you get back to the tree house?  We got back at the same time with Morgan’s magic.

One more question-how many adventures have you had already?  We have had 13 already (including this one, so 14).

And last but not least I LOVE to read your interesting books.  Well, that’s all the time I have, nice meeting you.

Carson Edwards
Grade 3

 

THE GIANT BOOK AND THE LITTLE AUTHOR

Once upon a time in a far away land called Letter Town lived a boy named Max.  Max wanted to become an author one day.  He was only nine years old.  One afternoon Max was playing with his dog Skiler when he heard his dog barking so loud Max went to him.  When Max got to where Skiler was he saw a tiny little glowing box.  He picked up the box and opened it.  Inside were a couple of large sparkling magic seeds.  They were not normal at all.  In fact they were book seeds.  So Max planted the sparkly seeds and watered them every day.  Finally, two weeks later, there stood a giant book with tall blank white pages.  Suddenly, Max had a brilliant idea.  He fetched a ladder and a pen, he climbed the ladder and started writing.  When he was done he went to the King and Queen to show them his special book.  Where did you find such an enormous book child?  asked the Queen.  He told them about the glowing magic seeds he planted and showed them the giant book and what he had written.  The King and Queen asked if he would like to become an author and Max said absolutely!  From that day on, he wrote in the book every day and filled hundreds of pages with words.  By the time Max was fifteen he had written over three hundred stories and had about one hudred books in the school library.  He sent a letter to the King and Queen thanking them for encouraging him to become a writer.  I am going to write many more books, but first I am going to rest for a week.  He became what he wanted to be, a famous author and he was very happy

Lucia Martin
Grade 3

HARRY POTTER IS AWESOME

Reading a book is really cool; we’ve got a great library at our school.  One awesome series is Harry Potter; it’s more fun to read about than any otter. In these books they use much magic, it’s very detailed and somewhat tragic.
           

The books are great and full of suspense; they use charms and curses in their defense. Harry fights evil with Ron and Hermione; they battle all villains, large and tiny.

Those were some reasons they’re my favorite books, the covers even have some really cool looks. This is why Harry Potter is the best, it is better than all of the rest.

John Suggs
5th grade

MY LIFE LIVING WITH THE BAUDLEAIRE ORPHANS

Dear Mom,
        My life being the orphan’s cousin is terrible! I hope you are having a better time than me right now wherever you are in Paris. The worst thing about it is having to deal with Count Olaf. Count Olaf is a terrible person who has no respect for anyone except for his weird, ugly friends. I feel so bad for the orphans having to live like this for the rest of their lives and I can’t wait to come home. All we do all day is do chores around the house and we get slimy, gross food for dinner and it even looks raw. The orphans told me that they had gone through a wonderful life until their parents got killed in a fire and that their house was the greatest house they had ever lived in. They said it was a beautiful house and it had a huge library in it with all different kinds of books. Klaus liked it especially because reading was the thing he loved to do and was one of his hobbies. They have lived with all different relatives and Count Olaf is always showing up in a disguise that never tricked the orphans. When they try to tell their relatives that it is Count Olaf, they never believe them. I hope they can get him back some day! That would be great. I do not like my life right now. I wish I was not their cousin so I would not have to be here. Please come home from your vacation soon. Wish me a lot of luck!
                                                                                                              
                                                                                   Love,  
                                                                                   Caroline

Caroline Traflet
Grade 5