POWER: a short story by Minhal Junaid

The full moon bright up in the night sky was comforting as I stepped out of my house to welcome the cool fall air. I zipped up my parka and started walking, with the moon guiding me with its light.

At first, I didn’t know where I was heading or why was I out of my house in the first place. After all, it was almost midnight. Well, I wasn’t a normal thirteen year old girl to begin with. Then, I realized I had something important to do.

The leaves crumpled as I walked on them, making a crunching noise. The crunching noise got louder and louder as I picked up my speed. Suddenly, I was running. Now, I was in middle of a forest, lost and confused. Then, I realized I was supposed to see the old woman who lived here, in this forest.

As I got closer to her house, I started feeling nervous and shaky. This was the place where my troubles had begun. I knocked on her door. No reply. I tried again and this time she opened the door.

“Come on in. I have been waiting,” she greeted me in a low voice. As I stepped into her house I adjusted my eyes to the dim light. “Why are you doing this to me?” I asked suddenly. She stared at me, almost piercing my eyes and replied, “You know you wanted this.” “Yes, but having magical powers is proving to be dangerous for me and my family.” “Well, you wished for it. Now you have to give me what I want.”

“Never!” I exclaimed. Then a thought occurred to me. If I had magical powers I could freeze this woman and then get that magic ball of her and wish myself to normal. “Don’t try anything, dear,” she said interrupting my thought. “I suggest you have a look at yourself at the mirror first.” I turned around facing the mirror and let out a blood-curling scream of horror. I was a beast. “I think you forgot that I can see through the future. After all, you’re not the only one with magic power.”

(NOTE: Mihal entered this story in the Young Writers of Canada Writing Competition this year. It will be publishes in the 2010 anthology of short stories entitled: Grandmother's Attic.)

One Minute: a short story by Nelani Skantharajah

Yesterday there was a young girl named Hope, who lived in the heart of Dead City. Hope was a rain drop of bright, illuminating light in a sea of fearful clouds. The soul completely ignored the deep aura of darkness she was surrounded by. Hope remained satisfied with anything that came her way . Hope was the entertainer for her family. She laughed, danced, played, sang, drew, wrote but what she did the best was believe.
 
  
At one o'clock hope was shot and killed to death.
 
  
  Today there is no longer a girl named Hope, who lives in the heart of Dead City. Hope is no longer a rain drop of bright illuminating light in a sea of fearful clouds. The soul who completely ignored the deep aura of darkness she was surrounded by disappeared. There is no longer a soul who can remain satisfied with anything that comes her way. Hope cannot be the entertainer for her family. She no longer can laugh, dance, play, sing, draw, write and what she did the best, believe.
 
  
             One minute was all it took to loose a life, but that one minute was all that changed another life. Anyone can leave you at anytime.

(NOTE: Nelani entered this story in the Young Writers of Canada Writing Competition this year. It will be publishes in the 2010 anthology of short stories entitled: Grandmother's Attic.)

BOOK REVIEW: WORD NERD By: Susan Nielsen Reviewed by: Nelani Skantharajah

Word Nerd By: Susin Nielsen

Ambrose is a curios twelve-year-old who is famous for saying the worst things at the least desirable of times. In short, he's a nerd. He has a talent for playing scrabble and a weakness when making friends. After nearly dying at school when bullies put a peanut into his sandwich; Ambrose's mom decides that Ambrose will take correspondence classes from home. Raised by a single, overprotective mom, Ambrose knows how hard his mom has worked to bring him the best life possible. However, spending most of his life under his mom's shadow drives Ambrose to cross the line.



This book is a thriller that is great for all readers. Word Nerd is a book you'll surrender yourself for from the beginning till the end. It's one book I highly recommend if you are looking for a change from all the usual story lines. The perspective of this book is from a twelve-year-old boy with a very funny but honest look on things. It takes place in modern day Vancouver, Canada. Word Nerd is a well written book in which you're taken into a world of exciting scrabble and true friendship. It's written by Canadian author Susin Nielsen, who has won many awards including Mr. Christie's silver medal. Word Nerd is also a current Red Maple nominee.

Summary and Book review by: Nelani

Blurb (from book):

The day I almost died, the sky was a bright, brilliant blue. A few clouds hung over the North Shore mountains, but they were far away.......Just before everything went black, I pictured the headline of my obituary:
FRIENDLESS NERD KILLED BY PEANUT

BOOK REVIEW: ACCELERATION By: Graham McNamee Reviewed by: Minhal Junaid

Blurb at the back of the book: It’s a hot, hot summer, and in the depths of the Toronto Transit Authority’s Lost and Found, 17-year-old Duncan is cataloging lost things and sifting through accumulated junk. And between Jacob, the cranky old man who runs the place, and the endless dusty boxes overflowing with stuff no one will ever claim, Duncan’s just about had enough. Then he finds a little leather book. It’s a diary filled with the dark and dirty secrets of a twisted mind, a serial killer stalking his prey in the subway. And Duncan can’t make himself stop reading.

What would you do with a book like that? How far would you go to catch a madman?

And what if time was running out. . . .

Rating: 5/5


This book is a must- read, especially if you are a mystery-lover.This book engages you from the beginning till the end. An interesting thing about this book is that it takes place in our own city; Toronto. This book is also an Edgar Award Winner. Acceleration is about a teenage boy named Duncan who works in the Toronto Transit Lost and Found and suddenly finds a leather diary.The diary is filled with the secrets and gruesome ideas of a serial killer, who tries to kill young women. Duncan must now try to stop him, before he kills, but the problem is how? How will he find him and how fast before time runs out?



Book review by: Minhal Junaid.

BOOK REVIEWS BY: Gemma Kutertan

Hello, my name is Gemma and I am a frequent gab-bookworm! :) This is my review of the book JOLTED! Jolted is a silverbirtch book, about a boy who is trying to avoid the same fate as his parents. A death only caused by a jolt of lightning. Now, this is what drew me to the book in the first place, and egger to read, I picked it off the shelf. However, in my personal opinion, this book is not worth being excited over. This book takes so- long to start into the "action" the book was almost over! :O And then, when the "action" did start, there was like one short chapter (just in my own opinion). So, if you are looking for a book to read...don't read this one!

Now, if you do want an exciting, daring book, that keeps you on the edge of your seat, every turn around the corner HAVE I GOT THE PERFECT BOOK! INCARCERON by Cathrine Fisher. I won't give you too much information, just a brief info thing:

Incarceron, a prison like no other. It gives life, it deals death, it watches all. Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ...

Here's a summary of the BEGINING:

Finn is thrown onto the tracks the links on his wrists so heavy, he could barely drag them off the ground. Sprawled against the tracks, he feels the ground start to tremble as the trucks approach, knowing that it would kill him if the drivers didn’t see him. He screams, thrashing, grabbing his flashlight out of his pocket. He drops it. He fumbles in the dark for it, hearing the trucks approaching closer still. They stop an inch away from him, relief filling him to the brim. The Civicry come out, lean down, try to calm him as they attempt to undo the slithering mass of chains. He hears a woman speak about a mark, an eagle with a crown…the very same mark Finn has branded on his wrist. The woman stops speaking, as her eye catches a loose bolt by Finn’s foot. He knows he’s been caught, but this woman may know the meaning behind his mark, this may be the last chance at discovery… Finn kicks the bolt loose and jumps up, never being chained in the first place. He pushes the woman down and out of the way screaming at the top of his lungs, “GET DOWN! DON”T YOU SEE?? IT’S A TRAP!” And everything explodes.

Hopefully that got you interested! Believe me, it’s a plot that will suck you in and keep you prisoner until the very end…Incarceron.

Inteview with Mahtab Narsimhan

Online Interview conducted by G.A.B.’s own Gemma Kutertan with author Mahtab Narsimhan.

Gemma: Where do you start a book? With plot, characters, or dialogue?

Mahtab: Ask any author and he/she will tell you that just like people, all books are unique and are “born” differently. For the Tara Trilogy it was a combination of character and plot. I knew my protagonist would be a girl, that the setting would be in rural India and that the story would be a fantasy-adventure. And then as I wrote it, the story developed, new ideas occurred to me and old ones were discarded. It’s quite amazing to see how a story starts as a seed and then grows taller, stronger, taking on a life of its own.

At the moment I am about to start a new series for which I am doing extensive research. I know that once I start writing it, it’s going to change dramatically once the characters I’ve created come alive and tell me what they should be doing.

Gemma: How do I get inspired and stay inspired?

Mahtab: I make sure to write about things I am passionate about. If I write just to follow a trend or because something is popular and the topic does not really appeal to me, this lack of interest is sure to reflect in my story.

The key to dynamic writing and remaining inspired is to write about something that moves you very deeply; only then will you be able to go through revision after revision without being utterly bored.

Gemma: I’m a teen writer looking to get published. Do you have specific advice for teen writers? Will my age be a problem in looking for an agent/publisher?

Mahtab: For one; read a lot in the genre for which you are writing as well as books in other genres. It will give you a very good idea of excellent writing as well as not so good writing.

Good writing has no age barriers and I’m sure you’ve heard of Christopher Paolini who wrote Eragon at age 15. Though he did start with self-publishing, he was eventually picked up by a large publishing house.

Wrt publishers; read their submission guidelines very carefully and also glance through their catalogues to get an idea of what kinds of books they tend to publish or you might spend up wasting a lot of time querying the wrong houses and getting numerous rejections which is not a fun thing at all!

I am attaching a list of books recommended by the Faculty at the Vermont College of Fine Arts which has an excellent MFA program in Children’s Literature. It’s a great list to work through.

Gemma: I don’t know how to build a fantasy world in a book. How do you do that?

Mahtab: The Net is a very good resource for any information you need these days. In particular, one author, Holly Lisle has some excellent articles/mini workshops re world building, plotting, dialogue, revising etc.

http://hollylisle.com/fm/Workshops/how-much-do-i-build-workshop.html

The above is a link to world building but if you review Holly Lisle’s website you can get excellent tips on many aspects of writing.

The only other thing I will say is that all writing takes practice. The more you do it the better you get.

Here are some other books that are part of my toolbox and which I refer to, often;

• Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White

• Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

• The Art of Fiction by John Gardner

• Writing down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg



Gemma: I can’t figure out how to plot! How do I do that?

Mahtab: Plot is basically your story, the structure of your story. It takes practice to plot well.

Again, you need to read books, as many as you can get to understand what makes a good plot and which stories don’t have one at all.

The list of writing books I’ve mentioned will certainly help.

Gemma: How do you write good dialogue?

Mahtab: See Answer 4.

And eavesdrop! I know that sounds like terrible advice but when you listen to how people talk, you get the flow of good natural dialogue. Dialogue should never be forced or used to give back story. One thing to remember about dialogue is that it is not exactly the way we speak (which might have a lot of pauses, umm and ahhh). Dialogue had to be crisp, clear and if used correctly, can move the story forward as well as reveal character.

Another writer whose work I greatly admire and who had excellent tips on his website is Tim Wynne-Jones. Here’s the link to a fantastic “Eleven Things you need to know”

http://www.timwynne-jones.com/pages/eleventhings.html

Gemma: How do I take a big inchoate mess of ideas and organize them into a coherent story?

Mahtab: Most stories initially start as an incoherent mess of ideas. One way to start is to try and summarize your plot or your story in one paragraph or even a couple of lines. If you can do that, you will then be able to start organizing your ideas, chapter by chapter (a very long process) from beginning to end. If you find that you are unable to summarize your story and find yourself rambling on, then you need to re-look at the all the ideas and re-shape them.

Some writers use pen and paper, some use their computers. You can use whatever appeals to you. Also, each person’s way of organizing is different. When I presented to your school, I remember showing you a grid that I use to organize my story. It’s basically a page divided into squares with chapter headings and a summary of what happens in each chapter. When you have the story in concise form, you can see the flow of the chapters/characters/story and will be able to start writing with a clearer idea.

Gemma: How do I find my writing “voice”?

Mahtab: By writing as much as you can. This is something very intangible and cannot be learned. It comes from the person you are and the way you see the world. Keep writing…your voice will find you.

A book I have found fairly useful for this is Finding your Writer’s Voice by Thaisa Frank and Dorothy Wall.

Gemma: How do I find a good agent?

Mahtab: Write an excellent story, research agents exactly the way you would a publisher and send them queries based on their guidelines.

Gemma: How can I copyright my manuscript?

Mahtab: You could use a lawyer or go through the lengthy process of registering your own work. However, if you are a prolific writer then this can get quite tedious. When your book gets published, your publisher will copyright the material for you.

Gemma: When you start a book, what is it like? Is the book just sitting in your head, mostly formed? Where does it come from?

Mahtab: No, my books are never just sitting in my head, mostly formed. I have a character or part of a plot or just a scene in my mind and I develop the story from there. How did my character get here and where is s/he going from here?

For me, book ideas come from reading papers, watching the news, trying out new activities and generally just being alive to the world around me. Everyone (not just writers) has hundreds of ideas every day. It is what you chose to do with them that makes it into a story and makes you a writer!

Gemma: Are your characters based off of anyone you know personally?

Mahtab: For the Tara Trilogy, the main protagonist Tara does have shades of my own personality. All the other characters are fictitious. They may have a characteristic or two from someone I’ve met in my life but do they resemble a person I’ve known? No!

Gemma: I love to write, I need to write... but at the same time, I am afraid of publishers and editors and agents. Not so much about rejection letters or working with them, but sending my work to them. I know it must sound weird, or maybe not. How did you cope with it when you sent The Third Eye away? Was it really hard to let your creation out of your hands?

Mahtab: If you want to be published by a good publishing house and not go the route of self-publishing, then you will have to let your work go at some point.

Yes, it is very hard to let go of your “baby” but you have to trust and believe that the people you’re sending it to will look after it just as well and move on to creating the next one. That’s what makes you a writer.



Thanks for these excellent and thoughtful questions, Gemma. I enjoyed answering them and I wish you and other aspiring fellow writers in your school all the very best!

Response Postings and Comment Etiquette

Your responses must be written in complete sentences with correct spelling and punctuation. They must also include questions, comments, clarifications, predictions, or connections regarding big ideas, issues, themes, author's style, plot, and character development. Responses must explain the your thinking, and support what you say with examples from the text. Responses to other students comments must be constructive and you must be able to justify your response to a comment by both explaining your thinking and supporting it with evidence from the text.

Mrs. da Mota