“Wasp” By Elijah Russell

The pain

Buzz buzz

Stung

Shocking pain

Small lines of black and yellow

A hot summer day

about the middle of June

Burning pavement,

bright yellow roads

hot sidewalks

Just another summer day

Me and my best friend,

Jerry, somebody I had known since Kindergarten

Just hanging out by the Park Forest Pool

Talking, laughing

Just another summer day

I hop in, he does too

creating a tidal wave of currents

Throwing water like we’re taking a dip in God’s swimming pool

We swim and throw footballs

having the best time of our lives

Just another summer day

“I’m getting bored,” we get a snack,

to be precise a warm soft pretzel with cheese dip

“Yummy” our stomachs howl in unison

Munching, crunching.

like a pack of coyotes

snacking on some unfortunate souls

“It’s a great summer day”

The tricky yellowjacket

Small but prepared

Ready to attack

Flies and flutters

performing somersaults in mid air.

onto my back

Antennae reaching around

Its slim, long legs

feeling me breathe.

streaking my neck

lines of yellow and black travel across the hairs on my neck

learning my movements.

watching my heart.

I reach and grab

The wasp shows its fierce stinger

“That beetle doesn’t look too friendly”

“Jerry, you’re not funny.” I exclaim, clueless to the demon behind me

With a needle of death

aimed to me

The look in all 1000 of its eyes was

“I’m gonna do it”

It burrows its stinger into my tissue

poking straight through it

Like scissors on wrapping paper

Gliding through until it reaches the end

I scream

Just another summer day

“AGGGGG!”

I yell, clutching my neck

As I lay there, aching

I’m grateful I wasn’t bitten by a spider

Those are a lot worse

For what I’ve heard

"Minecraft is Fun" and "Star Wars" by Nathan Lee

Minecraft is fun.

Minecraft is awesome.

I like to play Minecraft.

I like to watch people play Minecraft on YouTube.

I learn how to not die in Survival.

My favorite Minecraft YouTuber is Unspeakable.

I like Unspeakable because he is weird like me.

He also to scream “FLIP” a lot.

Unspeakable plays a lot of Parkour maps

which makes him rage a lot.

Whenever he rages it is funny and sometimes he fake cries.

I think Unspeakable is really funny

because he makes baby voices sometimes.

When I play Parkour maps I cheat.

Parkour is jumping from block to block and trying to beat the map.

I switch into creative mode and then fly to the end of the level

and onto the next level.

Because parkour maps are impossible.

Writing about them makes me want to rage so much

Like Ahhhhhh I hate Parkour so much!

I like to play Minecraft

because I can build anything.

I once built an underwater house.

I found some coral and it was in the shape of a house

so I removed some blocks.

Then I used wooden planks to build a house

and also put down a door to enter.

It was a really nice house.

I put in a bed, a crafting table, a painting,

a furnace, and a lot of torches and I mean a lot!

In Minecraft I can install resource packs

to make my world all wacky and weird.

There are three modes I can play on,

there is creative, survival, and adventure.

Creative is where I  can build anything,

I once built a giant statue of Unspeakable’s skin.

Survival is where I have to survive, find materials,

build my own house, and craft things.

Adventure is the hardest, I can’t break or place anything,

I have to use special commands.

Minecraft is fun and cool.

It has cute llamas in it

so if you like llamas

you will like playing Minecraft.

********************************************************

“Star Wars”

By Nathan Lee

I like to watch Star Wars.

Star Wars is exciting.

Star Wars is funny.

The Dark Side and the Light.

Balanced by a force between all living things.

The Force is not a power you have.

The Force is the balance in every living thing.

The Force is the balance between the Dark Side and the Light.

I like the battle scenes in Star Wars

these scenes are exciting and fun.

Because it feels like I am right there in the battle

attacking and blowing up the rebels.

The characters in these scenes are Stormtroopers and rebels.

I would like to be a Stormtrooper

because they have bigger and more advanced weapons.

My favorite battle scenes are the lightsaber battles.

These are scenes are exhilarating and exciting

because it feels like I am holding the lightsaber like Darth Vader.

I like to watch Star Wars.

Star Wars is exciting.

Star Wars is funny.

"Brother, Bunk Beds and Falling Down" by Josh Sunday

At that exact moment, it happened.

At that moment, late at night, I heard it

and I saw with horrified eyes from the bottom bunk.

My five year old brother just fell face first

off the top bunk off the bunk bed.

If my brother hadn't been jumping around

and leaning over the edge of the bunk bed

it wouldn't have happened.

While I was wondering what happened, dumbfounded,

I heard my brother cry screaming, and bawling his eyes out.

Me and my mom figured out that only my brother’s nose

was  bleeding and he went to the bathroom after he stopped crying

to try and stop the bleeding so he could go back to bed.

Needless to say, everyone in the house was pretty shook after that,

and

the next morning, we had to clean all the blood off the carpet

with Oxiclean Stain Remover.

And now,

he doesn't mess around on the top bunk.

-Joshua Lynn Sunday

My Little Joy by Emma Herzing

I admire her little face

When she smiles, I go to a different world,

because of her very little teeth

Sykar’s laughs fill me with joy,

She fills me with joy

The amazing feeling of the the bottle going up and down,

from her gentle sucking

The terrible smell of her mustard poop

Her farts vibrate the whole place

When Skylar spits up (gross), it looks all chunky and disgusting

The little bits of hair on her head

Her super tiny fingers and toes,

as small has they can get

The flaps of her chubby legs

Opening the dresser to see her little clothes, that look like they’re for dolls

The little shoes that slip right on her really small, smooth feet

Skylar’s hats that cover her tiny, soft head

Her huge diaper butt,

Filled with the stuff that you don't want to see

This is my little joy,

This is my baby cousin

  -Emma Herzing

Thanksgiving by Emily Stapleton

T   urkey, the smell wafting through the house

H earth, the crackling fire, reflecting off all the family pictures  

        warm and bright

A utumn, brightly colored trees

N utmeg, a spice to top pies and hot cocoa

K itchen, where all the foods come together

S mells delicious

G rateful, act on it

I ndian corn, put this up to show your festivity

V acation, a time to be with family

I ndians were a part of this celebration

N ovember, the month it takes place

G obble, “gobble” says the turkey

Stories For The Not-So Faint of Heart By: Annalise McMahon and Odessa Gregor

WARNING!!!! The following paragraphs are suggested for people who are NOT easily scared, nauseated, or prone to seizure. PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!!

This is your last warning!!!

1.  32 year-old Henry McCabe leaves the creepiest 2:28 AM voicemail imaginable to his wife, only to be found dead in a lake by morning.

According to Henry’s wife, her husband had been out at a nightclub with his friends when she got the voicemail. It included strange and inhuman growling noises, followed by Henry screaming that he’d been shot. After about 30 seconds of silence, he’s heard saying “stop it.”. Later the next morning, when he hadn’t arrived home, she was informed that his lifeless body was found in a lake six miles away from the gas station where his friend had claimed he dropped him off. Later on they checked the security tapes, and he was nowhere to be seen. Luckily, they found him on another tape about 15 miles from the lake. Tough luck, Henry.

2.  Boy vanishes after grandparents crash a truck full of sulfuric acid.

June 25, 1986, a young boy and his grandparents were traveling 75 mph over Spain’s Somosierra Mountain Pass, with over 5,000 gallons of highly explosive sulfuric acid, when they crashed, spilling the acid literally EVERYWHERE. Both grandparents were found sadly deceased, and whenever their daughter was told, she asked if her son was okay, but, there was no child to be seen. Just speaking on the terms of there being large amounts of very explosive acids, you may have thought that he could’ve been dissolved, or burned to his death. False. That scenario is completely and utterly impossible, as no bones could be found, and the acid isn’t strong enough in that form to burn through something as strong as such matters. After the crash, police had found a package of Heroin in the front compartment, as well as that the truck had stopped a total of about 15 times, for about 30 seconds each time during it’s travels up the pass.

3. The 9 Sodder Children

One night, the Sodder family house went up in flames. It was scary. The parents and 4 of their children escaped but 5 were stuck in the attic, and were believed to pass away due to the lack of bones found in the incident. Everyone thought it was an electrical fire but the Sodder parents thought maybe it was arson. After 20 years of new midnight phone calls, missing barn ladders, and italian mobs, the parents received a letter which had a picture on it that resembled one of their lost sons, and on the back was his name. There was no return address. The parents investigated but were unable to ever find any of the 5 lost kids.

4. Missing man’s dead remains are found in the chimney of a log cabin??

May 2008, Josh Maddox left his home in Colorado and was never seen again. Well, at least not when he was alive. His disappearance had been a mystery, until about seven years after the incident, when he was found dead, with only a thermal undershirt on, in the chimney of an abandoned log cabin with all of his other clothing in a pile near the door. All of the judges and people of whom had investigated the murder, came to the conclusion that it had been an accident and that he had merely tried to slide down the chimney, and got stuck, whilst dying in that position. But, this resolution was proven to be physically IMPOSSIBLE. The chimney’s specific shape and size restricted Maddox from falling down the chimney, and the only way he could’ve gotten into that position was by climbing up from the inside.

5. Dyatlov Pass

The incredibly bone-chilling story of a few ski-hikers on a Russian mountain pass found dead from what police think was hypothermia, leaves readers on edge. The strange events within the fact that people were found miles away from their campground, supposedly called away or taken due to their lack of winter attire in sub-zero temperatures. The group was found with fractured skulls, ribs, and missing facial features such as eyes, tongues and ears, along with have been frozen from the inside, with no signs of outward trauma but these. These unexplained deaths had scientists wondering if what they called an “unknown compelling force” was along the lines of animal attacks, hypothermia, avalanche, infrasound-induced panic, military involvement, or something completely different. Crazy, am I right?

Creepy Unsolved Mysteries

https://www.thethings.com/15-creepy-unsolved-mysteries-that-will-have-you-shook/

https://www.inverse.com/article/48657-creepy-scary-unsolved-mysteries

Paddling by Emma Herzing

I get in, only thinking of what might happen

Like, I can just fall right into the water

But I know my friend, Celeste, is behind me helping,

By holding the boat

When we were both in the boat

I thought it’s only a matter of time

Until we start to leave the safe land,

And start to float

Then we’re off

Trying to keep control of the paddles

Paddling this way, paddling that way

I look around us

Gentle water everywhere (it feels so strong against the paddle)

Branches sticking out of the water

Water folding over the shore

I start to calm down

Once I could paddle,

I knew what I was doing, I felt better

But then,

I saw two people that fall into the freezing cold water

And I started to grow back the fear

Then we heard the whistle

Reminding us to return to the shore

And I knew we had to head back

Where it was safe

-Emma Herzing

Why the Sun Rises By Kamrynn Wamboldt

The sun rises so you can wake up to a beautiful sky

So you can see the beautiful flowers

So you can read the best story of your life while the sun sets

You can also write an amazing poem sitting outside on your porch in the middle of the day

If the sun didn’t rise

You would never be able to see the beautiful rainbow in blue sky

and the chirping birds flying in that sky

"My Room" a poem by Ivan Atwood

My room

my life

my place to

escape from my crazy family to my own world

like when my mom

gets home and my dog runs around the table

My room

my messiness

my own place

to get away and just jump in my bed and fall asleep

My room

my place in life

to run and hide from all the people I have see all day

my organization in this world that is super crazy

it is my organization because I know where stuff is

My room

my mess

my place

to just be me

"A Very Blue Day" Comic by Sophia Marsala

Click here to read the comic “A Very Blue Day” by PFMS Staff Writer Sophia Marsala.

Haunted House by Noah Anders

Ben was the best math student in the whole school. Jacob was the best football player on the school football team. Jacob trained all the time. He trained when he woke up every day and every morning and every night before he went to bed because he never quits.

The strongest kid in the whole school was Braylan. He could take  a sixth grader and he's only in 5th grade. And then there was Adam. He’s the fastest kid in the whole school.   

The boys talked about going for a bike ride after school.  Jacob, Braylon, Ben and Adam met after school to start the ride. They rode down the hill in the street and it started to rain and thunder. The roads got so slippery that the bike tires were about to slide off the road. The lightning was so scary and they all screamed. They were right by a house that had fog all around it.  They got off their bikes and ran into the house. They looked around in the house and then Adam called out, “Is anyone home, or not, please answer me please.” A book fell and they screamed, “AHHHHHHHH!!!” It was okay that they were scared, it was normal. Brylan said, “I knew it was just a book.”

Then they went to the scary basement and then Ben said, “There’s a ghost down there.” Then the  ghost was in front of them and they all screamed from the ghost. They ran from the ghost but Ben was left behind.

They didn't notice until they went up the steps. Jacob said, “Is everyone okay? Is everyone okay in here, because we need to know so that we don’t lose anybody.”

Adam said,  “Oh no! We lost Ben!” They all looked around until they heard   a voice in the bathroom. It was Ben calling for help. They went in the bathroom and found Ben. He was covered with white paint.

Then they went looking around in the house for a phone. They were going to wait until the storm was done. Then they got bored of waiting and then they went to the living room and turned on the tv and suddenly, the tv popped right  in front of them and they all yelled, “AHHHHHHHHH!

They ran down into the basement again.  Some oil dripped off of the shelf and then Adam slipped on the oil and fell.  Ben said, “Are you ok?” Adam got up and said, “I don’t think so - my back hurts.”

Ben said, “At least we should get him up.”

They took Adam up to the bed to let him rest for a minute.

Then a cat attacked the other three while Adam was asleep.

They raced up to the attic to get away from the cat. There was a lot of dust in the attic. They found the ghost again, screamed, and ran back down the stairs.  They ran under the table and hid for about an hour until they felt the coast was clear.

They went down to the basement to see if everything was okay, and they discovered a family of ghosts were down there.  Before he could react, Adam got his sleeve ripped off. They ran for their lives and ran to the front door, but when they tried to open the door, it wouldn’t budge. They immediately dove out the front window and ran to their homes.  After school they went back to the house and got their bikes. Then they went to Ben’s home for cookies and to watch a movie.

"My Forever Dream" by Sarah Tate

Searching

Searching again

Finding pictures

Looking for all the information I can find

About my forever dream

A lizard

I am responsible

I forget things here and there

But this I won’t forget about

My forever dream

A lizard

I’ll buy everything

The crickets

The cage

The gravel

Just to to make my forever dream

Reality  

I’ll spend a lot of time with it

Every moment that I could

I would squeeze time into my

Busy busy schedule

For my forever dream

A lizard

A lizard

It is my forever dream

I will not stop thinking about it

"Letters" by Sarah Tate

Some big

Some small

Some messy

Some in perfect curves

Perfect lines

Some letters make words

Words that have meanings

Some letters hurt

Some letters lift

Some letters are quick

Just to get an idea

Some letters are put into so many words

It takes hours to read

Some letters aren’t meant to be read

Some letters are meant to be shared

With the whole world

Some letters are big

Some small

Some letters are messy

Some in perfect curves

Perfect lines

I Will Always Write Back (Book Review) by Sarah Tate

I Will Always Write Back by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda with Liz Welch is a non-fiction book about the power of written letters and how they can change lives.

Caitlin Alifirenka lives in the small town of Hatfield, Pennsylvania, where everyone keeps to themselves.  Everyone knows each other and they’re all friends. Catlin thinks everyone lives this way until she takes a trip to Germany, France, Italy, and Sweden, and she is exposed to a world bigger than her own.

Wanting to continue her education about different places and cultures, Caitlin becomes a pen pal with a boy in Africa named Martin  Martin lives near a big city, but he mostly stays close to his family and friends from school. Martin receives the first letter of his class and finds out that his pen pal lives in America. He wonders what it would be like in America. He has heard lots of rumors but wonders if they are really true.

After exchanging many letters, they discover they live in two different worlds, have two different ways of living and two different ways of thinking.  The book chronicles how two very different people connect and decide they will always write pen pal letters back to each other.

Book Review by Sam Wrbican

Every once and awhile, a book comes along that breaks cultural norms and helps normalize kids with differences not often represented in the media. Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin is most certainly one of those books.

The story follows the life of Riley Cavanaugh, a highschool senior living in California.  Riley is genderfluid, which means that their gender changes over time. In Riley’s case, it changes from male to female, and everywhere in between. Once they arrive at Park Hills High School, Riley’s classmates start to hurl insults. Two other students, Solo and Beck befriend Riley and help them survive school.

Riley sees a psychiatrist for their anxiety and panic attacks, and she is the only adult who knows about Riley’s gender identity. The psychiatrist suggests that they start a blog to help others, and the story unfolds from their. What will happen when bullies go to far? And how will Riley tell their parents?

Read Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin to find out.

Book Review: Everything, Everything by Kiele Snyder

Do you like romance books with a little bit of mystery? Well, then I have a book for you! Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon is a realistic fiction romance book about a girl named Maddy. Maddy is allergic to everything - visitors have to be cleaned off before they can enter her home. A boy named Olly moves in next door to Maddy, and they fall in love instantly. Olly tries to visit Maddy, but he can’t because she is sick. Then, Olly gives Maddy her number and they start texting each other. Will she and Ollie finally meet each other in person? Read the book to find out.

Image Source: https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1450515891l/18692431.jpg

2017-2018 Book Madness Book Recommendation by Estelle Gregor

The False Prince By: Jennifer Nielson

Sage has spent much of his life living at an orphanage run by the despicable Mrs Turbeldie. He robs shops to help find enough food for himself and the other boys to eat. However, one day he is too bold and tries to take a roast. A strange nobleman named Bevan Connor pries off the butcher who was attacking him and forcibly removes him from the orphanage. But what does this man want with Sage and three other orphan boys? What does this have to do with the lost prince Jaron? And what will happen to the boys who fail to please Connor?

*This is is a Book Madness title and can be checked out of the PFMS Library.                  

The Goose Girl By: Shannon Hale

Anidori-Kiladra, called Ani for short, is the crown princess of Kildenree. She also has the gift of beast speaking which means she can learn the languages of animals once the first word is unlocked for her. This makes her an outcast in the royal family and so once she turns 16, her mother, the Queen, decides to betroth her to the prince of a neighboring kingdom that Kildenree desires peace with.  Ani, who is very self conscious and way too concerned about other people’s opinions of her, feels betrayed and upset by her birthright being taken but she is also eager to prove that she can be more than the unusual and socially awkward princess she sees herself as. However, her travelling companions are not as they seem. Ani’s identity is stolen and she ends up hiding in Bayern, the other kingdom, disguised as a goose girl, minding the King’s Geese in exchange for a place to stay and food to eat. Will Ani escape the imposter’s clutches and eventually reclaim her identity? Or will she fail to evade her enemies and allow the destruction of both kingdoms?

*This is is a Book Madness title and can be checked out of the PFMS Library.

Looking for Alaska Controversy by Ellen Held

The popular author John Green has written many books. They are mostly targeted towards teenagers and usually center around romance. His first book was Looking for Alaska. The book is about Miles “Pudge” Halter going to a boarding school in search of what he refers to as “the great perhaps”. He meets Alaska Young, an exciting and self destructive girl, who also attends the school. He and his friends go through a lot of growing up throughout the book.With tragic and entertaining events throughout the school year leading the plot. There are several controversies surrounding the book. The book’s characters are teenagers that drink, smoke, and use explicit language. That however is not the only controversy. For the most part the controversies began 2008, three years after it was published. Two teachers in Buffalo, New York at Depew High School used the book for an eleventh grade class.  A letter was sent to parents advising them that the book contained controversial content. An alternate reading selection was available for those opting out, and a small percentage of parents chose this option. Even though this option was presented the book was challenged on the grounds that it has sexually explicit scenes. Some parents even called it “disgusting”. One parent went as far as saying that he would never read the book himself. He even said that "One does not need to have cancer to diagnose cancer." The book ultimately was kept in circulation for the school. John Green defended his book in his vlog. In another instance during 2012 The Knoxville Journal reported that a parent of a 15-year-old Karns High School student objected to the book's placement on the Honors and Advanced Placement classes' required reading lists for Knox County high school. The book eventually even made the top of the top ten most challenged books of 2015. The list was out of 275 titles. The reasons given was the book having "Offensive language” and being  “sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group." John Green has defended his book. "Some people say, 'You wrote a dirty, dirty book.' But there are very old-fashioned values and even a lot of religion in it," Green said. "There are some adults who think that the only kind of ethics that matter are sexual ethics. So they miss everything else that is going on in the book." Green also said, "The book has never been marketed to 12-year-olds. Never. It is packaged like an adult book; it doesn't even say it's published by a kids' book imprint on the cover, and it's never shelved in the children's section of bookstores."

Book Dreams by Halle Rager

Everyone dreams that their lives would be like a book. A love story. Where a girl meets a boy, where a boy meets a girl. Then their life gets flipped upside down. Deep down everyone wants that, it’s just a natural desire. Just like how everyone wants to be called beautiful. It’s just a wanting, a dreadful wanting. Some people would do anything for one chance for this to happen to them. Yet they seem to never thing of the effects these could have. There is always a catch. Every story has a problem in it. The main character in meant to solve the problem. They go through countless of things. They always seem to get hurt mentally and physically. Till the point that they die, or another character dies. Not lot of people think of that part, maybe they have. Maybe they still don’t care. No one knows how heartbreaking the feeling of a loved one dying is. Not until they have someone die, or close to. Every Time you think of them you feel a weight on your heart. An aching feeling deep down in your stomach, your eyes burn, your throat feels tight. You just can’t get the feeling out. It’s a feeling of dread. Until you just feel so uninspired you just don’t have any energy. If you wanted to live the life of someone who’s life is in a book you’ll have to go through that. Books aren’t always happy things. Author’s write books like that cause that’s what people want to read. They like stories with happy endings and that are loving. Fiction is fake. Nonfiction is real. Get the difference and get it now. Don’t live a life like that. Get up right now, go to your friends. Go to your family. Go to your neighbors. Get up and get outside. Go for a walk, go somewhere you never been before! Make your own story! You don’t need someone in a book’s life. They are fake. That’s the reality of it. Don’t ever forget the difference between expectations and reality cause it’s better to realise it now. Not that I’m saying that books are bad. You should read them. They help you learn stuff. I’m just the kind of person who would rather make their own story than read one. That’s not the point though. The point is get your facts straight. Life isn’t a book or a movie. You can make it be. That’s my point, all I wanted to say. Thanks for reading.

Into Thin Air Review by Ben Abel

When he reached the summit of Mount Everest, Jon Krakauer hadn’t slept in 57 hours. As he turned to head back down from the dizzying height of 28,028 feet, he had no idea of the storm that was coming …

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is “a personal account of the Mt. Everest disaster”. It is an exciting read and Krakauer keeps you interested for even the less exciting parts. I would definitely recommend it.