Sample of student creative writing: by Martha (grade 9)

The students were given the opportunity to write a dialogue based on an imaginary conversation between Annie and her good friend Charlotte, who had drowned in an icy winter accident.

Annie suddenly wakes up during the middle of the night by the howls of the echoing wind. Feeling in a trance, she leaves her bed to get a glass of water. Grabbing her robe, she left her room. She passed the bathroom, but something made her stop and a weird feeling crept through her. Slowly, Annie walked back and opened her bathroom door. It shrieked with all its might and Annie cringed the whole time. Putting one foot in front of the other, she went into the bathroom and looked to see what gave her the spider in her stomach. A flash played on the mirror and Annie shook, seeing that flash morph into Charlotte.

   "Hey Annie!"  she Charlotte, waving at her. "How you doing?" In disbelief and very skeptical, Annie walked closer to the mirror.
   "Charlotte?", she whispered.
   "Yup." answered Charlotte. "So...how's things on the other side?"
    "Uh..", Annie hesitated, "Good, I guess. Are you okay.? No, wait Of course you're not, you're... dead." She clasped her hands on her mouth and stared, wide-eyed at the laughing girl in the mirror.
    "Why are you so scared? Of course I'm dead. But, I'm okay with that."
    "How?" Annie asked, with tears welling in her eyes and feeling the constriction of her chest.
    "Everyone has their time, and that one just happened to be mine. There will be a time for you, but later on down the road."
    "How do you know it was your time?" Annie cried, "If I didn't tell you go--"
    "STOP!!" Charlotte yelled in disbelief, "It's no one's fault. Whatever happens is in the hands of fate, not you."
Annie dropped to her knees and wept.
    "Annie" Charlotte whispered, "don't walk with that burden on your shoulders. Realize that everything will always fall into place. " Annie looked up to see her friend, and seeing the smile she wore with adult-like grace, she got up and smiled with her.
   "So" Annie sniffed, "How's life on the other side?"
   "Amazing!" Charlotte half yawned, half laughed. "Did--?" A crash sounded from the bottom of the stairs making both Annie and Charlotte jump.
   "Eee-yah!!" screamed Annie's mother. 

Meeting the Author: Students attend a reading by Judy Fong Bates

It was a very rainy day, and two of us had umbrellas blow inside out, but it was worth the adventure to see Judy Fong Bates speak at a local secondary school. The Girls' Novel Club was thrilled to hear the author talk about her childhood, her writing life, and the characters in her novel, Midnight at the Dragon Cafe. The question and answer period was fascinating. Students learned that Ms. Fong Bates first came to the idea of her novel when she drove across the country as a young woman and noticed that almost every small town had a Chinese restaurant. We also learned about her childhood, when she lived above the Chinese laundry run by her father. Students were happy to meet the author and have their books signed!