It was a sunny day at the James Sanderson Learning Center. Daniel, Laurie and Arthur sat on the swing set. “So, have you met that girl, Polly Peten?” Laurie asked Arthur and Daniel. “You mean the girl who never takes off her stilts?” Arthur asked. “I don’t even get it,” said Laurie. “Every time I…
It was a normal day on Learningbook Island and at the James Sanderson Learning Center. Everything was running smoothly. Outside, the sun was shining, and the grass shimmered green. The students bustled through the hallways to their classes inside the main school building. Daniel, Arthur, and Laurie hurried to their next class. “Ugh. I can’t…
Elizabeth let the door of Marcus’s townhouse slam behind her. “Good,” she thought, “he hates it when the door slams.” She was sick of doing his housework, laundry, and errands. But he was her cousin and her legal guardian. She was under his thumb, at least until she turned 21. That was ten years away.…
Daniel Smith and his friends, Arthur Sinsupper and Laurie Locketbox, walked down the long hallways of the James Sanderson Learning Center. “I don’t get it. The school schedule said, ‘Mr. Cobbler’s class on Advanced Math would be on the fourth level of the school. Well, here we are on the fourth floor. Where is it?”…
Chad Greasley, the vice-principal of the James Sanderson Learning Center, called for quiet. The kids were just finishing dinner in the dining hall, and it took several tries for Chad to get their attention. “Boys and girls! Ladies and Gentlemen! Attention, please!” he called through the microphone at the front of the hall. “I have…
Daniel and his friends, Laurie and Arthur sat around the campfire bundled in sweatshirts with their feet stretched out toward the fire. It was the annual 1st-year campout at the James Sanderson Learning Center, a boarding school located on a remote island. The kids were camping in the woods on the far end of the…
It was Halloween day on Learningbook island, and the fall wind chilled the air as the leaves fell in a red and brown haze on the grounds of the James Sanderson Learning Center. The school was holding a Halloween festival where kids were allowed to dress in spooky costumes while carving pumpkins and eating candy.…
Mrs. Jackson walked with her kids, Theodore, Johnny, and Susie, in downtown Crawn City. Their hometown. They had come downtown to get passports for the kids. As they walked past the grey government buildings on the way back to the parking lot, they turned at the street corner onto an empty street. In fact, there…
Late one summer evening, deep in the Canadian wilderness, near a narrow dirt road. The sun was dropping almost below the horizon, and the sky was streaked with purple and red. The air was heavy and humid. Insects buzzed, small animals rustled through the underbrush, and birds sang their evening songs. Just then, a loud…
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, and their kids Theodore, Johnny, and Susie, were spending the weekend at a hotel in Austin, Texas. Theodore was a smart kid with glasses and red hair. Actually, his hair was orange, but people called it red. Johnny was a regular, fun-loving 10-year-old boy, and Susie was a little girl with…