WINNER OF THE HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE IS...

The runner up of the Halloween Challenge is Taylor W.

One day, there was a Jack o’ Lantern. The lantern was very sweet, but it’s voice was blood-curdling. Even it’s luminous glow couldn’t distract people from the hideous sound he made. People considering listening to him a “thrill”. Only felines could listen to him without screaming in agony. To try to meet people, the Jack o’ Lantern, masqueraded himself as a witch and tried to make a conversation with some trick or treaters. The people looked like they had seen a specter and ran away. The Jack o’ Lantern slipped off into the shadows. From then on, the Lantern only talked to nocturnal cats.

The winning challenge was submitted by Grace O. Even though it's a little past Oct. 31, we hope you enjoy this spooky story!

The thrill came to George as he looked out from the jack ‘o’ lantern. The small mouse sniffed around. He stuck his head out the eye hole. His fur crawled when he heard a blood-curdling scream. In his surprise George fell, landing on top of his baby sister. They had run away when they were attacked viciously by raccoons. Now all they had left was this pumpkin, on Hallowe’en night.

The shadow of a giant loomed over the small home. This was the first Hallowe’en the mice had ever lived in. Batty, the bat, soared over. They were friends. Batty had helped George and Lily survive. Suddenly, a small shiny package fell from the sky. George wandered out from the the pumpkin sanctuary into the world of monsters.

When George finally reached the mystery package, Lily wandered out. Lily didn’t know that George would be back soon. She thought that he had left her for the night, she was scared. In her wanderings she felt a small chill trickled down her back. The Clouds swirled, and the gloomy trees ruffled. A small child masqueraded, he pretended to be a small dragon. The luminous pumpkin cried out to Lily with her light, warning her not to go any further. Just as Lily turned around she was swept off her feet.

George turned around after eating chocolate, his memory of the taste like a specter in the chilly evening air. The feline dropped Lily down into the melting chocolate bar. Nocturnal animals started to come out. Their noises frightened George as he hauled Lily to safety.

How to Judge a Book by its Cover by Taylor W.

So many people say, “don’t judge a book by its cover”. By now, it is a cliché, and quite honestly, it is false. We will be teaching you, how to judge a book by its cover.

We will start with the book, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”. The first thing you notice about this seemingly innocent book is the smiley boy with a scar and spiky black hair. He is holding onto a bird, which looks like it would rather not be there. Some snakes are crawling out through cracks, and one snake is suspended in mid air. There is also a sword hanging out of nothing. Judging by this cover, I would say this book is about a crazy kid who tries to escape the asylum by hanging onto a bird while being followed by snakes. Would I recommend this book? No.

Next, we will be reviewing “Frindle”. So from what we have gathered so far, it appears it is about a ginger who has a sacred pen that everyone idolizes. His wire frame glasses give us the impression that he is stuck in the 80’s, perhaps a time traveling plot will unfold later on? The words in the background seem to give the definition of pen. So unless you enjoy reading dictionaries in your freetime, then I would strongly suggest that you steer clear of this book.

"November" by Tyler L.

November
Eleventh month of the year
Bare skeleton trees dancing in the wind
Mushy pumpkins on the step
Thanksgiving and turkeys near
Curling smoke in the air
November

The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney: Review by Caroline H.

What would you do if you saw your face titled as “MISSING” on a milk carton? For Janie Johnson, it would be to tell her boyfriend Reeve Shields. In The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline Cooney, Janie recognizes herself in five year old form on a milk carton from her best friend, Sarah Charlotte. The carton calls her Jennie Spring, who lives in New Jersey and was kidnapped almost twelve years ago. Janie begins to have flashbacks, remembering random tidbits of what she believes to be her former life. The dress she wears in the picture, the shopping mall where she was taken. But her parents are nice and kind, a little on the old side maybe, but she could never picture them coldheartedly stealing a child. Finally she can’t take it anymore and gets Reeve, in the grade above her, to drive her down to her former parents house. She arrives just in time to see four kids, with the same thick, red hair as herself, get off a school bus and walk into a house. Janie is scared as more and more of the memories haunt her, and she realizes the Johnson’s have no pictures of her from five years and younger. As she explores the attic in search for pictures of herself, she finds a trunk marked “Hannah”, she looks in and sees a baptismal gown and pictures of a blond girl. This awakens new fears that her parents had stolen her in order to cope with the loss of another child. Unable to stand it any longer she asks her parents, Frank and Miranda Johnson, about Hannah. This exciting page turner will keep up at night, and the answer to Janie’s question will completely blow you away. If you like this book, I would recommend the sequels, Whatever Happened to Janie?, and The Voice on the Radio. Caroline Cooney is a well known and accredited author writing many other books, with suspense romance, horror, and mystery for teenage readers.