Stories by @kipwalker

The Report Card

Eleven-year-old Nora has been secretly hiding her extraordinary intelligence from her parents and teachers, and still trying her best to do badly in school to prove to herself as "nothing more than average." To disguise her intellect, Nora observes and emulates her classmates so she doesn't stand out. She becomes interested in one of her classmates, Stephen, and they become friends. When their CMT scores come out, Stephen's low scores convince him that he is stupid as students start treating the scores as a competition reflecting their intelligence. To encourage Stephen and prove the CMT scores are meaningless, Nora deliberately gets a bad report card: all Ds except for a C in spelling. Nora admits to Stephen that she is actually a genius and he comes up with a plan to prove grades don't reflect everyone about a student. He intentionally tells the school's gossip, Jennie Springs, that Nora is a genius. As word spreads, Nora begins to act like a snob and challenges teachers by bringing up topics that have not been taught in class yet. When she is confronted by the principal, Ms. Hackney, the next day for scoring a zero on her last three tests, Nora explains that she dislikes grades because they cause too much competition. She stays home the next day, pretending to be sick, but gives up her ploy when she discovers that Stephen has started a campaign for all students to rebel by scoring zeros on their next tests. During a school meeting, Stephen and Nora apologize on behalf of the involved students before the whole school. Nora expresses that she thinks grades cause too much competition, it causes the extra smart kids to be all snobbish and stuck-up, and the normal kids to think they're dumb. Mrs. Byrne supports Nora, saying that she did think grades were getting too much attention. Nora tells her mother and Ms. Hackney that she does not want to be promoted to special classes, as she prefers to stay normal. After the meeting, Nora says goodbye to Stephen for the day and tells him she's glad that he treated her normally.

Frindle

Nicholas "Nick" Allen is a class clown who has been formulating creative schemes throughout grade school. At the start of sixth grade in 1987, he is unhappy because his English teacher is the no-nonsense Mrs. Granger. One day, in an attempt to forestall homework, Nick decides to question Mrs. Granger on where each word in the dictionary comes from. This backfires, as Mrs. Granger assigns him an essay about it. From this experience, Nick learns that individuals get to determine what words mean, and when he comes across a gold pen in the street, he decides to give a "pen" a new name: frindle. Nick's classmates really like the idea and soon, every child in the fifth grade starts using the word frindle. Mrs. Granger opposes herself to the new word, stating that the word frindle is not respectful to the word pen, which has a long history. She makes children stay after school and write lines for saying the word frindle, but this proves to be a problem, as almost every pupil has to stay after school. The school principal decides to visit Nick's house to end the use of frindle, but the situation is beyond Nick's personal control, and the word's usage cannot be curtailed. Frindle starts to gain national attention, and a family friend purchases the merchandising rights to the word. As the word frindle spreads around the nation, Nick thinks through the trouble that this one scheme has caused. In the epilogue, Nick is a young adult. Mrs. Granger sends him a new copy of the dictionary, recently updated to include new words, including frindle. She includes a letter, in which she explains that she intentionally stood against the word in order to make it more popular. He sends back a present – the pen that started it all, with Mrs. Granger's name engraved on it along with the words, "This object belongs to Lorelei Granger and she may call it any name she chooses to."

Little House on the Prairie

The novel is about the months the Ingalls spent on the Kansas prairie around the town of Independence. Laura describes how her father built their one-room log house in Indian Territory, having heard that the government planned to open the territory to white settlers soon. In contrast to Little House in the Big Woods, the Ingalls face difficulty and danger in this one. They all fall ill from malaria,[5] which was ascribed to breathing the night air or eating watermelon. American Indians are a common sight for them, as their house was built in Osage territory, and Ma's open prejudice about Indians contrasts with Laura's more childlike observations about those who live and ride nearby. They begin to congregate at the nearby river bottoms and their war cries unnerve the settlers, who worry they may be attacked, but an Osage chief who was friendly with Pa is ultimately able to avert the hostilities. By the end of the novel, all the Ingalls' work is undone when word comes that U.S. soldiers are being sent to remove white settlers from Indian Territory. Pa decides to move his family away immediately before they can be forced to leave.

Hatchet

Brian Robeson, age 13, is the only passenger on a small plane flying him to visit his father in the Canadian wilderness when the pilot has a heart attack and dies. The plane drifts off course and finally crashes into a small lake. Miraculously Brian is able to swim free of the plane, arriving on a sandy tree-lined shore and forced to attempt survival with only his clothing, a tattered windbreaker, and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present.

The Secret Garden

Mary Lennox, a spoiled, contrary, solitary child raised in India but sent to live in her uncle’s manor in Yorkshire after her parents' death. She is left to herself by her uncle, Mr. Craven, who travels often to escape the memory of his deceased wife. The only person who has time for Mary is her chambermaid, Martha. It is Martha who tells Mary about Mrs. Craven's walled garden, which has been closed and locked since her death. Mary becomes intrigued by the prospect of the forgotten garden, and her quest to find out the garden's secrets leads her to discover other secrets hidden in the manor. These discoveries combined with the unlikely friendships she makes along the way help Mary come out of her shell and find new fascination with the world around her.

Owl Moon

A young girl and her father take a nighttime stroll near the farm where they live to look for owls. It is a beautiful night, a moonlit winter night. Bundled tightly against the cold, they trudge through the pristine snow, "whiter than the milk in a cereal bowl." As they go, hidden in ink-blue shadows, a fox, a raccoon, a field mouse and a deer watch them pass. A delicate tension builds as the father imitates the great horned owl's call once without answer, then again. Finally, from out of the darkness "an echo/came threading its way/through the trees."

Corduroy

The book tells the story of a teddy bear named Corduroy, displayed on a toy shelf in a department store. One day, a young girl named Lisa arrives at the store with her mother and spots the bear. She is eager to buy him, but her mother refuses to spend more money and notices a button is missing from his overalls. After they leave, Corduroy decides to find the missing button himself and goes on a trip around the department store after it closes in the evening. He goes upstairs and finds furniture he had never seen before, including beds and mattresses. Thinking that one of the mattress buttons is the one he is missing, he pulls hard on it and eventually topples from the bed, knocking over a lamp. The store security guard hears the noise, discovers the bear and returns him to his place. The next day, Lisa comes back with the money she had found in her piggy bank and finally buys Corduroy. At home, she sews a button on his shoulder strap and the book ends with them saying that they had always wanted a friend and hugging each other.

Little Critter

Little Critter is an anthropomorphic character created by Mercer Mayer. Although it's not specified what species the Little Critter is, he resembles a small and furry rodent-like creature such as a porcupine, hamster, hedgehog, capybara or guinea pig. Little Critter first appeared in the 1975 book Just for You. This book is sometimes mis-titled Just for Yu because of the childlike mistake on the front cover.

Rainbow Fish

The story is about a fish with shiny, multi-colored scales named the Rainbow Fish. He has blue, green, and purple scales; and among them, he has shiny silver scales he is always fond of, until one day, a small fish asks him if he could have one, but the Rainbow Fish refuses in a very rude manner. The other fish are very upset about his behavior and don't want to play with him anymore. Feeling upset, his only remaining friend, the starfish, tells him to go visit the wise octopus for advice. The Rainbow Fish finds the octopus and asks what he should do. When he goes to the cave, he sees the octopus. And when he meets the octopus, she says that she has been waiting for him. She explains that the waves have told her his story. Then, she tells Rainbow Fish that he must share the beauty of his scales with his friends (which means "to give one glittering scale to each of the other fish"). She tells him to share his scales with each of the other fish. And she continues to him that he may no longer be the most beautiful fish in the ocean, but he will discover how to be happy. When he encounters the small fish a second time, the Rainbow Fish gives him one of his precious scales and, seeing the joy of this little fish, immediately feels much better. Very soon the Rainbow Fish is surrounded by other fish requesting scales and he gives to each of them one of his shiny scales. Finally, in the end, despite having one shiny scale left (as he has given them all away to the other fish), he becomes very happy.

The Zabajaba Jungle

Leonard penetrates the mysterious Zabajaba Jungle where odd adventures await him, from carnivorous flowers to a petrified monster.

Pete's a Pizza

Pete is upset when the rain keeps him from playing with his friends, but when his father offers to turn him into a pizza, Pete's day becomes much more exciting. Pete's father starts kneading the dough (that's Pete). Next, some oil is generously applied. (It's really water.) And then some tomatoes. (They're really checkers.) When the dough gets tickled, it laughs like crazy.

The Amazing Bone

The story is about how Pearl the pig is walking home from school, and finds a magic bone on the ground, which has the ability to imitate any sound and speak in any language (It samples Spanish, Polish and German for her). Pearl takes it with her, and on the way home they have several misadventures, including an encounter with a hungry fox who wants to eat Pearl for dinner.[2]

Tara

Tara Faye Grinstead (born November 14, 1974) was an American beauty queen and high school history teacher who lived in Ocilla, Georgia, and has been missing since October 22, 2005. On February 23, 2017, a press conference was held by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) formally announcing that a tip had been received, leading to the arrest of Ryan Alexander Duke for the murder and concealment of Tara Faye Grinstead.[2] In addition, on March 3, 2017, a supplementary arrest was made public in connection with Tara's disappearance: Bo Dukes (a former classmate of Ryan Alexander Duke, with no familial relation) was charged with attempting to conceal a death, hindering apprehension and tampering with evidence.[3]

Natalee

The true story of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. Natalee Ann Holloway (October 21, 1986 - c. May 30, 2005) was an American woman whose disappearance made international news after she vanished on May 30, 2005, while on a high school graduation trip to Aruba in the Caribbean. Holloway lived in Mountain Brook, Alabama, and graduated from Mountain Brook High School on May 24, 2005, shortly before the trip.[4] Her disappearance caused a media sensation in the United States,[5] and the case remains unsolved. Holloway was scheduled to fly home from Aruba on May 30, 2005, but she failed to appear for her flight.[6] She was last seen by her classmates outside of Carlos'n Charlie's, a restaurant and nightclub in Oranjestad.[7] She was in a car with local residents Joran van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers, Deepak and Satish. When the three men were questioned, they said that they dropped off Holloway at her hotel and denied knowing what had become of her.[8] Upon further investigation by authorities, Van der Sloot was arrested twice on suspicion of involvement in her disappearance and the Kalpoes were each arrested three times. Due to lack of evidence, the three suspects were released each time without being charged with a crime.[9][10] Holloway's parents have criticized Aruban police for the lack of progress in the investigation and interrogation of the three men who were last seen with their daughter. The family also called for a boycott of Aruba, which gained Alabama Governor Bob Riley's support but failed to gain widespread backing.[11][12

Kyron

The true story of the disappearance of Kyron Horman. Kyron Horman (September 9, 2002 – disappeared June 4, 2010) is an American boy who went missing after not returning home from Skyline Elementary School in Portland, Oregon, on June 4, 2010.[2] Local and state police, along with the FBI, conducted an exhaustive search for Horman and launched a criminal investigation, but have not uncovered any significant information regarding the child's whereabouts.[3]

Missing Mollie

The true story of the disappearance and murder of Mollie Tibbetts. Mollie Cecilia Tibbetts (May 8, 1998 – 2018) was an American college student who disappeared while jogging in Iowa on July 18, 2018, and was found dead a month later.[1][2][3] She was born in San Francisco and moved to Iowa during her second grade year. She attended the University of Iowa and was preparing for her sophomore year at the time of her disappearance. A body that matched Tibbetts' description was found on August 21, which was later identified and confirmed to be hers. Cristhian Bahena Rivera, an immigrant from Mexico[4], faces first-degree murder charges.

Taken in the Night

The true story of the abduction and murder of Polly Klaas. Polly Hannah Klaas (January 3, 1981 – October 1, 1993) was an American murder victim whose case gained national attention. On October 1, 1993, at the age of twelve, she was kidnapped at knife point during a slumber party from her mother's home in Petaluma, California. She was later strangled. Richard Allen Davis was convicted of her murder in 1996 and sentenced to death.[1]

AMBER

The true story of the abduction and murder of Amber Hagerman. On January 13, 1996, nine-year-old Amber Rene Hagerman (November 25, 1986 – January 15, 1996) was abducted while riding her bike with her brother in Arlington, Texas. A neighbor who witnessed the abduction called the police, and Amber's brother, Ricky, went home to tell his mother and grandparents what happened. On hearing the news, Hagerman's father, Richard, called Marc Klaas, whose daughter, Polly, had been abducted and murdered in Petaluma, California, on October 1, 1993. It is often believed[by whom?] that Hagerman's murderer kept her alive for up to two days maximum. Richard and Amber's mother, Donna Whitson (now Donna Norris), called the news media and the FBI. They and their neighbors began searching for Amber. Four days after the abduction, near midnight, her body was found in a creek behind an apartment complex with cut wounds to her neck. The site of the discovery was less than five miles from where she went missing.

American Beauty

A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.

Wetterling

The true story of Jacob Wetterling's disappearance. On Sunday, October 22, 1989, just after 9:00 p.m. (CDT), Jacob Wetterling (11), his younger brother Trevor (10), and a friend, Aaron Larson (11), were biking home from a Tom Thumb convenience store in St. Joseph, Minnesota, where they had gone to rent a video,[5] when Danny Heinrich, wearing a stocking cap mask and armed with an unloaded revolver, came out of a driveway and ordered the boys to throw their bikes into a ditch and lie face down on the ground. He then asked each boy his age. Jacob's brother was told to run toward a nearby wooded area and not look back or else he would be shot. Heinrich then demanded to view the faces of the two remaining boys. He picked Jacob, and told Aaron to run away and not look back otherwise he would shoot.[6] This was the last time Jacob was ever seen alive. The film takes place over a period of 27 years from when he first disappeared to when his remains were discovered in 2016.