101 Stories of Changes, Choices and Growing Up for Kids Ages 9-13

by Jack Canfield

  Michael Kavalinas, sixteen, swims, does karate, works part time and loves science. He is a lifeguard and has done volunteer hospice work. Michael still misses his dad and thinks about him all the time.

  Ryan Kelly, age eleven, lives in New York with his parents, sister and maternal grandparents. When not in school, where he is on the wrestling team, he likes to play Playstation and swim, and he is a huge Pokémon fan. Ryan would like to thank his parents and Miss Finnegan for the inspiration they gave him in writing his story.

  Kathy Kemmer Pyron is a devoted wife and mother of four children, three dogs and two cats. When time allows, she writes children’s stories for picture books and magazines. Kathy has been published in Highlights for Children and The Flicker Magazine.

  Ashley King is an eleven-year-old who plays on her school’s soccer team and participates in band, choir and drama. She likes to express her feelings through writing. She would like to thank her friends and family, and especially, her mom. A special, heartfelt thanks goes to her sixth-grade teacher, Ms. Oderman, who encouraged her to write to her fullest extent. But most of all, she wants to thank God for putting the words in her heart.

  Scott Klinger is an eighteen-year-old film student in Laguna Beach, California. He has written several television commercials, comic strips and a screenplay. He is also a published photographer and just launched a film production company called Effusions Films. In his free time he likes to snowboard and travel. You can reach him at 273 Cajon St., Laguna Beach, CA 92651, by phone at 949-376-7150 or via e-mail at effusionfilms@aol.com.

  Barbara Lage is a library media specialist for an elementary school in Omaha, Nebraska. She has been a media specialist for a middle school in Iowa and worked as a librarian for a Japanese college in Honolulu, Hawaii. She likes kids and books. She has three children, Jo Anne, Mark and Amy, with her husband, Pete. She can be contacted at 759 N. 130th Plaza, Omaha, NE 68154.

  Dakota Lane has had her work published in a variety of publications, including Interview Magazine, Village Voice and L.A. Weekly. She is the author of the young adult novel, Johnny Voodoo, for which she won the 2000 American Library Association Popular Paperback of the year award. She has two daughters and lives by a river in Woodstock, New York. You can contact Dakota at Dakota@netstep.net.

  Jarod Larson enjoys driving since he just got his driver’s license. He also likes fishing, swimming, basketball and hanging out with friends. He wants to attend Fresno State Collage. He is very close with his mom, Susan, and sisters, Alana and Adena.

  J. Styron Madsen writes to make kids laugh, think, feel, and most importantly, to realize that they can make choices. She writes in front of her antique Macintosh surrounded by seven dogs, all adopted from local animal shelters. You can e-mail her at mad03@execpc.com.

  Karl Malone is a ten-time NBA All-Star player and the 1997 Most Valuable Player in the league. He was also the co-MVP in the 1993 All-Star game with teammate John Stockton. Voted one of the fifty greatest players of all time, he has truly earned his famous nickname, “The Mailman,” for Karl Malone never fails to deliver. He was a member of the original “Dream Team” that won the Gold Medal in the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games. Malone lives in Utah with his wife and six children. He enjoys hunting, fishing, camping and riding his Harley in his spare time. A giving man, Malone supports the Special Olympics and many charitable causes through the Karl Malone Foundation. KeriAnne McCaffrey is a sophomore in New York. She is a goalkeeper for the varsity soccer team and a member of Leader’s Club. Keri enjoys music, movies and sharing laughs with her friends and family. Her writing began receiving attention after winning an essay contest in 1996.

  Anne McCourtie lives on a farm in Kansas with her husband John, six horses, three cats and a dog. She has written short stories, poems and puppet plays. Her favorite things include writing, dancing, gardening and crossword puzzles. She has enjoyed many occupations, such as teacher, bookkeeper and photographer’s assistant. For the past nine years, she has worked with people with developmental disabilities. You can e-mail her at amccourtie@holtowks.net. Karli McKinnon is a sixth-grade student living in Ontario, Canada. She loves creative writing and wants to be a journalist when she grows up. She has been swimming competitively for eight years and playing piano since she was five. She likes reading, writing, skating and spending time with her friends and family.

  Lori Menning is a preschool teacher, mother of twin boys and author of One Was Not Enough, a children’s picture book published by TWINS Magazine. She lives with her family in Memphis, Tennessee.

  Leslie Miller is a fifteen-year-old whose hobbies include fishing, drawing, and writing poetry and short stories. She looks forward to having a career as an author and poet after college. Her writing inspirations are Jewel and her mother, Patti.

  Beverley Mitchell was discovered by a talent agent when she was only four years old while throwing a tantrum at a mall. She booked her first job acting in a commercial for AT&T and the rest is history. Aside from working on the hit television show, 7th Heaven, Beverley enjoys hanging out with her friends, shopping, going to the beach, snowboarding, photography and making scrapbooks. She has two dogs, Dakota and Trixie, and two cats. Beverley is the winner of the Young Artist Award for Best Actress in a Television Drama Series (7th Heaven) in both 1996 and 1997.

  Kathleen M. Muldoon has written for children’s magazines for many years. She is the author of one picture book entitled, Princess Pooh. When she is not writing, she enjoys reading, taking long walks and playing with her cat, Prissy. She can be reached at mink@texas.net.

  Son Truong Nguyen, age seventeen, loves to write. He encourages everyone to pick up a writing instrument and “just write for the sheer enjoyment of it,” and go out there and live your life to the fullest.

  Aubrey Nighswander lives in Ohio, on the south shore of Lake Erie. She is active in her junior high Pen program and an editor for the school newspaper. Aubrey enjoys a wide variety of activities and is very competitive in soccer, swimming and sailing.

  Brian Normandin is a sophomore in California. In addition to hanging with his friends, he spends his spare time collecting and trading basketball cards and working a part time job.

  Mary Normandin began writing four years ago and draws the inspiration for her stories from her family life. Mary resides in Southern California with her husband and four children, where she volunteers at her kids’ school and chauffeurs them to their various activities.

  Pier Novelli is twelve years old and the youngest in a family of six. He enjoys talking with friends, listening to music, playing sports and taking care of his three pets. Pier enjoys making people laugh and hopes to continue his writing to reach out to others.

  *NSYNC, which includes Lance Bass, J. C. Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and Justin Timberlake, have obtained global stardom. Their self-titled 1998 debut album sold more than ten million copies and yielded four number-one singles: “I Want You Back,” “Tearin’ Up My Heart,” “God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You” and “Drive Myself Crazy.” Even while touring nonstop and doing more than three hundred concerts in the last year, they recorded hits with other artists including Gloria Estefan and Alabama and released a Christmas EP, “Home For Christmas.” *NSYNC has won numerous awards including a 1999 American Music Award for “Best New Pop/Rock Group,” embarked on some solo projects and recorded a new album, “No Strings Attached” for Jive Records.

  Ashley O’Bryant is a fourteen-year-old honors student. Some things she likes to do for fun are reading, shopping, spending time with family and friends, but especially talking on the phone. She is always willing to lend a helping hand and enjoys serving others. Her career goal is to be a psychologist.

  Shannon O’Bryant, age twelve, loves to play soccer. It is her favorite sport because it keeps her active and it’s fun. Her favorite foods are pizza, barbeque ribs, artichokes and corn. She enjoys expressing herself through poetry and making home videos.

  D. Marie O’Keefe, a Wisco
nsin freelance writer and former librarian, now knows that it’s way cooler to give time and energy to family and friends than to becoming what others think is cool. Her passions include dogs, parrots, fly-fishing, protecting endangered plants and animals, and collecting books. She also enjoys photographing wildlife, encountering wild grizzlies and wolves, digging for dinosaur bones and riding in hot-air balloons.

  Michael Oknefski is a senior in high school who plays on the school golf, basketball and baseball teams. He is a member of the National Honor Society and has been nominated to “Who’s Who” among high school students for three consecutive years. Mike will major in engineering at Penn State University in fall 2000. You can e-mail him at davo@ncentral.com.

  Daphne M. Orenshein is a full-time kindergarten teacher in Los Angeles, California, and a distributor for DKFL publishing company. Her hobbies are reading, basketball, photography, dance, singing, event planning and keeping her husband on his toes. She has three terrific book-loving, Lego-building, cooking-helping, Marco Polo–playing, in-your-face little boys.

  Carol Osman Brown is a freelance writer and photographer whose work has been published in many magazines and newspapers. She speaks at writing conferences and teaches writing at Arizona State University and Rio Salado College in Phoenix, Arizona. You can contact her at cobrown@aztec.asu.edu.

  Susan Overton was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She resides in Seattle, Washington, and is a manager at Andersen Consulting, where she specializes in the area of international e-commerce. Susan enjoys biking, snowshoeing and running. She continues to be an advocate for child literacy by supporting programs that put books in the hands of children. She credits her parents and siblings for always providing guidance, eternal optimism and patience in her many crazy ideas. You can reach her at v-acsuso@microsoft.com.

  Nicole Peters is a sixteen-year-old from Oklahoma. Her goal in life is to continue writing and earn a master’s degree in psychology so that she can help others. She is active in her Christian youth group and enjoys being a teenager.

  Jonathan Piccirillo is a junior in Pennsylvania. His hobbies include soccer, drama, music, debate, travel, creative writing and spending time with friends. Jonathan became interested in writing from his creative-writing teacher, Mrs. Aiello. He plans on pursuing an English or arts degree in college.

  Lindsey Rawson, age thirteen, enjoys writing poetry and short stories. She spends much of her time dancing, acting in plays, helping people and hanging out with friends. Lindsey hopes to make the cheerleading squad next school year.

  Michelle Richard is a sixth-grader in Louisiana, where she lives with her parents and three younger brothers. Her interests include reading, visual arts, acting and composing songs. She is also an active member of the Girl Scouts. Michelle would like to thank all of her friends for their support, especially Amber and Brittany.

  Nicole Ritchie is a ninth-grader from Texas. She belongs to two dance groups and has been jazz dancing for nine years. She plans on attending college after high school.

  Nadine Rogers has been writing picture books, magazine articles, educational material and chapter books for eight- to twelve-year-old children for ten years. Current educational titles coauthored include a set of three books called Directives (Humanics Publishing Group) and a book of Constitution puzzles (Royal Fireworks Press). She writes a monthly column in a local newsletter called Grammargram. Nadine enjoys playing duplicate bridge and tennis in her free time. She can be reached at 2403 Greenhorn Rd., Yreka, CA 96097-9467.

  Cynthia Ross Cravit is a freelance writer who has written primarily for children’s magazines. Recently, she completed several chapter books and is working on a middle-grade novel. She resides in Northern Michigan with her husband and three children, all of whom have enormous influence on her writing.

  Shane Ruwe is a fifteen-year-old from Missouri. He is a black belt in the martial arts and enjoys bow hunting, football, baseball and golf. He likes writing mostly nonfiction stories and also writes some fiction. Writing “Kelsey” helped him express his feelings about his family’s tragedies.

  Mary Ellyn Sandford is a happily married mother of seven. She has been published in several magazines, Chicken Soup for the Kid’s Soul and is currently working on a middle-grade novel. She is the head director of Ministering Metacarpals, a traveling puppet performance team. When teachers didn’t encourage her desire to write, she spent lots of time with heroines like Anne Shirley, Jo March and Laura Ingalls. You can contact Mary Ellyn at 4507 Chelsea Ave., Lisle, IL 60532 or via e-mail at wfkig@quixnet.net.

  Mary Saracino lives in Denver, Colorado. She is the author of two novels, No Matter What (Spinsters Ink, 1993) and Finding Grace (Spinsters Ink, 1999). Her memoir, Autobiography of a Voice, will be published by Spinsters Ink in spring 2001. In 1991, Mary won a Loft Mentor Series Award for fiction writing. Her work has appeared in a variety of literary magazines and anthologies including Hey Paesan!, Writers Who Cook, Sinister Wisdom, Voices in Italian Americana and Italian Americana.

  Hope Saxton lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and two sons. She began writing stories and poetry as a child, and her love of writing has carried her into the present. Her work has appeared in many magazines, as well as A 6th Bowl of Chicken Soup for the Soul. Hope is currently working on her fourth novel. She can be e-mailed at hope_saxton@hotmail.com.

  Elizabeth J. Schmeidler is happily married to her husband, Gary, and feels blessed to have her three sons, Jerome, Paul and Roy. She started writing three years ago and since has written a Christian romance mystery entitled Forget Me Not, as well as a collection of poetry and three children’s books. Her second novel is in the works. She also enjoys singing at church and at weddings and funerals. Elizabeth can be reached at 508 W. 32nd St., Hays, KS 67601.

  Bunny Schulle has more than fifty published stories, articles and plays for children and young adults and has received several writing awards. She taught English as a Second Language through adult education and has volunteered in the Listen to the Children program. Currently, she is writing a preteen mystery novel and enjoys spending time with her granddaughters. She can be contacted at 106 N. Dory Rd., North Palm Beach, FL 33408.

  Mark Schulle is a classical guitar instructor in Florida. He is the owner of the Gainesville Guitar Academy where he shares his love of music with children and adults. Mark also enjoys boating, reading and hiking.

  Amy Severns, age fifteen, has enjoyed writing for many years. Her poetry can be found in the International Library of Poetry’s Anthology entitled Seasons of Happiness. She is also an active softball player, musician (playing the bass guitar and the clarinet), and Website designer. More of Amy’s writing is available on her personal Website located at www.manifest-angel.com/roses.

  Jamie Lauren Shapiro is fourteen years old and lives in Virginia with her large family and dog named Max. She loves writing poetry and often uses it as a way of expressing herself and communicating with others.

  Elijah Shoesmith is a freshman in high school who enjoys writing adventure stories, reading action books and playing computer games. He aspires to write adventure books for teens. He would like to thank God, his family, the Oraras, the Boyds, Jason, Josh and Rachel for their support.

  Makenzie Snyder is a nine-year-old from Maryland who enjoys gymnastics, ballet, drawing and making things. She has been twirling baton since she was four years old and won first place in Dance Twirl competition at the national championships. She has two older brothers, a dog and two cats. She can be reached at Children to Children, 3262 Superior Ln., PMB# 288, Bowie, MD 20715, or at the Website, www.childrentochildren.org.

  Beverly Spooner wanted to be a writer since the age of seven. Throughout her preteen and teen years, she was an avid journal writer and poet. In her late twenties, she became a contributing writer for The Topanga Messenger, a local newspaper. She is now a freelance writer living in Illinois with her artist/ husband Michael, son Philip, and dogs, Snowy and Rembrandt.

  Monte Stewart is a jou
rnalist living in Calgary, Canada who became a Calgary Herald staff writer in 1987 and has covered sports (including the National Hockey League and the 1998 Winter Olympics). He serves as president of Falcon Press, the publishing company that produced his critically acclaimed book, Carry On: Reaching Beyond 100, the inspirational autobiography of centenarian Tom Spear. His freelance articles have appeared in such publications as the Toronto Star, Profit Magazine, The Hockey News and San Jose Mercury News. He enjoys hockey, golf, reading and traveling. You can reach him at monstr@telus planet.net, or phone him at 403-284-4292.

  Angelia Lee Swift is a freshman at Tennessee Technological University who enjoys creative writing, reading and hanging out with her friends. She looks forward to contributing to society by becoming a published author. You can contact her at P.O. Box 2490, Cookerville, TN 38502, or via e-mail at aLs9514@tntech.edu.

  Lew Talmadge, a retired Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Army Intelligence, has been writing for thirty years. He is a polylinguist (German, Albanian and Romanian) who enjoys photography, volunteer reading at a local elementary school and playing Santa Claus. He lives with his wife, Vivian, and cocker spaniel, Caycie. He can be contacted at 1714 View St., Athens, TN 37303, by calling 423-744-7227, or via e-mail at Ltalmadg@icx.net.

  Stephanie Taylor, age eleven, enjoys skating, shopping and talking on the phone with her friends. She owns a dog named Ginger and two cats named Tiger and Mittens. Her favorite subjects in school are history and science. Her Website is www.dogvest.com.

  Lauren Thorbjornsen is a freshman at her high school where she serves on student government. She is a member of the swim and soccer teams and enjoys traveling, shopping, music and being with her friends.