June 8, 2017
One of our eighth graders, Alejandro B., uses screen time differently than most of his peers. He writes. His free time is spent creating new worlds. His most recent novel, “Gigantos,” includes both a fantasy novella and extensive scientific notes by one of his characters, Ellen Frederik von Holst. His book is bound and is now in the MPA Library for circulation. All of this has been accomplished on his own time—not for a class assignment—although it was inspired by his seventh grade novel. His first review came from Ms. Atchison, who raved: “I was hooked, enchanted, and engaged from start to finish.”
Here is a poem Alejandro wrote for English class (as part of his personal odyssey) about his love of writing “Gigantos.”
And So, He Wrote On
Alejandro B.
Just as the reptilian Shashuls excitedly chase
their Salt-Runner prey across
the great Geminian Salt-Flats,
feeling the salt crystals under their feet as they ran,
so did creative Alejandro
type speedily and happily,
writing about the three astronauts who ran
to escape the Desert Barbel-Nose.
And so, he wrote on!
And so, he wrote on!
The clicking of keys being omnipresent.
And so, he weaved together a story,
more unique and beautiful than the soft silk of a Ytyar.
He wrote about mantas that flew in the air,
high above the planet Gigantos’s surface.
And so, he wrote on!
And so, he wrote on!
He wrote about a land that time and evolution gave up on.
He wrote of epic battles between predator and prey,
the never-ending battle between the
Bone-Scraper and the Popplespink,
in which the latter could never win against the former.
And so, he wrote on!
And so, he wrote on!
So did the imaginative Alejandro write.
About beasts more terrifying than The Devil himself,
about creatures to instill fear upon the bravest of warriors.
And so, he wrote on.
And so, he wrote on…
