Farah Rocks New Beginnings Read online

  One little boy, dressed as a bunny, starts to cry. His father yells at the bikers, “What’s wrong with you kids?”

  “Here they come,” Bryan whispers. He moves to the edge of the sidewalk. Then he crouches down until he looks like an ordinary trash can.

  The bikers ride up to us, slowing down to shout “Boo!” at Allie, Samir, and me. They pump their masks to make the fake blood drip down their faces.

  “Go away, you bullies!” Allie shouts at them.

  “Go away, you bullies!” one of them says, mimicking her and laughing.

  But when they get closer to the trash can, one of the boys kicks the edge of it. And that’s when Bryan jumps out and screams at the top of his lungs, “Rawwwwwrrrrrrrrrr!”

  “WHOAAAAAAA!” they all scream, almost falling off their bikes.

  The trick-or-treaters laugh at them. They straighten their bikes and pedal off as fast as they can.

  “Great trick,” I tell Bryan later, when we’re all finished laughing.

  “And a treat,” he adds. “For us.”

  We walk past our house on Hollow Woods Lane. “There it is,” Mama says softly. “Almost done.”

  I haven’t been here in three weeks, I realize. I’ve been so busy with the club and with studying for math class.

  Our home looks fantastic. The siding is all new. The windows shine, and a new front door has been installed. It’s blue, with a small, diamond-shaped glass pane.

  “We’re almost home,” Baba says as well, holding Mama’s hand. “It won’t be too much longer now.”

  Samir pops in between them. “I love this house,” he says. “But I like living close to Bryan too.”

  “Bryan can still come and teach you soccer,” Mr. Najjarian promises.

  “Absolutely,” Bryan says and high-fives Samir.

  I stand apart from my family, gazing at our house as well. I feel so awful about the last two months: the fire, the lies, the stress, and the secrets. If they never spoke to me again, I wouldn’t blame them.

  But then Baba turns his head and reaches his hand out to me. “Come here, Farah,” he says in Arabic.

  I take his hand, and he hugs me. “We are okay,” he says.

  And we are.

  Our club produces the first issue of the Milky Way Literary Magazine. We print enough copies for all teachers to share with their classes, and the Magnet librarian requests two copies to display in the library. One day after school, our club buys pizza and soda, and we spend two hours putting the photocopied papers together and stapling them.

  “It’s amazing that we pulled this off,” Enrique says to Bryan.

  “My first published poem!” June Jordan says excitedly to Allie.

  I’m so proud of this club and what we’ve done so far, in only six weeks.

  I hand-deliver a copy of the magazine to Ms. Maxim. She’s not in the office so I leave it with her secretary, an older lady who skims through it. “Oh, how wonderful!” she says with a smile.

  A few days later, I get a note from Ms. Maxim in homeroom.

  Dear Farah Hajjar and Allie Liu,

  I have been impressed with the first issue of the Milky Way Literary Magazine. It has been enlightening for us to read about the stresses that Magnet students feel.

  Mrs. Salvatore has agreed to serve as your advisor, even though it is not part of her regular duties. She is excited, and she explained that she studied theater, which is something we never realized before.

  I think you are not afraid to change things and try new ideas. That is just what we want in our students here at the Magnet Academy.

  Write on!

  Sincerely,

  Ms. Maxim

  Mama and Baba read my story in the magazine carefully.

  “Farah,” Baba says, patting my shoulder.

  “Habibti,” Mama says, stroking my hair.

  I am sorting through all the Halloween candy I have left. I have separated all my candy into careful piles: Twizzlers, Hershey bars, lollipops, and bubble gum.

  “Yes?” I reply.

  “We love you,” they say at the same time.

  “Thank you!” I say, my heart feeling full. “I love you too—”

  “But,” Baba says.

  “Don’t you ever—” Mama says.

  “Eber, eber, eber—” Baba adds.

  “Play with matches in the house.”

  “Or lie to us again.”

  “A fire is bad,” Mama says.

  “But losing you would be the worst thing in the world.” Baba looks like he’s going to cry. “Not just losing you. But losing the honest, truthful Farah we know. That is our Farah, and we don’t want her to change in any way.”

  I nod, feeling really relieved that they have finally told me how they feel.

  “You cannot ever hide things from us,” Mama says. “We are a family. We always forgive, habibti.”

  I smile at them widely. “I know.”

  “Now,” Baba says, “we need to discuss your bunishment.”

  “Oh.”

  He looks at my candy piles. “I think this will cost you two Hershey bars.”

  “And one Twizzlers,” Mama chimes in.

  “Hey!” says Samir, walking into the room. He’s wearing a new pair of Tommy Turtle sneakers that Mama found at the store. He stomps his foot now, and they light up. “Nobody is touching my Skittles!”

  He looks so fierce that we all burst out laughing.

  MILKY WAY MAGAZINE • [ISSUE #1]

  Telling A Tale

  by Farah Hajjar, 6th Grade

  Published in the Milky Way Literary Magazine, Issue 1

  Once upon a time, there was a girl who was usually very smart, but sometimes she made bad decisions. Like the time she caused a fire in her house. It wasn’t quite her fault. At least, there was nothing intentional about it. But it happened anyway.

  The thing she did that wasn’t smart was that she didn’t tell anyone the truth.

  Her parents were really stressed. Her little brother lost his favorite sneakers and all his belongings. So she kept it a secret. She felt so awful about it, that a rock started to grow in her stomach. The rock got heavier and heavier until, one day, she couldn’t get out of bed! She tried to stand up, but she fell down and rolled across the floor. In fact, she rolled right down the steps and out the front door and was never heard from again.

  Farah’s Writing Prompts

  Sometimes, to write a story, you just need someone to give you an idea. The Milky Way creative writing club used several “starters” to get their members to be creative. These are called writing prompts. Here are a few of them to help you write your own stories.

  Write a story about a character who lives on a different planet. Give the planet a name and describe how its inhabitants look and how they live.

  Describe a character who is the exact opposite of you. Give that character a problem that has never happened to you.

  Imagine a character sitting in a room, reading a book or watching TV. Suddenly, another character bursts into the room and says, “You’ll never believe what just happened! I was on my way home when ____. ” Who is the character? Finish his or her thoughts.

  Write a story about a character who lives a life similar to yours and shares the same culture as you. It’s your character’s birthday, and he or she wakes up to find a giant box has been delivered to the front step. What’s in it? Who sent it?

  Create a character who becomes invisible one day. What do people say when they think your character isn’t around to hear it?

  Look in a dictionary and pick five random words. Then write a story using all of them.

  Who is your favorite fictional character from a book? Write a story in which you get to meet him or her.

  Glossary
/>   astrophysics (ass-troh-FIZ-iks) —

  a science that has to do with objects in space and how they act with one another

  beige (BAYZH) —

  a pale grayish-brown color

  douse (DOWSS) —

  to throw water on

  exaggerate (ig-ZAJ-uh-rate) —

  to make something seem bigger, better, or more important than it really is

  insurance (in-SHUR-uhnss) —

  a contract between a person and a company to protect against damage or loss of valuable items

  intentional (in-TEN-shuh-nuhl) —

  done on purpose

  labyrinth (LAB-uh-rinth) —

  a maze of winding passages that may be difficult to find the way out of

  lectern (LEK-tern) —

  a stand with a slanted top, used to hold a book or papers

  literary (LIT-uh-rer-ee) —

  of or relating to books

  nemesis (NEM-uh-sis) —

  an opponent or enemy that is difficult to defeat

  nitrogen (NYE-truh-juhn) —

  a colorless, odorless gas

  orientation (or-ee-uhn-TAY-shun) —

  a program of introduction for newcomers to a school or group

  orthoclase (AWR-thuh-kleys) —

  a common white or pink mineral

  petition (puh-TISH-uhn) —

  a letter that makes a request and is signed by many people

  sarcastic (sahr-KAS-tik) —

  using bitter or mocking words that are meant to hurt or make fun of someone

  smolder (SMOHL-dur) —

  to burn slowly with smoke but no flames

  summarize (SUH-muh-rize) —

  to give a shortened account of something using only the main points

  thunderstruck (THUHN-dur-struhk) —

  greatly surprised

  Glossary of Arabic Words

  habibi —

  my love (to a boy)

  habibti —

  my love (to a girl)

  hajjar —

  rocks

  imshee —

  walk

  inshallah —

  God willing, or I hope so

  khalas —

  enough

  sana hilweh, ya gameel —

  a sweet year for you (often used in a similar sense as and sung to the tune of “Happy Birthday”)

  warak dawali —

  stuffed grape leaves

  About the Author

  Susan Muaddi Darraj is an award-winning author of more than ten books, including two short story collections. She is an associate professor of English at Harford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland, and she also teaches creative writing at Johns Hopkins University and Fairfield University. A native Philadelphian, Susan currently lives in Baltimore. She loves books, coffee, and baseball, and she’s mildly obsessed with stationery supplies.

  About the Illustrator

  Illustrator and graphic designer Ruaida Mannaa completed her undergraduate studies at the Universidad del Norte in her hometown in Colombia. She went on to pursue a master’s degree in illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design. She grew up in a multicultural family, surrounded by different languages, loud parties, and delicious food, and she finds great inspiration for her art in culture and cultural exchange.

  Farah Rocks is published by Stone Arch Books,

  an imprint of Capstone.

  1710 Roe Crest Drive

  North Mankato, Minnesota 56003

  www.capstonepub.com

  Text copyright © 2021 by Susan Muaddi Darraj.

  Illustrations copyright © 2021 by Capstone.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on the Library of Congress website.

  ISBN 978-1-4965-8341-3 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-1-4965-8346-8 (ebook PDF)

  ISBN 978-1-6639-1242-8 (ebook)

  Summary: Farah Hajjar is just starting sixth grade at the Magnet Academy when something terrible happens—her house burns down. Even worse, the house fire may be her fault. When her family moves to temporary housing, Farah feels the guilt piling up. Luckily Farah finds comfort in writing, and she channels her energy into starting a creative writing club at her new school. But can Farah convince her new science-focused school to support it?

  Designed by Hilary Wacholz