Exemplary Eagles: Grade 6 Student Aurora R.

This month, we launch Exemplary Eagles, a new section of the Graded Gazette. In each issue, we will showcase the accomplishments of an extraordinary student who embodies Graded's mission: Inspire. Challenge. Succeed. Every student, every heart, every mind. 

Grade 6 student Aurora R. rose to the challenge in her humanities class. Students were assigned to write a fictional piece in a chosen genre, and Aurora, an avid reader and writer, began a fantasy story entitled Land of the Lost Souls. This short excerpt of Aurora’s work illustrates her passion for writing. Her vivid imagery and sophisticated vocabulary make it a wonderful example of student success. Enjoy a taste of her work!

The girl’s fingers gently moved over the book’s cover as she flipped the book open. The pages were ragged and old, their edges were scrunched up and torn. Yet that wasn’t the strongest characteristic of the book. In fact, Luna’s jaw dropped in awe as her eyes laid upon the pencil illustrations that lived on the pages of the book. There were images of arched, ghostly bodies marching through rocky paths, and illustrations of swirling vortexes of air, bubbles, and lamps sucking people in. Luna couldn’t do anything but keep her eyes fixed on the illustrations. 

[...]

The rundown book, which had appeared so suddenly on the shelves, was now emanating a yellow glow. Round, small bubbles were filing out of the pages of the book, and wandering into the air. Luna’s legs began to feel like jelly as she wobbled to the table where the strange object was set. The many illustrations had become colorful drawings, and begun to move on the paper. Luna stood frozen, shaken by fear. Her necklace began to feel like a pile of rocks on her chest, and the girl exited her state of paralysis. In shock, she lunged at the book to try to have it stop doing the impossible. The moment she touched the cover, her fingertips absorbed a blast of powerful energy. As Luna tried to pull her fingers away in desperation, she found they had attached to the volume. Luna’s lungs released all the air they had in them, as her brain realized her whole hand was being sucked in by the pages of a story. In the time that Luna’s mind had begun to process what was occurring to her body, the pages pulled her with mystifying strength, and she found herself hurtling towards the table. Luna braced for an explosion of pain but, to her surprise, her being was sucked right past the table and into the story.