Dreams

Written by Batoul


It was a very important day for Calvin. It was the last game of the season, and he was the best player on the team so all the pressure was on him to win. The whole school was watching so he kept getting more worried by the second. 

The game had started and all he could hear was the sound of his school cheering him on while the other school cheered for the other team, of course. 

Both teams kept making shots and getting them, but it was a tie, and it took one shot for either of them to win. He had the ball, attempted a half court and made it! Their team had won. The stadium was screaming so much. Calvin was so happy. 

Someone walked up to him, and he was so confused because he didn’t know that person and assumed they were not family. Calvin asked the person who they were and the person introduced themselves as William. He said he was the counselor at the university Calvin dreamed of going to. Calvin was in absolute shock and was not able to say anything. 

 William handed Calvin a letter, which included a scholarship to the school. At this point he couldn’t speak and started crying. William congratulated him and left.

Calvin’s family came running, to congratulate him and hug him. He came to the conclusion that dreams do come true.

Darkness

Written by Kratos


My story is about a snake named Skull Snake who wants to find his family and then go back to where he came from. 

Skull Snake has a skull snake dragon as a pet, and he can fly, slither, and teleport to anywhere he wants. He can slither like a snake, and he can fly like a dragon. He has 50 sharp tails, 550 dragon teeth, and 550 claws. His body color is black and red, and his elements are fire, void, darkness, water, lava, earth, and telekinesis. 

He lost his family to some alien catchers. Alien catchers look like humans, and they have a power called “controllable movement.” They can control stuff like objects, the ground, the furniture, and other stuff. The alien catchers used some objects to build a cage for Skull Snake. Skull Snake found out, and made a new power called “disabling people’s power,” which allows him to disable other peoples’ power by using his mind. 

To save his family, Skull Snake went to Area 51 and took control of the guards with his mind. When he took control, he disabled their powers. He flew down to another area inside Area 51 and found some unknown creatures.  The creatures flew home, scared. Finally, Skull Snake found his family. His mom, dad, brother, and sister are happy ‘cause Skull Snake rescued them. 

“Let’s go back home guys,” Skull Snake said. 

So they got their dragon, and flew home. And that’s the end.

Orange Shirt Day

Canada’s residential school system has been recognized as cultural genocide. 

Orange Shirt Day came about when residential school survivor Phyllis Jack Webstad shared her story in 2013, about her first day at residential school. She was a six-year-old girl when the school stripped her, including her orange shirt, which was bought by her grandmother. 

September 30, the annual date of the event, signifies the time of year when Indigenous children were historically taken from their homes to residential schools. In June 2021, the Government of Canada passed Bill C-5 to name September 30 as a federal statutory day. It is observed as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Support for Survivors

Residential School Survivor Support Line 

24-hour crisis support to Survivors and their families. 

1-866-925-4419 

Alberta: 1-888-495-6588 

British Columbia: 1-877-477-0775 

Manitoba: 1-866-818-3505

Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and Labrador: 1-866-414-8111  

Ontario: 1-888-301-6426 

Quebec: 1-877-583-2965 

Saskatchewan: 1-866-250-1529

Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut: 1-800-464-8106

The Hope for Wellness Help Line 

Offers help to all Indigenous peoples across Canada. 

1-855-242-3310 (Available in Cree, Ojibway, Inuktitut) 

Indian Residential School Survivors Society 

A provincial organization with a 20-year history of providing services to Residential School Survivors. 

Crisis Support: 1-800-721-0066 

Regular: 604-985-4464 

Learning Resources For Allies

  1. Learn the history of the land you are on.
  2. Familiarize yourself with the Calls to Action identified by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
  3. Familiarize yourself with the Calls for Justice identified by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
  4. Learn about #LandBack
  5. Learn from the Assembly of First Nations’ Digital Education Toolkit’s classroom resources to help educators and students learn about residential schools and treaties.
  6. Listen to Indigenous perspectives from the Yellowhead Institute, an Indigenous-led research and education centre, offers resources to support the reclamation of Indigenous land and life. 

Here is a list of resources curated by Myseum Toronto.

Organizations to Support

The Indian Residential School Survivors Society

A provincial organization with a 20-year history of providing services to Residential School Survivors

Native Women’s Association of Canada 

A national Indigenous organization representing political voices of Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people in Canada

Woodland Cultural Centre

Preserves, promotes and strengthens Indigenous language, culture, art and history

Indspire 

A national Indigenous registered charity that invests in the education of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples

Ayla The Mind Reader

Written by Na’Shylah


My story is about a superhero called Ayla. She is 22 years old and very beautiful. She’s known for her beauty and intelligence in Chicago. She has long blonde hair, and her suit is white and gold. She has a stud nose piercing. She wears gold stilettos that are about four inches tall. In her spare time, she likes to read. 

What people don’t know is that she can read people’s minds.

The busy city Chicago is her hometown and where she lives right now. She really likes Chicago pizza. She hangs out with friends in the city and sometimes, she goes shopping! She’s always outside and blends in with regular people. She’s good at hiding her superpowers.

But there are a lot of villains in Chicago. That’s where a lot of the crimes happen. There are so many people and only one of her! She’s used her superpowers before, but not like what’s about to happen.

Ayla was at her boss’ secret headquarters. She got a call from her boss saying there is a bad guy roaming the street and hurting people. She suited up, and her boss gave her a description of what he looks like. 

The villain’s name is Class Stopper. He wears black pants that say his name on it, a black t-shirt, a sweater covered in blood, and solid black waterboots. He hurts so many people, takes little girls, hurts his family, and wants everything to be about himself! Ayla knows all of this. 

Ayla flies to the location with her gold stiletto shoes that can transport her anywhere. She finds Class Stopper close by where she lives, in the northern part of the city. She reads his mind. She finds that he likes her and thinks that she’s really pretty. She is so grossed out!

“EW!” she says in her mind.

But she uses that knowledge to get him to stop these things. 

When they finally faced each other, Class Stopper felt nervous! He really likes her.

Ayla says, “Hi, Class Stopper.”

Class Stopper is too nervous to talk. But Ayla knew from reading his mind that he is too weak for her.

“We should hang out sometime,” says Ayla but she doesn’t like him at all.

Class Stopper blushes and looks down at the river next to them.

While looking down, Ayla grabs his weapon and throws it in the river.

But Class Stopper doesn’t get mad! He isn’t really paying attention when she grabs it. 

Ayla walks off and says, “Another success for the day!”

The end.

The Enchanted Forest of Dreams Come True

Written by Jasoni


There was once a girl named Zyma and she was going hitch hiking with her parents. There is also a Bunny named Chocolate also known as Brownie. 

The bunny is lost in the forest and is in need of an owner. Zyma really wants a bunny for her birthday. Zyma’s birthday is in two days and the bunny’s birthday is two days after Zyma’s. They know that because it said on the bunny’s collar.

Myla’s Parents went to the bathroom and it took a long time before they returned. Meanwhile Zyma sat with the bunny and she was all alone. After a long time of waiting for her parents to return… it started to turn dark and she was very worried. 

The bunny ate a piece of lettuce and it had some aura from the trees on it, rumor has it that if you eat something that has the aura on it you will be sick for two days and after two days you will be back to normal. Myla thought it was poisoning and now she is worried about two things!

Eventually her parents end up coming back. Zyma is HAPPY and FURIOUS and asks her parents where they have been? They said that when they came from the bathroom they could not remember the way back and that they were “lost.” 

Zyma didn’t believe a word they said. She ran to the car with the bunny with anger, when she got into the car she found a note saying, “We have to abandon our daughter because we don’t have enough money to take care of her.”

Zyma started to SCREAM and CRY in a lot of anger and frustration. The bunny seemed to calm her down and took all her pain away. 

Her Parents came into the car and started driving back. They didn’t say anything because they know Zyma won’t believe or answer them. 

When they got home Zyma asked her parents why they were going to abandon her. They acted like they didn’t know what she was talking about but they eventually admitted they did. They said EXACTLY what the note said. They found a box for the bunny and they all went to bed. 

The next morning when Zyma went to school, her parents went to buy supplies for the bunny.

A few years later. 

Zyma is now 16 and she decided to help her parents become more independent by becoming an entrepreneur by making her own business. She makes enough money to go to college. Zyma’s Parents are now really proud of her for all her hard work. Another one of her dreams was to help out her parents and community, so that dream came true… and that’s why they called it the ‘Enchanted Forest Of Dreams Come True.’

The End

The Legendary Art Piece of Miko

Written by Fatimah


Shenhe is an old swordsmith ship member, and she’s trying to earn a badge from them. She is a human with white luscious straight hair and curled pointy horns with a red stripe on them. She is trained with the art of cryo/ice and uses her hand gestures whenever she is in danger. She has white eyes and her pupils are pale blue and shaped like stars. She uses a katana/sword if she has to defeat a being that is not allowed in the existing new world.

Thunder and lightning keep on making loud noises on the mountain. As she gets closer to the art piece she encounters a festival that is happening. A person who is hiding their face with their hat said, “Would you like to join the art event?” Shenhe says yes as her favourite hobby is painting. She gladly joins in. 

As time passes by she says with a confident voice, “Hah! I won and you lost, now what’s my prize?”

“Oh, the prize is the legendary art piece of miko. I believe you were trying to get a hand of it right?” 

Shenhe’s 10 friends came and said, “Woah, was it that easy?” 

“Yes it was, it really was,” Shenhe says. 

After she gets the art piece she goes back to the dojo and her dreams are fulfilled. 

The Free City

Written and illustrated by Penelope


Sky, the blue panda and her friends Ruby, Rick, Nick, Kiwi, Lisa were swimming in the pool of her mansion when there was an earthquake in the middle of Everyone City. It left a big hole. 

Sky’s mansion was close to the big hole that the earthquake made, and the mansion and other people fell into the big hole. There, they were teleported and woke up in another city where they explored. 

“This is weird,” Kiwi said, and then found lots of stores, shops and malls. 

Meanwhile Zippy was at Sky’s house and said, “Hmm where is everyone and where is Sky’s house? This is very strange.”   

Everyone looked inside the shops and saw there was no price tag on the items.

“Why is there no price tag? Maybe everything is free,” Lisa said jokingly.

Sky laughed. There was no cashier in the shops and stores when they noticed that everything was free!

“Wow, everything is free!” everyone said. 

Then two months later everyone was teleported back to Everyone City. 

“That was the best two months of my life” said Rick and Nick. Then Sky built another mansion.  She and her friends go back to swimming in her pool every sunny afternoon.

“This is relaxing,” said Ruby. “I wish Zippy was here.”

 THE END

What To Read Based On Your Favourite ICE CREAM!

In this instalment of What To Read Based On…, pair your fave summer flavour with these stellar reads!

In this classic tale of family, Lily strikes a deal with a magic tiger to save her grandmother⎯only, she doesn’t realize deals with tigers (much less magical ones) are never as they seem. It’s Tae Keller’s When You Trap a Tiger!

Nothing is what 12-year-old Lalani expects when her mother falls ill, and now she must take on the epic tests of on the way to the legendary Mount Isa to save her in Erin Entrada Kelly’s Lalani of the Distant Sea!

It doesn’t get cooler than 12-year-old Faryn’s quest to discover if she’s destined to command the Jade Emperor’s army of demon-fighting dragons, only in Katie Zhao’s The Dragon Warrior!

Everything collides at once when Sal learns he has the power to reach through time and space and retrieve anything he wants, including his dead mother⎯only, he’s putting the entire universe at risk. Hold on tight to Carlos Hernandez’s Sal and Gabi Break the Universe!

9-year-old Jax’s adventure will warm your heart as he aids a curmudgeonly witch on a quest to deliver three baby dragons to a magical world, only in Zetta Elliott’s Dragons in a Bag!

What To Read Based On Your Favourite ANIME!

After Demon Slayer, leap into another tale of family and demon-fighting when sixteen-year-old Bree stumbles upon a magic secret society in Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn!

Like Naruto, a mysterious power lurks inside sixteen-year-old Deka, who journeys to the capital amidst a magic war to find out who she really is in Namina Forna’s The Gilded Ones!

Like Ash, seventh grader Nizhoni is doing her best ⎯ to save her dad from ancient monsters, she must pass a series of trials in Rebecca Roanhorse’s Race to the Sun!

Just like Midoriya teamed up with All Might, thirteen-year-old Sikander teams up with the hero Gilgamesh to save New York in Sarwat Chadda’s City of the Plague God!

After Haikyuu!!, try the world of basketball with twelve-year-old Josh and his twin brother Jordan in Kwame Alexander’s lyrical The Crossover!