First Place – Fifth Grade Essay-
Adrian Mirza
Jefferson Elementary
Mr. Khanna
Lost and Found
I am sitting on a bus with my classmates on my way home from school. Right when we are pulling away, a man jumps into our bus. “Who is Malala?” he says and stares at us. I feel everyone’s eyes on me. “I am Malala,” I say. He takes out a pistol from his pocket and shoots….
I look up. My heart is pounding. In that moment, I was on that bus. I was Malala. I love getting lost in a book, but am I willing to die for it? Malala Yousafzai almost lost her life because she wanted to always be lost in a book. I can read a book anytime, but for many people they are forbidden. A dream.
***
I wake up one week later in an unfamiliar place. I’m in pain; doctors and nurses surround me. I am told I will live but I can never go home again. A new life must replace the old one. Fear dies, and determination is born.
I feel a terrible wave of homesickness, even though I am in my very own room. I lived this moment in between the words. There was a jolt of worry and anger, and I felt something rise up in me.
***
I stand in front of kings and queens and leaders from all over the world and accept my Nobel Peace Prize. I speak truth to power. Every person on this Earth deserves an education, I say. Nothing can stop me.
Malala wanted to read, to jump into stories and learning. She was willing to lose her life for it. But instead, she found her purpose in life. She has helped improve the lives of millions of kids. I close the book. What will I do to make the world a better place? I hope someday you’ll read all about it.
First Place – Fifth Grade Art
Jurij Enzo Engeström
Berkeley Arts Magnet
First Place Fifth Grade Poetry
Izel Thoele
Mr. Graff – Le Conte Elementary
Lost
I’m lost lost in my world of books lost in my world of knowledge. My classmates call my name. I hear them but I can not take my light chocolate eyes away from the beautiful words. The words steal me straight from my blue chair in Room 207. The cold breeze blows across my face as I run to my hideaway out on the yard behind the big maple tree. Reading these books gives me a place to be myself. To be me as I read these books it feels like I have been reading for years. As it’s time to go to our homes the students stare at me with their eyes that burn into my skin like boiling water. As I walk into my old house I start to read. In my house it is so empty you can hear a pen drop from upstairs; but the books give me a world full of music and laughter. I believe I am found. I am found in my world of knowledge and laughter.
First Place – Fourth Grade Essay
Sophie A. Novick-Prucher
Ms. Kim – John Muir Elementary
The Book, The Music, And The Void
I hurry down the corridor. Different melodies and song are coming from every classroom. I push open a door to find all the eyes of my music class on me. The eyerolls and smirks. My music teacher asks me where my violin is. Then like a bowling ball hitting me in my stomach I remember. I forgot my violin. I sit down in my chair with a thunk. My friend tells me that at least I have my book.
Suddenly all shame and annoyance and all other agitated feelings run out of me. As the class begins a void of sound seems as if it is conjured up. As they begin I open my book. The second my eyes read the first word I am taken away from the strings that scream. I enter a world of islands, robots, and talking animals.
Suddenly, I am a robot. I am a robot as she builds her house. I am a robot as she watches her ducklings first swim. I am a robot as she huddles around a fire on a cold winter night. My body my mind, and my soul all agree as one that I am a robot. But that cannot last forever.
But suddenly music comes back to me. But not my class. A symphony in my mind. The deep thunk of violas and cellos. The cool melody of clarinets. The high shriek of flutes and violins. And the low stomp of trumpets and trombones. This fanciful orchestra plays in my mind as robots attack. Then pages run out. I am swept away from the world of stories. The words THE END appear on the page. My book is over.
First Place Fourth Grade Art
Hazel Wolff
Ms. Rainey – Malcolm X Elementary
First Place – Fourth Grade Poetry
Benjamin Lazarus
Ms. Gatt – Rosa Parks Elementary
Tricky Books
Dedicated to Emmet Price
Books
Sly, cunning, tricky shifty, sneaky books
They will charm you into their deadly, loving, mysterious pages,
so much like a mermaid’s song, luring you to the crashing waves.
Once they have effortlessly pulled you to their pages, they shall slam
their covers down on you with the force of ten thousand men.
Awakened from your hypnotic state, you might find yourself
stuck smack in the center of the most intricate maze, or standing
inches away from the doorway to this realm, but, incapable of
moving.
Nevertheless, in a unknown period of time, the book will
forcefully spit you out, and it might take you minutes to realize where
you are.
You will eventually realize that you are sitting in your chair,
swollen with happiness, sadness, lovingness, sorrow, and more.
That is what books will do to you.