第一本：Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry, Middy Thomas (Illustrator)
Gooney Bird Greene就是封面上这个小朋友的名字。10月的一个星期三，转学到一个小镇的小学，二年级。一出场就“艳惊四座”：She opened the second grade classroom door ... and appeared there all alone, without even a mother to introduce her. She was wearing pajamas and cowboy boots and was holding a dictionary and a lunch box...
这还不够，她跟老师自我介绍说: "... I just moved hear from China. I want a desk right smack in the middle of the room, because I like to be right smack in the middle of everything."
... soon it was clear that Gooney Bird was mysterious and interesting. Her clothes were unusual. Her hairstyles were unusual. Even her lunches were very unusual.
妹妹从翻开书，就一直笑眯眯的看。问她书里讲了什么，妹妹说：“她的名字叫Gooney Bird Greene。Not that green green. It has an 'e' at the end. I think it's a silent 'e'。还有，她是从China来的！”这样一个连名字都奇特的小姑娘，you bet she'll be right smack in the middle of everything!
老师上课讲怎样才能写出一个好的故事，然后让大家选一个主角。大家的选择：Gooney Bird Greene！因为所有人都想听听这个奇特有趣的小姑娘的故事。Gooney Bird也不负众望，是一个天生的故事大王。她不但故事讲的引人入胜，还在讲故事过程中教了大家各种写故事的技巧。比如：Stories need suspense；再比如：... the word suddenly. It makes things exciting. Sometimes, class, if you're creating a story and you get stuck, just say the word suddenly and you won't have any trouble continuing at all.
我一边看书一边想，也不知道小朋友看懂没看懂。晚上看完书，早上就跟小朋友聊天。
妈妈：“Gooney Bird讲的故事真好玩哈。里面有好多奇怪的东西。”
妹妹：“妈妈，it's fiction。”
妈妈：“但是Gooney Bird说她的故事都是absolutely。。。”
妹妹：“True！”
妈妈：“To make a good story, you need ...”
妹妹：“A good beginning, middle, and end!”
妈妈：“还要有good character。”
妹妹：“And a setting. Every story needs a setting.”
等等，这个书里可没说。
妈妈：“你怎么知道的？”
妹妹：“We had magic time with Ms. Majkowski! She told us.”
这个Ms. Majkowski是谁啊？上学校网站查一下，原来是reading teacher。小朋友在学校也不是一直都在瞎玩么。还是学了东西的。继续说。
妹妹：“妈妈，你看了几个故事了？”
妈妈：“我都看完了。后面还有好几个故事。”
妹妹：“我看完第一个故事了。第二个就要讲她是怎么从China来的了。To make a good story, 你要想让人都听你的故事，你得让别人有不知道的东西。他们特别想知道，你可以明天再给他们讲。对吧？”
There, suspense! Even though it's a little kid's understanding of suspense.
Gooney Bird每天给全班同学讲一个故事。有一天，Gooney Bird迟到了。全班同学包括老师都魂不守舍，连其他课都上不下去。最后，Gooney Bird的故事讲完了，大家意犹未尽。怎么办呢？大家都可以讲故事啊。Out there, invisible, are a lot of stories not yet told, ... Absolutely true ones...
小朋友们看完书，会不会也愿意自己讲一个有趣的故事呢？
