Write For Your Reader

Turning your information in to a story is challenging and fun. 

Being a kid reporter is sometimes challenging, but that’s just part of the fun. The difficult part is making a story interesting, factual, AND clear. The trick is to pay attention to details.

One of the most important stories I covered was when Vice President Joe Biden came to the Little Haiti community in Florida after that country’s major earthquake in January. A lot of different people spoke at the event. I got to interview some of them, but not the Vice President.

Not everything that was going on at the event was 100 percent clear to me at first. I had some trouble putting the things I had learned into words kids would understand. I wasn’t sure how to make the story interesting to kids.

What I did was put all my information together—a transcript of Vice President Biden’s speech, the quotes I got from my interviews, the facts I had about the event. Once I had the who, what, where, when, and why, I felt like I could write my story.

I had to do some research to get some of the details that made my story clear and interesting. For example, why was this event in Miami so important? I found out it is because South Florida is home to the largest Haitian-American population in the U.S. I added that to my story.

I also used lots of quotes. I let the people at the event tell the story. They had just the right words to express the feeling that was in the room that day—words of hope, grief, and relief that the U.S. was doing all it could to help the victims of the quake.

I had a similar experience when covering Media Day at this year's Super Bowl. I wrote that piece in first person to help my readers feel they they were experiencing it with me.

It helps to always think about the audience you are writing for when you work on a story.  One of my school teachers a few years back advised me to write for my reader. That helps keep you focused and on point.

Keep that in mind when you are putting together your entry to be a Scholastic Kid Reporter. The editors want to see clear, concise writing examples with lots of details. Find out exactly how to apply by clicking here! Then get to work. Deadline is October 12!

—Kiera Fobb

PHOTO: Kid Reporter Kiera Fobb speaks with Junior Seau, former NFL player, at the Super Bowl media day in Febuary 2010. (Photo Courtesy Kiera Fobb)

All the Lovely Bad Ones

To all the little children: This is one scary book!

All The Lovely Bad Ones

Author: Mary Downing Hahn

Publisher/Release Date: Sandpiper/Reprint edition August 17, 2009

No. of pages: 192

Reading level: 9-12 years

When I was scanning the shelves at my school’s spring book fair, I saw the name, All The Lovely Bad Ones. I wondered what it could possibly be about, so I read the information on the back.

It sounded creepy, and as soon as I saw the words "ghost story," I knew I just had to read it! Nothing interests me more than a good book about mysteries and ghosts, and this book was no disappointment in that category.

I really enjoyed this book because introduces you to the characters so well that it makes you feel as though you know them. The suspense also builds and builds, keeping you turning the pages.

The main characters are Travis, 12, and his younger sister, Corey. The are spending the summer at their grandmother’s farm in Vermont, which is reportedly haunted. When they decided to pull some pranks, they unintentionally stir up the real ghosts of young children who were killed on the farm by the evil Ms. Ada. Now Travis and Corey have to find a way to release the children's tortured spirits.

Author Mary Downing Hahn provides just enough detail—yet leaves just enough out—for your imagination to go wild filling in the blanks. From learning about the ghastly “lovely bad ones” to almost feeling evil Ms. Ada grab you with her stone cold bone hands, the story provides entertainment and an educational experience.

It’s a good ghost story and an opportunity to learn about poor houses in the 1800s. You also learn about poet James Whitcomb Riley, whose inscription to his famous “Little Orphant Annie” poem is the basis for the book’s title and the inspiration for the story:

To all the little children: -- The happy ones; and sad ones; The sober and the silent ones; the boisterous and glad ones; The good ones -- Yes, the good ones, too; and all the lovely bad ones.

—Kiera Fobb

PHOTO: Book Cover Courtesy Sandpiper