Shelf Life Series Pieces of Eight Edward strolled into the school library and sat down at one of the rectangular tables. "I don't like coming here," he said to his friend, Jayden. "Me, neither," Jayden whispered. "I expect the whole class to check out a book this week," Ms. Smith announced to the class. Edward dragged himself up from his hard chair and reluctantly headed to the fiction section of the library. He ran his index finger along the row of books that lined the shelf. He skimmed the books looking for any title that caught his eye. "There are no good books!" Edward muttered. He started to walk away from the fiction section when he heard a coin drop behind him. When he turned around, he saw a shiny gold coin rolling toward him. He searched the library to see if any of his classmates noticed, but most of the students were in the horror section looking for a scary book to check out. He leaned down and picked up the coin. The shiny, gold coin was heavy as if it were made of real gold. A skull with crisscrossed daggers adorned one side of the coin. On the other side of the coin was a pirate flag. He bent to pick the coin up when a dusty old book on the bottom shelf caught his eye. The book looked like it hadn t been checked out in decades. Edward slid the book from its place on the shelf and was immediately intrigued by the colorful picture of fighting pirates on the cover. He brought it up to the librarian. "You are really going to love this book," she said with a smile. She scanned the book into the computer and then slid it across her desk. "Enjoy your adventure!" 1
She needs to get out of this library, Edward thought to himself. Enjoy my adventure! Where does she think I'm going? Back in his classroom, Edward threw the book into his backpack and forgot completely about it until he got home. He was finishing up his homework when he saw a wisp of smoke arise from his backpack. Edward threw open his backpack and dumped the contents out onto his bed. The smoke vanished into the air. That is when he saw his library book. He picked it up and fell onto his bed to read it. He pulled open the front cover and with a turn of the first crispy page, he delved into a world of thieving pirates and battles spanning the open sea. A whirlwind of letters, paragraphs, and punctuation marks carried Edward into the pages of the book. He was thrust onto the open deck of a pirate ship. "Take hold of the rope!" a thin pirate with brownish yellow teeth shouted over the roar of the crashing sea. Confused and scared, Edward did what he was told. "Where am I?" Edward shouted, but the three men on deck rushed to catch the wind with the sail. The ship jumped large waves causing Edward to fall back into a pirate who stood over him. He wore a black patch over his left eye. His thin, wet lips curled up into a mischievous smile. "Well, what do we have here?" the pirate croaked. The wind caught his beard like it caught the sail. "Captain! They are gaining on us!" a pirate called down from the crow's nest. "Protect thar treasure!" the captain ordered Edward as he headed for the helm. 2
Edward looked toward the stern of the ship and saw a large black iron treasure chest. He swaggered over to it and lifted the lid. The chest was filled with gold coins similar to the one he had found in the library. "They are gaining on us!" Another pirate called from the stern of the ship. The ship dived into thick waves bouncing up then down. Edward lost his balance and fell to the slippery deck. He rolled to a stop at the side of the ship. Grabbing a hold of the railing to hoist himself up, he immediately caught a glimpse of a fast approaching ship with shredded sails. It jumped its way toward the ship. The deck was overrun by men who looked rougher than the pirates on Edward s ship. "Lower yer head, Matey!" shouted a pirate who was positioned behind a large cannon that was aimed directly toward Edward. His heart beat against his chest so loudly he was sure everyone could hear it. He dived to the floor and crawled out of the way as a loud noise exploded behind him. He peeked up in time to notice the cannon tear a hole into the enemy s ship. "Nobody tries to steal our treasure!" the captain shouted as their ship slowly inched away from the sinking ship. The captain, who had one wooden leg, hobbled over to Edward. "Boy, you wouldn't be trying to steal our treasure now would you?" "No!" Edward stuttered. "What an adventure this is!" he exclaimed. "Boy, the adventure has only just begun," the captain replied. And with those words, a flurry of letters, paragraphs, and punctuation marks spun around Edward pushing him out from the pages of the book. Edward was back on his bed in his room. The only evidence of his adventure was the sea mist still clinging to his hair and the gold coin in his pocket. Edward did not pull his eyes away from the book until he finished reading the entire story. 3
The next morning he brought the book back to his school library. "I want another story like this one!" he said to the librarian. "There is a bit of magic in every book in this library!" the librarian said with a mischievous smile. 4
Pdf Entry Information Exhibitor Name: Kimberly Schultz WEN: 4621FB Division: FA - 359 - Children's Novel Chapte Class: 01 Children's Novel Chapter or Sho Title: Pieces of Eight Description: Notes: