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Opening lines from published authors:

"This is the strangest story I've ever heard."  (Something Upstairs)
"Now that it's over, we are telling."  (Bat 6)
"Where's Papa going with that axe?" (Charlotte's Web)
"I'm under the bed. They don't know it.  They think I've run away again."  (Harley, Like a Person)
"The only person left alive on the island was a baby girl."  ((The Birchmark House)
"I found him in the garage on a Sunday afternoon." (Skellig)
"Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house."  (Coraline)
"In the spring, there are vampires in the wind.  People see them scuffling along by the side of country roads.  (Thirsty)
"All children, except one, grow up." (Peter Pan)
"There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.  There once was a very large lake there, the largest lake in Texas."  (Holes)

21 Suggested topics for writing
1. Who am I?
2. What I need as a person
3. My parents
4. Brothers and sisters - or being an only child
5. Friendships/relationships
6. What I like about school/what I don't like about school
7. My needs as a learner
8. Worries, problems, pressures  - for me and my world
9. People I admire
10. The future
11. What's good about being a kid/what's bad about it
12. Turning points in my life
13. Important places
14. Important days
15. "Firsts" and or "lasts" in my life
16. If I could change the world
17. Most important decision
18. Most important person
19. Most important dream
20. Most "valuable" possession
21. Anything else that's important to say!

Places for teens to be published:

www.teenink.com/             www.cyberteens.com/              www.merlynspen.org/

www.teenvoices.com/tvhome.html       Kennebunk Citibank Writer's Showcase