Bob Boone

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Inside Job
Hack
Lessons from Moe's Café

Bob's Shorter Works

Fiction
Non-fiction

Student Writing

What student writing do you find especially strong? What writing have you collected that shows how well young people can express themselves once they are deeply driven by a subject? This section is for all of us to share example of successful student writing and to explain how the writing came about. Please submit!

The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless has a new creative writing project. To learn more check out: http://www.chicagohomeless.org. To read some student writing by shelter residents: http://www.chicagohomeless.org/node/265

For starters, the first samples will come from prompts in Moe's Café, a book written by Bob Boone and Mark Larson. What all the prompts have in common is a heavy dose of questions, which the students shape their answers into complete pieces of writing.

Magazines

  • Polyphony Literary Magazine

    Chapbooks

  • Snapshots of Your Fairytales by Erin Nederbo

    First Sentence Story Prompts
    Rather than being presented with prompts, questions, and suggestions, this student was given a single sentence to use somewhere in his story.
    "Baby Louis was the best card player in our dorm."
    "Never underestimate angry grandmothers."

  • Baby Louis by Luke Rehage
  • Red Karma by Luke Rehage

    Poetry
    This month we'll feature some writing from graduates of the Young Chicago Authors Program.

  • Allister St. James by Ashley "Cabbage" Slupski
  • Bright, Light, Night by Shari Lewis
  • Evening by Jesse Welch
  • Firefly by Gabrielle Worley
  • For Gil by Takya S.
  • From the Clay by Kristiana Colon
  • Louder Than a Bomb by Nate Marshalls
  • My Grandfather and I by David Gilmer
  • Mahogany & Milk by Ciara Miller
  • Number by Daphne Koz
  • Pairs by Jake Baskin
  • I Prayed for You by Novana Clairisse Venerable
  • Process by Sara Pardys
  • Rollerblades by Josh Oppenchild
  • Taking Notes by Emilio Tostado
  • In a Wasteland by Carlos Angeles

    And also a few works in progress for you to critique.

  • Single Sentence Story by Cheryl Jones
  • A Little Less Molly Ringwald by Daniela Lieggi

    Moe's Cafe
    The first prompt, as you might expect, is called "Moe's Café." In this the students answer questions about a spectacularly run-down restaurant. (What is the floor like? The menu? Smells? The dog sleeping in the corner? etc.) These answers are then blended into a letter to a friend.

    Take a look at these writings by the following authors. These are drafts. Many students will do more with them later on.

  • Fabiola Barral, Walter Payton High School
  • Elaina Butt, Walter Payton High School
  • Joey Fishman, Walter Payton High School
  • Michael Gonzalez, Walter Payton High School
  • Heather Hagopian, Walter Payton High School
  • Matthew Marquez, Walter Payton High School
  • Riley Nygren, Walter Payton High School
  • Cristina Luna Paredes, Walter Payton High School
  • Chloe Reyes, Walter Payton High School
  • Ayanna Runcie, Walter Payton High School
  • Alyssa Salas, Walter Payton High School

    Mr. Jones's Bad Day
    The second prompt is about Mr. Jones and the terrible day he's having. Don't miss this starter's guide. Students submitted the following writings in response:

  • Akeela Amear, Senn High School
  • Kathleen Brantley, Walter Payton High School
  • Michael Cadiz, Walter Payton High School
  • Yazmine Carbajal, East Village Youth Program
  • Gabriela Garcia, East Village Youth Program
  • Abraham Gonzalez, East Village Youth Program
  • Alexandrea Gramarossa, East Village Youth Program
  • Edwin Hall, East Village Youth Program
  • Jelisa Harrington, Von Steuben High School
  • Heather Jones, Walter Payton High School
  • Laura Koeller, Walter Payton High School
  • Emaly Rodrigeuz, East Village Youth Program
  • Alan Rueda, East Village Youth Program
  • Linda Rueda, East Village Youth Program
  • Laura Arimond Scheff, Walter Payton High School
  • Juanita Vargas, East Village Youth Program
  • Magaly Villalba, East Village Youth Program
  • Kendall Williams, John Hope College Prep

  • Moe's Cafe
    Forty-eight decidedly different creative writing prompts for developing writers.

    Buy Now!
    Hack
    The meteoric life of one of baseball's first superstars: Hack Wilson

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    Inside Job: A Life of Teaching
    An enlightening and entertaining story of Bob Boone's education as a teacher.

    Buy Now!