11-11-11

Hi everybody! Today is November 11, 2011: 11/11/11! Freaky, right?

Here is a trick to amaze your friends and family. Add your age to the last two digits of your birth year. The answer will be 11. For example, if you are 10 and were born in 2001 . . .
10 + 01 = 11

Try it. It will work with everyone born in this century. For people born in the 1900s, the answer will be 111 on account of we're older. Test it on your friends, your parents, your dog. (Wait, it might not work in dog years. But if it does, leave a Comment letting us know!)

I don't know why it works, but it does. It must be some fluke-y thing about 11, so Happy 11/11/11 Day! The numbers will never line up like this again in your lifetime unless you live another hundred years. Although . . . some people think the world is going to end in 2012. Personally, I'm not worried one bit. I think the world will still be around for 12/12/12 and beyond.

— Sonja, STACKS Staffer

Kid Power! World Kindness Day

Kid Power! Kids can make a difference! Every Thursday on Ink Splot 26, we'll show you a new idea for how YOU can make the world a better place.

November 13 is World Kindness Day. It is a day for adding more kindness to the world. Not just to your friends and people you like, but to everyone, people who are different from you, people who are shy and never even talk to you, your neighbor who might be a little cranky sometimes, your brother who gets on your nerves, everyone! The world can never have enough kindness, so spread kindness all around to EVERYONE wherever you go!

Here are 10 ways that YOU can add kindness to the world:

1. Leave something special at someone's locker: candy, a balloon, or just a fun smiley face on a post-it.
2. Do your brother's or sister's chores. Do the one he or she hates the most.
3. Make cards for the adults you love, and tell them why you love them.
4. Pick up some trash. Spend an hour cleaning up a park, school, or even your neighborhood.
5. Smile at 10 people today, especially people outside your own group of friends.
6. Visit a grandparent or elderly friend. They get lonely sometimes and you can brighten their day. Bonus points if you bring homemade cookies!
7. Give someone a truthful compliment, especially someone that maybe doesn't get a lot of compliments at school.
8. Offer to help a neighbor with something: raking the leaves, shoveling snow, carrying the recycling to the curb.
9. Offer to help an adult at school. Maybe you can put books away in the library, run errands for a teacher, or water the plants in the office.
10. Make a list of all the kind things that people have done for you lately, and thank them.

Leave a Comment telling us YOUR ideas for adding kindness to the world. Let's make every day World Kindness Day!

— Sonja, STACKS Staffer

Tomorrow Girls

If you were sent away to a secret school, what's the one thing you would bring with you? And then, what would you do if they took it away?

In the Tomorrow Girls series by Eva Gray, four thirteen-year-old girls meet at a top-secret school, and though they’ve been sent there for their own safety, they quickly realize that their school is not what they think it is. In this terrifying future world where America’s at war and everything is chaotic, they must rely on each other to survive.

There are now four books in the Tomorrow Girls series. Check out the first chapter of Book One: Behind the Gates, and let us know what you think in the Comments!

—Vanessa, Scholastic Staffer

Trivia Tuesday: U.S. Presidents Quiz!

Today is Election Day so today's Trivia Tuesday Quiz is about famous U.S. Presidents! Since people are already running for president for 2012, I thought it would be fun for everyone to freshen up on their fun facts about past presidents. So, get your thinking caps on, take out your American flags, and try to solve the following questions!

Autumn Trivia Answers

Fall into our Fall Trivia Answers!

Last week I posted a Fall Trivia Quiz. Did you snuggle up with your leftover Halloween candy to take a crack at it? Check out the answers below!

Writing Prompt: What's in the Box Under Your Bed?

This week's Write On! Writing Prompt is a good one. It comes to us from GymnasticsPenguin1 who wrote:

You're cleaning your room when you notice something under your bed. It's a box that you've never seen before. What does it look like? What's in it? What kind of adventure does it take you on?

Totally creative! I love it. My box would take me on a roller coaster/spa day adventure. First I would jump into the box, and it would transport me to the most amazing amusement park (with no lines!) and I would ride thrilling, creative, 3-D roller coasters. Then I would be transported to a spa where I would get a fabulous aromatherapy massage and facial.

What about your box? Inquiring minds, like GymnasticsPenguin1 want to know! Drop a line in the Comments below.

—Ratha, Stacks Writer