I & the Magic Pen: The Junk Drawer Adventures, #1

By Amber Gabriel

You never know what you'll find in Aunt Mysti's junk drawer.

Today started like any other day at Foundation Elementary School. Everything was fine until I ran into the biggest bully in the fourth grade. After that, nothing seemed to go right. Then I found a new clicky pen in a kitchen drawer.

When I used the pen to draw a picture for an assignment, strange things began to happen! A dragon came to life, a fleet of alien spaceships appeared, and I got a chance to rewrite the past. This magic pen may be exactly what I need to solve all my problems!

Put yourself in the role of protagonist and follow "I" on this relatable, entertaining journey to empathy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amber Gabriel
• Release date: Apr 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201107642

Amber Gabriel

loved the illustrations. I would pick that book out every time, so my teacher finally removed it from the shelf to force me to expand my horizons. Now I have my own copy. Another book that influenced me very early on was Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World. It told a story of two creative painters who painted a mural of a large sun inside someone's house. I thought the idea was genius, so I drew a large sunshine on my wall with crayon. It was scrubbed off, but I continued to have a desire to express myself artistically. In middle school, I enjoyed writing, and my English teacher told me I would write a book someday. I loved to read, sometimes reading late into the night. When I was not reading, I was making up stories in my head for my own amusement, but I never wrote them down. I was more interested in drawing and painting than writing. I have since painted numerous works of art, including some very large outdoor murals. You can see some of them if you do an internet search of Paint by Amber. Over the years, I have had a lot of trouble with insomnia. I had heard that if you write down your ideas, it will help you to be able to go to sleep. That didn't help, but I did end up writing some complete novels. Recently, I was diagnosed with narcolepsy, and understanding my sleep patterns, along with scheduling at least one nap during the day, has greatly improved my quality of life. The line between dreaming and wakefulness for me is sometimes blurred, and some of my ideas come straight from my dreams. Others are worked out while I'm lying in bed unable to sleep. It was fun to type them out, and I am planning to continue writing. My goal as an author is to write the type of books that I would like to read. My favorite genre is fantasy fiction, and I read and write books that tackle difficult issues but resolve themselves into a happy ending. I hope you enjoy my stories and characters as much as I do. If you search my name and the word 'author,' you should be able to find my social media site. I look forward to hearing from you!

Book preview

Copyright

I & the Magic Pen

Text and interior illustrations copyright © 2022 by Amber Gabriel

Cover art copyright © 2022 by Mercy Morehouse

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the express written consent of the publisher except for brief quotations for reviews.

Dedication

To my students

Chapter 1, Monday

Time to get up! called Aunt Mysti.

I groaned. I don’t wanna get up.

Today is Monday. You have choir today.

Oh, yeah. I love choir. Mostly because it makes the bus riders envious. If you stay for choir, somebody has to come and pick you up. Plus, you get to go on a special field trip at the end of each semester.

I pulled on my faded blue jeans and a school spirit shirt. 

Where’s my tablet? I yelled, searching frantically through the piles of laundry and stuffed animals on the floor of my room. Aunt Mysti believes in ‘natural consequences’, which means I never have to clean my room. I just have to spend lots of time looking for things because they are always buried under something else.

You plugged it in by the couch when you were watching that singing show.

I raced into the living room and found my tablet sitting on the side table. Thanks! Shoving it into my backpack, I grabbed a banana off the kitchen counter and slid on a pair of flip-flops. 

You don’t want to wear your tennis shoes? asked Aunt Mysti in the gentle, prodding tone that meant I really should wear my tennis shoes, but she wasn’t going to make me.

I have library today, not PE, I replied as I peeled the banana. 

Okay, said Aunt Mysti with a raised eyebrow. Have a good day.

The door swung shut behind me, and I skipped down the steps to the sidewalk. Aunt Mysti only cooks dinner on weekdays, which means if I want more than a banana for breakfast, I have to get to school before the last bell rings. It’s part of her not-so-secret plan to help me make good choices, but it works.

It was a beautiful morning. The sun had just risen, and the cool, fall air felt refreshing. Foundation Elementary was only four blocks away, and there were still students being dropped off when I arrived. 

A few, like me, were walkers. Their parents, older siblings, or neighbors walked with them. My friend Payton, who came from the opposite direction, was waiting for me at the door.

Mini pancakes for breakfast this morning! sang Payton as we entered the