The Stars that Blind Us by Tiana & Ivy, both age 11

This “cycle story” by Tiana and Ivy is the first in a series by Room 2 kids inspired by the Argentinian folktale “The Sun and the Snow.”


Stars that blind us,
Why are you heartless?
We are not heartless.
The fog is heartless,
That blocks us.

Fog that blocks the stars,
Stars that blinds us,
Why are you heartless?
I am not heartless,
The blowdrier is heartless,
that blows me away.

Blowdrier that blows away the fog,
Fog that blocks the stars,
Stars that blind us,
Why are you heartless?
I am not heartless.
The blackout is heartless
that turns me off.

Blackout that turns off the blowdrier,
Blowdrier that blows away the fog,
Fog that blocks the stars,
Stars that blind us,
Why are you heartless?
I am not heartless.
The wiring is heartless
that causes the blackout.

Wiring that causes the blackout,
Blackout that turns off the blowdrier,
Blowdrier that blows away the fog,
Fog that blocks the stars,
Stars that blind us,
Why are you heartless?
I am not heartless.
The humans are heartless
who plug in too many things.

Humans who plug in too many things,
Wiring that causes the blackout,
Blackout that turns off the blowdrier,
Blowdrier that blows away the fog,
Fog that blocks the stars,
Stars that blind us,
Why are you heartless?
We are not heartless.
The stars are heartless
That blind us.

About the Authors

Hi my name is Tiana. I’m 11 years old and I live in San Franisico. I live with my three sisters, Mom, Dad, and my grandma. I like to ice skate on the weekends with my friends. I want to be good at art someday. When I grow up I want to be a lawyer. The thing that confuses me most is long words like narcisistic and photosynthesis. I wish that one day everyone in the world would get along with each other and never fight. The first book I wrote was When I Was Lost, second was I Hate My Life You, third was Hua Ying Mei, and I also wrote many poems.

Hi my name is Ivy. I am 11 years old and I live in San Francisco. I live with my Mom, Dad, Brother, my grandma, and grandpa. I like to play on my computer and read books at home. I want to be good at math when I get older. When I grow up I want to be Pharmacist. It confuses me when people ask a lot of questions like: How do your parents pay the rent? I wish that everybody were rich an lived a happy life and didn’t have to break in into peoples’ property. I am also the author of My Family, Yu Kun Yu, and many poems.

Writing by Tiana, age 10


If Play-doh Were Metal
By Tiana

If Play-doh were metal
then clay would be coal
If ants were sugar bowls
then monkeys would be milk crates
If needles were blood
then nails would be sea water
If bait were fish
then dollars would be humans
If Hawaii were angry
then California would be calm
If Mexico were the flu
then Norway would be frostbite
If scissors were crayons
then knives would be pastels
And I would pick them up carefully
and draw something
sharp

My American Name

On January 17, 1998 my mom gave birth to me. After a couple of hours a nurse came into my mom’s room asked her what was she going to name me. She didn’t know, so the nurse suggested a few names, including Tiana. My mom thought Tiana sounded great because it sounded easy to say. To me, a nurse naming me is intresting because I always thought parents had to pick the names for their children, not anyone else. I also like my name because it means “fairy queen.” If I were a fairy queen I would use my magic to fix the world and heal the dead. When I grow up I want to be a pharmacist and help people in need.

My Chinese Name

My Chinese name is Hong May Ting. It means beautiful. I hate my Chinese name because to me it’s not interesting or cool. Almost all parents want their daughters’ names to mean beautiful. I think other things are more important than beauty, like survival.

A+ in Math by Tiana, age 10


Don’t play with the knife or you’ll get hurt, Don’t kick the ball over the fence or you can’t play any more, don’t hit people or you’ll feel guilty, Do your homework or get 50 lines of “I will do my homework everyday,” Flush the toilet or you’ll stink the room, Don’t cry or I will not play with you, Don’t call me a name because my real name is Tiana, Don’t day dream in the middle of the streets or you’ll get run over, Do what you’re supposed to do and you’ll be ok, Don’t pick on people or you’ll have no friends, be nice to others and you’ll have lots of friends, don’t drink beer while driving a car or you’ll get in to an accident, don’t land on the sun or you’ll become dust, Study hard and you’ll get an A, But I’m not good at math, Yes you are, Try hard, I’ll never get an A, You will.

To Momo & From Momo, by Lisa, age 8 & Tiana, age 10


To Momo

I am sorry that my mom held you by the neck
and put you in the bathroom,
I know my mom didn’t like you because you made trouble,
like when you pooed in the living room
When we came back from China you were a grown-up
and you didn’t make trouble anymore,
But after one week we had to give you away
because the building manger didn’t let us keep you
I wish I could see you again
Please forgive my mom.

From Tiana & Lisa

From Momo

I will forgive your mom for holding me by the neck
When she held me this way
her hands felt all sticky
I will also forgive you
for giving me away
After you visited me one day,
I ran away
I wish I didn’t do that
so I could see you again
I am in a new family now
When they hear me purr,
they always pet me
And every time I smell fresh fish
I hiss

Written for Momo by Lisa

Hua Ying Mei by Tiana, age 10


My mom’s name is Hua Ying Mei. She was born in China on October 10, 1961. When she was a child her family was poor because they had no money. Her parents were really nice because they took care of her and gave her clothes and food. She lived in a city called Toi San. My mom had to walk for transportation because she didn’t have a car or a bike. When she was small she played jump rope with her friends. She had two brothers and two sisters. She ate rice, vegetables, fish and meat. She went to a school with a big field filled with a lot of flowers.

My mom came to San Francisco on January 21, 1991. Hua Ying Mei thought that when she got here it would be fun. She also came here to get more money. Now she is having fun and she has more money. Her first day in San Francisco, she thought the place was beautiful because there were lots of trees and people were nice to her.

My mom’s hobby is sewing clothes for me and my sisters like shirts and jackets. When she was little she sewed too, so she’s used to it. Her job is working in a sewing factory. She hates sewing the edges of the clothes together. She likes sewing the middle parts together.

About the Author

Hi my name is Tiana. My mom teaches me to speak and write Chinese. The hardest part of this project was asking my mom follow-up questions because I kept forgetting. The most interesting part of this project was learning about my mom. I turned ten this year. My favorite hobby is ice-skating. This is my third published story. The first story I wrote was “When I was Lost,” and my other was “I Hate My Life with You.”

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun By Trang, Tiana, Ivy & Anna


Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Don’t tell us girls bore you
because we just wanna have fun
Don’t tell us to put a middle-sized white rat in our teacher’s shirt
because we will get in trouble
Don’t tell us to shave our heads bald
because we will be called weirdos
Don’t tell us to smoke
because cancer can kill us
Don’t tell us we’re ugly
because you are bizarre
Don’t tell us to play football
because the ball will land on our stomachs
Tell us you want to race us
because we’ll win