Interesting Openings AKA Leads, Hooks

1. Interesting OpeningsAKA Leads, Hooks Notes page

2. Station #1 “Little Man, would you come on? You keep it up and you’re going to make us late.” My youngest brother paid no attention to me. Grasping more firmly his newspaper wrapped notebook and his tin-can lunch of cornbread and oil sausages, he continued to concentrate on the dusty road. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor

3. Station #2 I’d never given much thought to how I would die- though I’d had reason enough in the last few months- but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this. -Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

4. Station #3 At night, when Mom goes to work, I take care of my little brother, Issac. We do homework or play games or watch TV. But tonight is going to be different. Tonight we’re going out. -Your Move by Eve Bunting

5. Station #4 On the afternoon of the annual Carry-the-Flag Day at school, Violet felt her stomach turn upside down. “I can’t do it,” she told her teacher, Mrs. Maxwell. “Everyone will be watching me.” “We will be watching your lovely maple-leaf flag,” said Mrs. Maxwell, smiling. “And how high you wave it,” added her best friend, Opal. “Not to mention your flag day smile,” said Harriet. “And how well you march to the music,” offered John Philip. “I will be watching your fat knees,” said Irwin, smirking and wrinkling up his nose. Shrinking Violet by Cari Best

6. Station #5 Harry Potter was highly unusual in many ways. For one thing, he hated the summer holidays more than any other time of year. For another, he really wanted to do his homework but was forced to do it in secret, in the dead of the night. And he also happened to be a wizard. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

7. Station # 6 Rain fell that night, a fine, whispering rain. Many years later, Meggie had only to close her eyes and she could still hear it, like tiny fingers tapping on the windowpane. A dog barked somewhere in the darkness, and however often she tossed and turned, Meggie couldn’t get to sleep. The book she had been reading was under her pillow, pressing its cover against her ear as if to lure her back into its printed pages. -Inkheartby Cornelia Funke

8. Station # 7 At Hanukkah time the road from the village to the town is usually covered with snow, but this year the winter had been a mild one… For Reuven, the furrier, it was a bad year, and after long hesitation he decided to sell Zlateh the goat. -Zlateh the Goat by Isaac Bashevis Singer

9. Station # 8 Even my own cousin Ben was there – riding away, in the ringing of bicycle bells down the road. Every time I came to watch them – see them riding round and round enjoying themselves – they scooted off like crazy on their bikes. Becky and the Wheels and Brake Boysby James Berry