STUDENTS WOULD ASK WHERE WRITERS GET THEIR BOOK IDEAS

If you could take any author out to dinner, whom would you choose? What would you talk about?

Gavin Douglas, 11, would take Louis Sachar (author of "Holes," and the Wayside School series) out to eat and ask him where he gets the ideas for his stories.

"They could probably happen in real life," Gavin explained.

Mohammed Rasouli, 12, would take J.K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter series) with him and ask her to share some of her ideas, so he, too, could become an author.

Y-Press recently went to the Fishers YMCA and talked with Gavin and Mohammed, as well as Timmy Branch, Tyler Fox, James Begg and Kyle Haaning, all 12, about the books they most like.

Favorite books

Timmy: My favorite book is "Holes" because it has to do with adventure.

Gavin: My favorite book of all time is "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" because I like to read long books, and also I like to read fantasy.

Mohammed: My favorite book or series is the Harry Potter series because it's very, very mysterious and adventurous. I think the third and fourth ones are my favorites.

Tyler: I don't have one favorite book, but my favorite series is "A Series of Unfortunate Events" because they are adventurous.

James: I like "Captain Underpants" because it's funny. I also like historical fiction because I like learning about wars.

Kyle: "Goosebumps" books are interesting and kind of spooky. You never know what's gonna happen after each page.

Favorite authors

Mohammed: What I think is unique about J.K. Rowling is the way she like catches the reader as if the reader's inside the book. I think that's pretty cool.

Kyle: If I could have dinner with any author, it would be Gary Paulsen because some of his stories seem true and I want to know if they're true.

Tyler: I think it's cool that (Lemony Snicket) changes his name, and he's gonna put himself into the story.

Timmy: If I could have dinner with any author, it'd probably be the author that writes "Captain Underpants" (Dav Pilkey). What makes him a good author is that every time I read it, it's funnier and funnier.

Favorite characters

Timmy: My favorite person from a book is probably Ron from "Harry Potter" because he's funny and he gets to do weird things.

Mohammed: My favorite character is Harry Potter, 'cause he's really brave, and he goes for whatever he believes in.

Tyler: My favorite character from a book is Stanley Yelnats. I think he would be a good friend.

Choosing books

Gavin: I usually get recommendations from friends because they know what I like.

Mohammed: I usually get recommendations from my friends or my teachers. I usually see if the title is real interesting.

Tyler: I usually choose books by recommendations from friends or buy things online.

James: I just pull books off the shelf.

Learning to read

Tyler: I learned how to read from family members reading to me, and so I just kind of learned from like first grade and stuff. It wasn't anything that memorable.

Gavin: When I first learned how to read, I didn't like it because it seemed too hard.

Mohammed: When I first learned how to read, I didn't really like it because my teacher showed me some books that had really (big words) that I didn't understand.

Kyle: I started to like to read in third grade when I found out that there's other books that are actually good.

James: I never liked to read. I started reading like last year. I just read my first chapter book like two years ago.

The impact of reading

Kyle: Reading has helped me because it describes other places in the world, and it gives me more information.

Gavin: I think reading has helped me because I know how to write better.

Timmy: It's helped me with my spelling.

Mohammed: I think that when I get older and start to read more, I think it will help me with the conversations that I'm having with other people.

Tyler: Any problems or stress that's going on, it takes that away and you get stuck in the moment.

REPORTERS: Jessika Officer, 11; Amber Patton, 13.