Tag Archives: young adult

Poetry schools give you ain’t no fun./Here’s the fix for everyone!

Post #147 from Dr. Crankenfuss, The World’s Awesomest Raving and Rapping blogger–

Okay, today I’m gonna give you a quiz and I don’t think you’ll pass it. Ready?

At school you might see some people carrying around The Hunger Games, right? Or some will have a Wimpy Kid book. (And yes, I know they’re easier.) But for the gajillion dollar prize, name a poetry book that you often see students carrying around or talking about.

Well…  I’m waiting for you to say something.

You can’t think of one, can you?

Well, there’s one that might soon be the answer to that question.
VOICES: Poems for Performance

Over 50 young poets tell their stories in verse, every poem illustrated, and all ready to be performed, either in front of an audience or on video. There’s no other book like it. Check out the intro and meet some of the poets at the VOICES page on this site. You can hit the VOICES button up top or click here to go to it. The book’s coming to Amazon, Apple, Kobo, and Nook on Tuesday, December 2.

Hey, you don’t have to take my word for it. Just check that page out and you’ll see. I mean this must be good, because I’m not even talking about myself today. I’m giving publicity to Daniel and he and I don’t always like to share the stage. Well, actually I don’t ever like to give it to him, but here he deserves it.

’nuff said. Get ready to become an actor.

From the Dude with the ‘Tude
Who’s now stepping back
To become a flak
For Daniel’s poetic smack.

Never, Ever Done Before! A Humor Book by a Kid for Kids!!

“Humor” Post #131 from Dr. Crankenfuss, The World’s Awesomest Raving and Rapping blogger –

Woo-hoo! MY NEW BOOK IS OUT! I believe it’s the only joke book written by a kid for other kids. Think about that, would you. Can you think of any other book like that? I didn’t think so. (But if you know of one, please send me the info.)

Now there are way more than jokes in this thing. Just go under the book cover’s picture below to see some of the topics covered in the book.

Oh yeah, that cover. Well, here it is a few lines down. Not bad, eh? My book’s available at Amazon, Apple, and Barnes and Noble. (Click on any of those names and you’ll go straight to the book’s page.) And each place has a sample of the book so you can decide for yourself if you want to try it out. Oh, yeah, the cost? $2.99! That’s it. $2.99 for a giant dose of the Doctor!

If you think this cover is nice, check out the chapter headings below!
If you think this cover is nice, check out the chapter headings below!

So here are some of the chapters in the book:
** Dr. C Rants about Spitting (very engrossing, or just very gross)
** Dr. C Rants about Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (the dumbest song ever written)
** Amazing Mazes (I’ve given you some mazes that the smartest rat in our local psychology lab couldn’t figure out)
** The Fart Poem (Yes, you read that right. Be sure to put a clothes pin on your nose before you read it.)
** That’s Gotta Hurt (illustrations of situations that would humiliate you worse than you’ve ever been in your life)
** Good Student/Bad Student (two large pictures of students with labels to explain how you can tell which one is GOOD and which one is EVIL)
** The Nothing Page (a page with absolutely nothing that says a whole lot)
** Bad Wrap Rap (one of my favorite raps about that disgusting heavy plastic covering that covers many products)
** The Toughest Kind of School (a poem about the toughest school in the world)
** Optical Illusions (that will make your eyeballs come straight out of your head)

So how about checking out my book at one of the three bookstores above. Think about getting your own digital copy. And the book comes with over 70 full-color illustrations.

And I’m warning you now. I’ve already started on Volume II.

Thanks for listening.
From Your Dude with the ‘Tude,
Still Mad, but at least he’s an Author,
Dr. Crankenfuss

Between football and baseball, football’s #1 and baseball’s #8 or so.

Humor Post #126 from Dr. Crankenfuss, The World’s Awesomest Raving and Rapping Middle School blogger –

Yo, peeps. If you’re watching the baseball playoffs, you’re probably watching some great baseball. You and about fifty people around the world.

Yeah, I’m exaggerizing. Millions do watch, but very few millions. Now me, I like baseball. This year I’m for the Pirates. Or Cleveland. Or Oakland. Or anybody else who doesn’t win the World Series too often. (Or ever.) Or I cheer for some team whose city is often put down. Hey, it’s easy to root for teams who usually win and who can afford to spend $25 million for one crummy player — see NY Yankees and one Alex Rodriguez — or for cities that have big tourist business, but to me it’s much more exciting to see underdogs win. I mean, who plans a vacation trip to Cleveland or Detroit?

So what do I mean by that oh so mysterious title of mine? Well, I’ll explain. I was online reading ESPN — my favorite news site — and I clicked on MLB (for Major League Baseball) to see what time different playoff games were on. But what I found out was how little interest there is even in teams’ home towns. For example, tonight Tampa Bay is playing Cleveland. At Cleveland. As you may know, Cleveland has had some pitiful press lately, what with that guy imprisoning those women for ten years and so on. You’d think they’d be going crazy over their team. But this morning there were still over 800 tickets still available for the game. (If you don’t believe me, go to this page and check it out for yourself.

HUH? They can’t even fill up their own stadium for a playoff game? Why am I using my (incredibly valuable) time to watch something that can’t even sell out where it happens.

It gets worse. There are 4-5,000 seats available for most all the games through the weekend. And Monday and Tuesday, the Dodgers and Detroit have around 10,000 tickets unsold! Those little guys (the tickets, not the players) are probably sitting around hoping someone will adopt them or else they’ll get tossed into the garbage like… well, like garbage. LA has like 10 million people or somewhere around that and they can’t sell out their ballpark? Please! Aren’t these the most important games of the year?

I don’t think football has this problem. People go crazy over the pro playoffs. Heck, on Saturday afternoons, even college games don’t have any trouble selling out. I think it’s Michigan that packs in like 108,000 people for their home games. 108 thousand?? They probably have to pass out oxygen masks for the people sitting in the top rows. They should at least provide telescopes.

Compared to football, baseball doesn’t cut it in fan support. Point made. Game, set, and match to Dr. Crankenfuss. Baseball, make yourselves more relevant or you might lose probably your most important fan. That would be me, of course.

From your dude with the ‘tude,
The sports-loving Dr. Crankenfuss

Some people should put bags over their heads

Humor Post #46 from the world’s Crankiest Curmudgeon’s Middle School Blog (and probably the awesomest YA blog too) –

Now don’t get your shorts all bunched up over my title up there. I’m not talking about people for their looks or anything. Although I do have to admit that there are some people out there whose looks could use some improvement. Like in some instances, brushing your teeth would be a good start. I don’t especially like someone smiling at me and I can see what they had that morning for breakfast. Or who knows? Maybe it’s last week’s dinner. Whatever, I don’t need to know about it, okay?

No, what I’m talking about here is a matter of health and well-being, particularly mine. There’s this guy in one of my classes. Let’s just call him Dummkopf for convenience’s sake. So he shows up at school with a cold. Now that in itself isn’t a crime. Why should you stay home for a cold? Then I’d be like, “Aw, what’s da mattuh wittle guy? My wittle baby have a big bad cold? Aww, let mommy put you to bed now.” No, staying at home for a cold is kind of wussy, isn’t it? But I do have a small suggestion for ol’ Dummkopf. When you feel the need to sneeze, how about holding back on the snot parade, okay? I mean this guy lets it fly, like outta the park, you know? Once I got a nice hose down of fine spray. Now I’m on a death watch, worrying about what little killers he might have let loose into the atmosphere that are now probably breeding inside me. Not a pleasant thought.

I went on the web and found the evidence for what I’m talking about. This clip, is from the BBC and the narrator has a British accent so you know he’s gotta be smart. It’s not even a minute long, but I tell you — the last ten seconds will make you think twice about how you look when you don’t cover up your nasty sneezes in public. Talk about gross!

So here’s to covering your mouth when you sneeze — I’m talking about you, Dummkopf, and all the slobs like you — and here’s to my not coming down with flesh-eating viruses that might keep me from blogging all the stuff that keeps your life worth living. And if you can’t cover your mouth, please refer to the title. That would be at the top of this post, Stupidhead… excuse me, I mean Dummkopf. (Gotta keep it in its proper German, ya know. Makes him sound dumber that way.)

From your Dude with the ‘Tude,
your Scold Against Colds,
Dr. Crankenfuss