This fall, Jennifer Robbins’ seventh grade English language arts students read many examples of interesting biographies of young adult novel authors. They then wrote their own author bios using specific, interesting details and a strong voice that shows who they are as a person. The following are the top two biographies, as chosen by high school writing teachers.
About Travis Banks
Travis is a 12-year-old introvert and capybara enthusiast. When Travis Banks isn’t at his eccentric high school, he can be found cruising around town on a skateboard, up the mountain powder snowboarding, or out on the baseball field practicing his batting. He can also be found playing video games in his basement, in a lake somewhere, or on his trampoline learning to do a triple backflip. He lives with his parents, a brother, a sister and a lazy dog. Travis has never been to Greece, but he has yet to experience a piece of Greek culture. When Travis is at his house, he can be seen drinking incredible amounts of chocolate milk, playing games and shooting hoops. He likes to hike, raft, and enjoys being outdoors. Overall, he is an athletic animal lover at heart.
Banks likes skateboarding, goofing around, video games, basketball, reading good books, playing Nerf roulette with hard tip bullets, soccer, TV, anime, friends, teddy bears. Haribo gum, the takis, the donuts, the snakes, the sandwiches, the dogs, the family. meetings and Coca-Cola.
Banks dislikes mosquitoes, nachos without enough cheese, rude people, getting hurt, road trips, crying babies (especially on planes), relish, mustard, pickles, Mondays, tea, weddings, Mott’s fruit sandwiches, bloody noses, having your seat stolen in a movie, and long shorts.
About Oziah Watstein
Oziah Watstein has never done anything too stupid, but he’s constantly looking for ways to add a little excitement to his life.
She’s a city girl at heart (even though she lives in the woods), and a professional time waster. She has never seen an original Marvel movie, but she has yet to find a Disney movie that she doesn’t like.
Oziah spends most of her time shopping for unwanted trinkets with her friends while also being more stupid than she usually is, browsing the small shops in Kalispell and pondering what she’ll wear the next day.
When Oziah isn’t sitting in a boring old classroom, she can be found lying on her bed goofing off, taking too many sky/sunset photos and trying to find the perfect (icy) drink. Although she is probably the worst dancer in the entire universe, Oziah loves to dance like a maniac in her room. She has two psychotic dogs, a small but sassy Yorkie and a huge but sweet Newfoundland, accompanied by two cats whose favorite place in the world is her roof.
Tastes: sunsets, small coffee shops, the Halloween season, local events, books/bookstores, music, swimming, running, the smell when you walk into a library or bookstore, snacks, theater, blankets, candy, cereal, true crime, energy drinks, Converse sneakers, stickers, beaches, dancing, nail polish, jewelry.
Dislikes: humidity, math, spicy things, clowns, gum, when the hood of a hoodie is a little too small, making it very awkward and uncomfortable, warm seats, spray for any sore throat/cough medicine, the dentist, books with a real -looking picture on the cover.