Welcome to First Chapter Friday!

Each week, Amanda Zieba (aka The Word Nerd), an author and former middle school ELA teacher, shares the first chapter of a fantastic book to help young readers discover their next favorite read!

This week, we're diving into It Came from the Creek by Amy Sarig King, a mysterious and powerful story about two friends, Katy and Joel, who discover something dangerous lurking in their local creek. As they investigate toxic pollution and stand up to bullies, they learn that even kids have the power to make a difference.

Watch the First Chapter Friday read-aloud and stick around for an exclusive author interview! Below the video, you'll find five questions Amanda asks Amy about her inspiration, writing process, and advice for young readers.

More classroom resources for this book are available, just scroll to the bottom of this page.

Behind the Book: 5 Questions with Amy Sarig King

An interview about It Came from the Creek, edited for length and clarity.

Amanda: What was the story spark or seedling for this book?

Amy: There was a haunted house about three miles from my house. That house got demolished, and people started sending old articles about the house and some of the myths about it. In one of those articles was the mention of a toxic waste dump, a very illegal toxic waste dump, next door to the house. I started to read more about it and realized that this was a really big problem.

In the meantime, I had always promised my friend Joel that I was going to write a book about him. I set it in 1980 because that's when the dump was at its highest usage, but also because that's when Joel and I were ten, listening to Phillies games in his tent. Those were all the sparks!

Amanda: What was the biggest challenge of writing a story set in the 1980s and making sure you didn't accidentally include things from modern times?

Amy: The hardest part was when Katie wanted to find more information and went to the library. How are you going to get information back then? Luckily, I had been through it, so I knew how to get information back then, which was basically asking a research librarian.

Katie has a school project called "100 Years From Now," and I had to figure out how she was going to find answers to those questions without the internet. I looked around and found the books that were available back then and had Miss Olivia, the librarian, bring her those books.

That was the biggest challenge because we're so used to being able to go onto the internet and find a bunch of things!

Amanda: If Katie and Joel could talk to kids today who are worried about climate change, what advice do you think they would give them?

Amy: First of all, you have to be a team. You have to get together and have your community. If somebody doesn't want to help, go to the next person and find somebody who does!

Get together, do your research, find out what it is you want to try and do, and go from there. The more people that show up, the better. The more people that send letters, the better. It's really showing up that matters.

And the minute you can vote, vote all the time! Especially in local elections, because those matter when it comes to your life.

Amanda: A lot of your books feature difficult topics like bullying, pollution, and censorship. Why do you choose to write about the hard things?

Amy: Mostly it's because I remember what it was like being young, and adults tend to blow off young people. I'm here to tell young people that their experiences matter, their feelings matter, and their voices matter.

I think it's really important to be real with young people because people underestimate them all the time. Kids are smart and capable of having conversations about important issues in their lives.

Books are a safe place to learn things. Sometimes a child will turn to a parent and say, "Here's this book. This is me." And that's where the beginning of helping that child starts.

I was a reluctant reader at times in my life, and what got me to become a voracious reader was finding really honest voices. To this day, if a book isn't honest, I put it down.

Amanda: Let's end on a happy note! What are two things that make you happy about being a writer or that you're excited about right now?

Amy: Writing is like the joy of my life! I do it all the time. I love writing because I can connect with other people and make them laugh. Even in books that have heavy topics, there's always laughter because life is hilarious!

I also love researching. Learning new stuff that I didn't know before is one of my favorite things in the world. I get to find out the truth about stuff, and sometimes I discover that something I thought I knew has so much more depth to it.

The minute I talk about writing, I'm full of joy. I'm a nerd, y'all. I'm a nerd!

Want more Word Nerd Goodness?

Grab the First Chapter Friday companion worksheets for this book here (or click the image below). Then, head over to Word Nerd Collaborative or download the WORD NERD DAILY APP and check out even more amazing, student engagement increasing resources for middle school ELA classrooms.