Young Samuel Finn was on a quest. He was tired of fence paintin' and river raftin' and yearned for something more. But he could no more name that thirst than he could quench it. Until he stumbled upon the Library of Wonders. A withered old man behind the desk peered at him down his interminably long nose.

"Choose whichever volume you desire young man. Whichever tome you choose you will instantly become the master of that domain."

Sammy strode off down the single aisle of the Library with butterflies in his stomach. Which one should he choose? His ma had told him not to tell tall tales, so he quickly skipped past the volumes on Mythology and Religion. His eye was caught by an Engineering book, but a brief perusal of the contents indicated as much attention was to be paid to disastrous failures of engineers as there was to success. Sammy wanted something more enlightening than simple trial and error. Briefly he touched the spine of a book on Art. His fingers tingled with delight. He trembled and almost chose the volume before deciding he needed words, not images to quench his thirst. On he went past Mathematics and Psychology, not comprehending why the two were side by side. He barely paused at a Particle Physics book, never understanding how quarks and muons and ever smaller "stuff" could ever answer his big questions. He paused at the biggest volume, an ever expanding treatise simply called History. His pa had always taught him to learn from his mistakes. But here the contents listed battle after battle, human suffering and misery blind to the suffering and misery of generations past. Was merely documenting this really learning?

Finally, Sammy found the book. Smaller, far less ostentatious than all the others. Its title had stopped him in his tracks - a word he had never heard uttered before. Agnotology. The complete title closed the deal: Agnotology: A Complete Users Guide To Ignorance In All Its Myriad Forms, by Ein Onating.

From the far end of the stack of books, the librarian poked his creased and worn head around the corner. A satisfied smile gently cracked across his lips.

"He's got it," he whispered, before disappearing in a cloud of dust.

Sammy sat down with the book on ignorance, his mouth open just a crack in awe of what he was about to do. Now he would truly discover all that he didn't know. And only then could he set off on his journey of discovery. Sammy turned to the first page and began to read.

– James Danckert, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo

I’ve had the wonderful opportunity over the last two years to audit courses here at UW. They have been in very different disciplines (last winter Cognitive Psychology and this term Contemporary Art) but always as I sit in the lecture hall take notes, listen and learn I feel like there are windows opening up in my head. I know that I am experiencing these classes very differently from the young people around me, as there are at least three decades of life experience between me and them, but the chance to see things in a different way and to understand things that I only had a peripheral knowledge of before has been remarkable. So what book would I choose? Sorry, I can’t, there are too many fabulous things to know more about in this world, and the learning and knowledge of them can open our cerebral windows at any age. – Jane Holbrook, University of Waterloo

I would ask the librarian to fetch me a book from one of the far corners of the library, probably on the bottom shelf. I have no idea why they put it so far out of reach, but would love to read it and learn. The book's title is "The Key to Mind and Soul"; the author is Some Guy. I have heard lots about that book. It apparently details all you need to know to understand better the people who you meet and get to know. Learning from that book, which by the way is written in a number of languages and draws on a variety of cultural contexts, you will have the key to grasp what they are trying to do when you observe them doing it. You can see the problems they are trying to solve, get an idea of the hurdles they are attempting to overcome, and understand their joy and frustration. If I had that book and learned, I would understand individual students better and could help them solve problems, jump over hurdles and share their joy and mitigate their frustration without any guesswork. Wouldn't that be a neat ability for a prof? – Mat Schulze, Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, University of Waterloo

At first I wanted the “book of books” so I could have every answer to all of my kids’ questions! Then I thought better of that since I think it’s better if they find their own answers (but also because they’d talk my ears off even more!). So what I’d really like a book about at this point in my life is about gardening. I have almost no time for hobbies, but I do try to do occasional gardening. The trouble is that I lack knowledge about plants – What’s a plant vs a weed? How do I best nourish their growth? How often should I divide them? At what time of the year? How do I have blooms to enjoy during the entire growing season? I have endless questions about this hobby and would love to “just know” about this vast topic area so I could spend my time gardening rather than reading about how to do it well. – Donna Ellis, University of Waterloo

If I received the opportunity to select a book containing all knowledge of one subject, I would choose the one about dreams. First of all, the subject of dreams is unascertained. Although oneirology (the study of dreams) exists, little authenticated information and few facts have been discovered. Dreams are amazing and mysterious things that even science cannot entirely explain. I would want to choose a book from this “special” library that doesn’t already exist in an ordinary one. Secondly, some people believe that the content and purpose of dreams hold secrets. The knowledge of human behaviours and emotions may lie in dreams, so learning about them could improve our way of understanding the way people deal with situations in their lives. Also, dreams might even be able to tell us what makes us who we are. Thirdly, another way dreams might be able to help us is by telling the future. People have searched for methods to predict events and paths that one’s life may take. Dreams could be the key to the long-sought ability of fortune telling. Lastly, a book all about dreams could lead us to new discoveries, inventions and ideas. In one night we don’t remember around 95% of our dreams. Those forgotten could be useful ideas or thoughts. The book would tell us ways to remember every one of our dreams. The “Twilight” series came from a dream that the author had, so it has already been proved that amazing ideas can come from our dreams. It’s only a matter of remembering them. If our brains’ thoughts are powerful while we’re conscious, why can’t they be powerful when we’re sleeping? In conclusion, having all the knowledge of dreams in a book would be my choice of reading because they could hold potential in transforming and improving the lives of us as individual and as a society.

– Kiana Ward, Grade 9, Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute

We've tried to include below as many of the entries to this category as possible because they are great to read alongside each other. Collectively they give a snapshot of the concerns, interests, and dreams of youth in the year 2012.

People around the world now a days are well identified with some diseases that has no hope for the cure. Living your life to the fullest, happy and the right way is all people's right. Having such a harsh and unexpected ending from a disease is something really common and unexpected around people. If I was to choose a book from this magic library, my choice would be the book that has cure for AIDS. Mothers and fathers have lost their beloved sons and daughters, husbands have lost their wives and wives have lost their husbands, just because of an obscene disease called AIDS. Enough of loosing your beloved ones. I want to find a cure for this disease. I want to end this disease, so that none of the families will ever have to worry and be sacred that their sons or daughters will get AIDS. Statistics shows that 1.8 million people in year 2010 have dies of AIDS and 34 million people in year 2011 is diagnosed with AIDS. Why all these deaths because of a disease? In Canada in year 2009 there have been 2,417 deaths, where 1,759 of them are adult males and 609 of them are adult females. There have been 224 people diagnosed with AIDS in year 2009, among these people there are 181 adult males and 42 adult females. All these shows that AIDS has spread out so much around people of the world, and is increasing. I want to find a way to save all people who are diagnosed with AIDS and have the ability to put a stop sign for AIDS. By having the knowledge and knowing that what exactly needs to be done, I would be able to save my people. It can be with an ordinary pill or it can be with a very big operation. I chose this book because our doctors have been trying to find a way to prevent from AIDS and have not been successful. I want to use this opportunity and serve my duty as human being. People live their lives and are having a happy and peaceful time with their families and all of a sudden AIDS kicks in and ruins their small happy and together life. There might be a family with single mom, where the mom is the breadwinner of the family, and has two small kids. If the mother gets diagnosed with this disease then what would happen to the poor kids after they loose their mother? Have we ever thought about this? I am pretty sure we all are so busy and involved in our own lives that we never have time to think about the kids that at very young age have lost their parents, their supporters and their loved ones. I want to be able to serve my nation, and save them and their families from getting apart because of AIDS. When I think about those people who have lost their family members because of AIDS it really makes me angry that why till now we don't have a cure for AIDS? It is a global issue that has left everyone wondering and scared. It needs to be stopped and take care of. If it carries on, the aftermath won't be very good. It is a disease that can infect others too. If one partner has AIDS there can be a high risk of infecting the other partner. I will choose this book just to do a very honourable favour to the nation worldwide. With this book I will be able to put a stop sign in front of a disease where all the doctors and scientist have tried but have failed. At last, people should understand that they have a severe responsibility towards the society they live and the country they live. I will be proud of myself for serving the people. AIDS is a very dangerous and harsh disease that separates people from their loved ones. If I am getting this golden chance and I think this is the best way to use it. With all these deaths and diagnosed people where they have no hope, I want to bring hope for them and cure their pains. Their should be someone to bring an end to AIDS. If this magic book is going to give the solution to cure AIDS then that is my choice first and last. -- Farah Khaliqi

If I were ever to find a book that gave me the unlimited knowledge about that one thing, I would like to find a book about teen pregnancy. The reason why I chose teen pregnancy is because my sister is now pregnant, she got pregnant at the age of 17 and is now 18.Her due date is February 16th 2012,and she complains a lot but I don’t know how it feel so I can’t and don’t say anything .Some of the things I would be curious on finding out is what type of medicine/vitamins, needles(B12),growing stages ,how to determine whether it’s a boy or a girl, what to eat and what not to eat, how to get rid of stretch marks, and how to ease the pain. My sister has a very supportive family which in most cases other teens don’t. Sometimes whether me and my sister go to the mall or just for short walks she always has to take a break (sit).Compared to other women my sisters belly is small but why? I want to know whether it’s healthier to breastfeed or to use formula. At the moment in my eyes my sister’s baby is very spoiled and she is not even out yet, but my mom says it’s still not enough. I’m also curious to know why people put their own kids up for adoption or even the thought of someone wanting to have an abortion is sickening. I really want to know some of the job these mothers have because I know my sister doesn’t have one. Are these women still with the baby’s father or are they single mothers? I think if there were a book like this then it would really help a lot of teen mothers. -- Rushelle

If I received the opportunity to select a book containing all knowledge of one subject, I would choose the one about dreams. First of all, the subject of dreams is unascertained. Although oneirology (the study of dreams) exists, little authenticated information and few facts have been discovered. Dreams are amazing and mysterious things that even science cannot entirely explain. I would want to choose a book from this “special” library that doesn’t already exist in an ordinary one. Secondly, some people believe that the content and purpose of dreams hold secrets. The knowledge of human behaviours and emotions may lie in dreams, so learning about them could improve our way of understanding the way people deal with situations in their lives. Also, dreams might even be able to tell us what makes us who we are. Thirdly, another way dreams might be able to help us is by telling the future. People have searched for methods to predict events and paths that one’s life may take. Dreams could be the key to the long-sought ability of fortune telling. Lastly, a book all about dreams could lead us to new discoveries, inventions and ideas. In one night we don’t remember around 95% of our dreams. Those forgotten could be useful ideas or thoughts. The book would tell us ways to remember every one of our dreams. The “Twilight” series came from a dream that the author had, so it has already been proved that amazing ideas can come from our dreams. It’s only a matter of remembering them. If our brains’ thoughts are powerful while we’re conscious, why can’t they be powerful when we’re sleeping? In conclusion, having all the knowledge of dreams in a book would be my choice of reading because they could hold potential in transforming and improving the lives of us as individual and as a society. – Kiana Ward

The door creaked open with a wail usually reserved for Nancy Drew’s mysteries; almost a warning. Alarmed, I looked around me but then I cursed my weakness, turned back…and stopped dead in my tracks. In front of me was the most beautiful sight! Row upon row of books! Huge, old, leather bound volumes, standing straight backed, one against the other on their mahogany shelves, these were real books! Unlike those plastic coated paperbacks they try to disguise as books at the WPL. Among the tomes a lady walked, nose deep in a book. It was easy to see that this was no ordinary reader, this was…a librarian! She spoke as though in a dream, probably because she was still half in her book, “You have found the Secret Library and as a reward you may take out one book only, choose wisely. Three weeks is the lending time, I hope you find the knowledge that you seek.” Mystified, I walked through the dimly lit rows. Only one book? I can take four at a time from the school library! I cautiously picked up a book and immediately felt a rush of excitement. For this was no book. It was a literary masterpiece! The inside, though, was what I found more interesting. I pulled out book after book, and glanced at the title before carefully nestling each book back in its home. Book of Smiles, Gumballs, Houdini, Curtains, Puppies, you name it! Realising what this meant, I gasped and almost dropped a book. Now what could make me drop one of these novel novels? The realisation that if you read one of these books, you would know everything there is to know about a topic, and I got to keep one for three whole weeks! What should I take? After some careful deliberation, I knew. And there it was in my hands. The chosen book. I checked out and hurried home to crack open my new book. Surely the most precious thing I’d ever held, this book was not just bound, it was swathed in shadows with the inscription of light breaking the darkness. I didn’t leave my room for three weeks as I read and read. I’d done it. I knew everything there ever was to know about a topic. At the end of those three weeks, the book disappeared into the shadows from which it was made. I never found out where it went but I did find out the answers to a bunch of other mysteries. That’s right; the book I took out was called The Book of Mysteries, how to solve them and answers to the biggest mysteries of the ages, like the Bermuda triangle and the Loch Ness monster. And though I had solved these mysteries, there was one mystery that, even with all the knowledge in the world, I don’t think could be unravelled. -- Katarina Kuhnert

I couldn't sleep that night something was bugging me. Why is there poverty? Why are some people rich while others are dirt poor? It's not fair that some people have to live that way! The questions just kept coming. My mind was racing. But anyways I'm just 11, I can't solve poverty and it doesn't matter no one can solve poverty just forget it. Who cares about poverty I just need to get to sleep! Finally it's Saturday the day I do my neighborhood walk. As I passed downtown I noticed an abandonned building. I decided to check the place out. After walking ten feet in I noticed that it was an old library. There had to be millions of books in there. That's when I realized it was probably a secret library! I was getting excited! Moments later I discovered that this was no ordinary library. But it had a book on every subject from how to tie your shoes to how to become a professional hockey player. There were books on how to cure cancer and how to make a sandwich. Just then a mysterious librarian came out from nowhere and said you may only ever take out one book. I was shocked how could I ever choose. In one book it had all the answers to cancer how would I ever choose one book! Maybe I will choose a book about how to become a famous singer then I will be rich! Or should I choose a book on how to stop theft or bullying? Suddenly I remembered last night this was my chance to fix world poverty or become rich. I wanted to be rich but I knew that the right thing to do was to take out the book on poverty or something helpful. Alright I'll choose something helpful but what? If I choose the book on poverty I guess that would make a big impact in the world. That would also mean people would not have to go through starvation or live in horrible conditions! That would give so many people a chance to start new and maybe have a successful life! It took me a long time to choose I had to consider so many options. But in the end I chose to end poverty for good! When I told the librian my choice she said as soon as you open that book you will instantly know the solution to poverty. I couldn't wait to open the book and tell my friends about the library. They would be upset about my choice but that's okay everyone should be able to come home to a nice dinner and bed. We all should have education provided, food, access to medicine and doctors. I am happy with this choice. It will change a lot of people's lives and their outlook on life. I guess I can make a difference in the world afterall! -- Kirsten Lehotsky

The book I chose was “Demons, Angels, Human Evolution, and Religion”. With this acquired knowledge I could determine how we got here, whether it be by God, or just nature taking its course, and our connection to the “spirit world” and the Paranormal. I would also be able to develop a theory of what happens after we die, do we go to heaven? Hell? Just lay in the ground forever? Do we come back as something else and not remember our past life? Or do we come back and haunt houses, buildings and people? With the knowledge inside this book I could answer all of these questions for myself and others. All the keys of fulfilling a peaceful and humble life are in this book. Every element of every religion that is peaceful and settling. Altogether to make a religion much more peace driven, an end to all wars, and every human being living together as one, just like John Lennon talks about in “Imagine” or what Gandhi was trying to teach everyone so that we could be something never before seen in history, a perfect society. A much less stressful way of living and everyone being constantly at peace with one’s self and the others around them without being judged or judging is only a brand new beginning for mankind. – Jordan Wildman

Have you ever wanted to walk into a library and pick a book that would give you all the knowledge you need for a certain topic? If I could choose a book that would give me all the knowledge about a certain topic I would choose one on cancer. This book will explain every type of cancer possible in the world. It will explain the cause, the symptoms and also the treatment that can be taken to cure the cancer. The reason why I would choose this book is because cancer affects a lot of people around the world but specifically people’s loved ones. It has happened to people in my family and it’s heartbreaking. I could never imagine being told my life expectancy or that there’s no cure to a sickness. It’s just not fair. By gaining all the knowledge about this topic maybe I would be able to understand this topic a little better and why it happens to people, I don’t want to be told that someone close to me has this type of cancer and then think to myself: why? There has got to be an answer to all these problems no matter how big or small the type of cancer may be. No one deserves to lose their life to this horrible disease. -- Kelsey Ellis

If I found a secret library and could choose any book to read and effortlessly learn about, it would be the book to cure cancer. The reason behind my choice is because it creates so much conflict and pain in not only the family, but the one diagnosed. The person thinks “What if I don’t make it? What if one day, all of this chemo and radiation stops working? What will my family do?” Someone in my family passed away two years ago from cancer, and I remember her asking me all of those questions. The book would talk about how long it would take for the medicine to start working, and how long you would have to take the medicine. For more severe cases, it would talk about how long the recovery (if needed) for surgery. For instance, if you had bone cancer in your leg, all they would do is open you up and cover your bone with a medicated gel. If that was the case, there would be a certain day every year to check and see if you still have some of the cancer cells. Another way you could cure the cancer would be getting a needle that is strong enough to go through your skin and bone and inject the medicine in you, killing the cancer cells. I would want to change the way of cancer treatment because when you go through chemo or radiation you feel sick and also very tired. After you have done the surgery (from the book) your leg (or wherever the cancer might’ve been) wouldn’t be in as much pain as it was when the cancer cells were there. In conclusion, the book would talk about all the different methods of curing cancer. -- Andreea Zaharia

If I could pick any one book from that library, I’d want a book with all the knowledge of genetics. I f I knew everything about genes, I would know how cancer forms, and how our immune system defends the body, along with much more. Once known, we could develop completely new ways to cure diseases like allergies, and asthma, plus we’d know how to ward off diseases like cholera, and malaria. Also, we could do things that would have been thought impossible, like making retinal cells for those who can’t see, and return hearing to the deaf. It could change the life of those living with poor health and low sanitation levels. Then, the world would be more prepared to take on larger tasks, like preventing further global warming, and preserving wildlife. Because when someone is unhealthy morally and physically, they may turn to unimaginable choices to survive, like poaching. If they had a good life, they wouldn’t need to use such measures. Maybe people would begin to realize that they CAN, live life at its fullest. We could grant certain people the wish that they dreamed to have, but never touched. We could bring a certain level of happiness, so it would be easier to spread the true message of happiness and peace. It would benefit us to know these things. This is my wish, and I hope to spread it to you, too. – Emily Yu

With all the knowledge spewing out of the pages of the lonely leather bound books; it’s difficult to choose one single book and take in all the knowledge that it has to offer. With so many topics available and only the choice of one, many would probably have chosen books that offer knowledge about something that would create a great amount of uprising in the world. I would choose something more personal, something that I have been researching about and would have liked to learn more so that I can take a stand and help those who need it. Therefore, I would choose sexual abuse. I believe that it’s very difficult for people to reach out, and grab those life-lines people are throwing at them. When we were young, our parents helped us learn how to walk, which lead us to learn how to get places on our own. We learned how to talk, so that we could speak for ourselves. We learned to do things by ourselves, so when people start shoving hands in our faces to help us up, what are we going to do? We learned to fend for ourselves, so we try and get back up on our own. When we fall back again, we’re probably at rock bottom and many of those hands have disappeared, but we know that we need all the help we can get to get ourselves back up again. So we take the hands that are left, and hoist ourselves up. That’s what it’s like trying to tell someone you are being sexually abused. You just can’t seem to get back up on your feet and breathe once again. But when you finally do, you start to feel sorry for the other people stuck in abuse. So, you need to learn and reach out again, tell people about this person and get help. Sometimes, you will need to get help for yourself, so that you won’t fall into the trap again. But you would need to get help for the person who abuses others; they need to learn that it’s not right and that there are other ways to get past whatever is causing them to act the way they do. If I gained proper knowledge on sexual abuse I would, first of all, be exceptionally overwhelmed by the knowledge and responsibility I have gained. But, after going past the point of shock and everything else that will come with this knowledge I would go forth into the world with a purpose. I would strive to help at least one person going through sexual abuse, every day. It’s not fair that people suffer through abuse alone. Everyone needs that helping hand that will reach for you, no matter how deep you are. We all need help; we just need to learn how to accept it. If I was able to gain knowledge about one topic… it would be sexual abuse. Because no one deserves to go through it alone. -- Madina Mahmutova

What’s that you’re asking? A library? Full of books? Any topic in the whole world? Each book containing all knowledge about that one subject? Which book would I choose? Ha, that’s easy. What’s a more intriguing topic than myself? – My prowess, exquisite, perfect self. That book’s spine would be bursting from all of the pages upon pages of glorious information the book would hold. But of course, this book wouldn’t be borrowed for my own sake. Duh, I already know everything there is to know about myself. My plan is that I’d borrow it from the library, maybe skim through it once just to feel extra good about mine and my life’s complete perfection, but then show it to everyone in my life who tries to tell me that I’m actually not perfect, and I never will be because nobody is. Instead of praising this perfection of mine, they stubbornly state that I’m snooty, full of myself and that I was probably a unicorn in my former life with a horn that was screwed on too tight. These people don’t know anything. If I could make them read this book containing every piece of knowledge there is to know about me, they’d understand that I really am a talented and perfect human being. Most of them being my friends and family, you’d think they would already know everything about me, but most of the prodigious adventures and achievements I tell them about are what they think are lies. All of these people trust that books are always right and one hundred percent accurate whether you’re willing to believe the facts or not, so if I can show them this one, they have to face the fact that I actually did slay a dragon and launch a super spaceship out of the Milky Way, resulting in the discovery of an unknown galaxy and a whole population of purple aliens that communicate telepathically in Pig Latin. This book would also force them to come to the conclusion that I’m not snooty or full of myself with a horn that was once screwed on too tight, because the book will clearly mention that instead, I am prowess, exquisite and absolutely perfect. And if the book says it, then the information must be one hundred percent accurate whether they’re willing to believe it or not, right? – Jessa Braun

If I had to choose a book that could teach tech me every thing I need to know about a topic the book I would choose would be the book about the aging of life. I would want to learn about this because it always makes me sad when people close to me or people I am told about die. Also it makes me sad whenever a pet animal dies because of aging. This book would allow me to know how to make people and their pets live forever and defy aging. Then I would not have to worry about the people close to me passing away. It would allow amazing geniuses to continue their work and not have to worry about dieing with their work unfinished. This would allow the world to progress technology at a faster rate which could increase to quality of life for everyone on earth and that will allow everyone on earth to live a happier life. Also when you have a lot of geniuses working on technology then you would be able to gain the knowledge sooner to make renewable resources so that countries do not have to fight over the resources and land to put it one. Steven Hawking would be able to continue his work, think of all of the things he can discover. We could also achieve anything else in the library of knowledge if everyone was immortal then the world would be an amazing place because if people had enough time they can catch all of the criminals that are out there and then there is no crime in the world then that would mean that everyone in the world is safe. Then this would help the entire world. This would also help me personally because I am always worried that the people close to me could I would and If I do not have to worry about it then I can do better in my classes and do my homework at a higher quality level when I am not worrying about my family. So in summery if I could choose a book about anything I would pick a book would tell me everything I need to know about aging to stop people from dieing from aging. – Nicholas Cormier

If I could pull any book off I would pick a book called “How to Read Minds.” I would pick this book because I always wanted to know what animals thought about. Another reason I would like to know is what do humans think about “x”. What teachers think of students, and what people think of others. One of the things I would mostly like to find out is what other people think of me. But the main reason I would like to find out is what animals think of us as humans, I would like to find this out because if someone had a pet they would like to know what they think about all day. Also I would like to know what animals think about ex. How we treat the animals and what they to do during the whole day. – Will Gomes

Have you ever wanted to walk into a library and pick a book that would give you all the knowledge you need for a certain topic? If I could choose a book that would give me all the knowledge about a certain topic I would choose one on cancer. This book will explain every type of cancer possible in the world. It will explain the cause, the symptoms and also the treatment that can be taken to cure the cancer. The reason why I would choose this book is because cancer affects a lot of people around the world but specifically people’s loved ones. It has happened to people in my family and it’s heartbreaking. I could never imagine being told my life expectancy or that there’s no cure to a sickness. It’s just not fair. By gaining all the knowledge about this topic maybe I would be able to understand this topic a little better and why it happens to people, I don’t want to be told that someone close to me has this type of cancer and then think to myself: why? There has got to be an answer to all these problems no matter how big or small the type of cancer may be. No one deserves to lose their life to this horrible disease. -- Kelsey Ellis

If I could have any book in the whole world I would choose a book on how to cure cancer. I would like to know how to cure cancer because it is a terrible disease, and so many unfortunate people die daily, and annually. In this book it would tell the reader exactly how to cure cancer, the steps and procedures it would take, and the precautions needed to be taken. I picked this topic for many reasons, it is close to my heart because I have lost family members from it, and because I don’t think it is fair that so many people’s lives are affected by this disease. I lost my Opa to cancer, he passed away when I was about two years old. I don’t really remember him, or know him, so if there was a cure for cancer, then I would have been able to know him and have lots of memories with him. My Oma had cancer as well, but she did not die from it. She had skin cancer, and she had many painful surgeries to get rid of it. Way before I was born, my grandpa had cancer in his bladder. He was very sick around the time my mom and dad were getting married. Thankfully he is still alive today, but sadly he had to get part of his bladder removed so that it didn’t spread throughout the rest of his fragile body. A family member had stomach cancer, it caused her stomach to get really swollen and it grew three times the regular size of it. She passed away a few months ago. Since a lot of people that are close to me have passed away from cancer, and everywhere around the world people’s loved ones are dying, I think it would be fantastic to know how to cure cancer. I cannot imagine being told that I have cancer, or that my mom or dad has cancer, but this may become a reality if there is no cure. It is not fair for someone to be told that they may not live another year. Finding a cure for cancer would save millions of people’s lives and benefit us all. – Christina Veltkamp

Imagine that you could know what was going to happen before it happened. That you could determine what the reaction would be if you were to do something wrong, that you could know almost immediately who to look out for before you associated with them. It seems like a superpower but really, it’s not. It is just the simple act of observing patterns in human behaviour. The power of knowing how people work mentally and emotionally can be beneficial in so many ways. Humans are creatures of habit, once you can learn those habits you can easily deduce what their next move may be. From learning how to read people, one learns the situations to avoid. For example, have you ever been in a situation where you have mistakenly associated with someone prone to chronic lying and manipulative behaviour, someone that proves to be untrustworthy? Perhaps after a while of dealing with the problems that person brings to your life, you end the relationship, you think you have learned your lesson. After you sever the ties, inevitably you meet new people and forget about what trouble that person has caused. This is where knowing the patterns of human behaviour become important. Almost all actions when dealing with people come with a set of personality traits, symptoms. In this case, most chronic liars show that they are attention seeking, prone to addiction or habit and often come from an environment where they feel unsafe and lack security. They may resort to ‘one-upping’ people and are often narcissistic or sociopathic. Of course, these are extremes, but even occasional liars and manipulators show these signs. If you have the ability to see this in one person, you have a much better chance of never letting it happen again with others. Knowing human behavioural patterns is not only beneficial of personal life, but also in school, and work. By understanding how humans act in a work environment, you can maintain a semblance of control without actually controlling anything. Knowing what kind of person your boss is prepares you for other employers with similar traits in the future, when working on school projects; you can determine what people would make up a good team. Therefore you can easily adapt to new environments and people and save time by picking up on what has already been done before, becoming more independent in the process. Human behavioural patterns are something that won’t change easily. Humans as a species are highly instinctual and patterns occur whether we see them or not, which is why it is so important we do. The possibilities for having this knowledge are endless, giving the ability to manipulate situations to your advantage, have a further understanding of a variety of subjects and save time and effort on otherwise unpleasant situations and personalities. If given access to a room with books on any subject in the world, with all the power to learn it instantly, why not choose human behavioural patterns? If that book were chosen, if that knowledge were to be shared, The world would be a much better place. – Summer Mitterer

“FIFA estimated that at the turn of the 21st century there were approximately 250 million soccer players and over 1.3 billion people interested in soccer.” This statistics shows how much people are interested in soccer and how great of a sport it is. If I could receive the knowledge and skill of anything in the world from a book, the book would be on soccer. Personally, I think that soccer is just awesome to play and watch; I love the feeling I have when I am playing. With all the skills for the sport that I would get, I would try to become the best in the world. With all the knowledge of the sport, I would teach it to others. It would be dreams come true for me if I were to become a soccer player for my favourite team, Real Madrid. In many parts of the world, soccer is more than just a sport. It is a way of life. Soccer fanatics live off soccer and live for soccer. Many soccer players in third world countries and other countries depend on soccer; it is all that they have. When I went to El Salvador, my cousins and some of their friends were on the local soccer team. Many of them are relying on the sport, because they have nothing else to rely on for food, and it also keeps them out of the streets. With the skill and knowledge I would have from the book. I would be able to teach soccer players in third world countries about the sport. Their skills would improve and they would have a real good chance of playing for bigger soccer teams. Also soccer could allow them to support their own needs and the needs of other. Soccer, in many parts of the world is played for the fun of the beautiful game. With all the knowledge and skills of soccer I would love to become a coach of a soccer teams and teach the players new skills. This would bring great pleasure to me. With all the recognition I would get from being a coach, I would use most of my money for donations towards creating soccer fields all around the third world countries. With all these fields many children and teens around the world would get the chance to play and enjoy the sport. Having all the skill and knowledge of soccer would be awesome. My life would benefit greatly from helping other in their lives. – Gerson Contreras

Think of your favourite song – how it makes you feel, what it makes you think of, and anything else that for you is connected to it. The power music has over your mind, both conscious and subconscious, is quite incredible. Now imagine the control one could have with the knowledge of how different music affects the subconscious mind. One could, in fact – possibly with limitations – control another person. I have a strong love of music, and therefore I study it, listen to it, and create it as much as possible. Certain music is connected to each person in different ways, but there are some ways that specific music connects to the majority of the world. For example, a piece of music in a major key is automatically related to happiness, while music in a minor key is related to sadness and depression. Fast paced music often evokes somewhat of an adrenaline rush, while music with a slower tempo does the opposite. Also, if a person were to be doing something when a song was playing, the emotions connected with whatever had been going on at the time will often latch on to the song, and hearing the song even years later can evoke the same emotions felt in the past. It is amazing what music can do to the mind. My main reason for wanting to know how music is connected to the mind is because of my family. There are many issues between my brother, father, mother, and I. I believe that music can help my family by calming nerves, encouraging patience and happiness, and so on. If I knew all the exact ways music relates to the brain it would benefit my family (and others’ for that matter) a great deal by avoiding much conflict and inviting peace and joy, not to mention love. A joyous, loving, pleasant family is what I want most in my life. That is why, with a chance of receiving any specific knowledge with simplicity, and of my own choice, it would be the knowledge of how music can control the subconscious mind. – Hannah Clifton

We received so many entries to the "grades 1 to 8" category that I think next year we'll split it into two categories: one for grades 1 to 5, and one for grades 6 to 8. Additionally, it's hard to compare a great entry from a grade 1 student with a great entry from a grade 8 student. So, this year, we will name several winners in this category, to better represent the number of entries received and the age range within it. All of them will receive a book prize!

I would like to learn everything about cakes. I want to know how to make a cake for a birthday. I would make a cake for my brother’s birthday. It would look like a John Deere tractor. With the knowledge, I would open a store called “Cake Boss.” We would make lots of different kinds of cakes. I would sell hot chocolate because if it’s cold, people might want to go to Cake Boss and buy some hot chocolate. It would be all decorated with a star. I would eat all the cake because I would be hungry. I would eat chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, banana, and mint cake. It would be very fun when I make the cakes.

– Alex Jantzi, Grade 3, Ayr Public School

"What is this place?" I wondered. The high arched ceilings, the delicate, old wood furniture and all the books. Not just one or two shelves but rows on rows on rows of bookshelves, some over 8 feet tall. There must have been thousands of books in here! "That's it!, I got it! It's a library! " But these just weren't ordinary kids books, these were huge books, probably hundreds of pages long. But the strange part was there were no fiction books ,all non-fiction, informational books. As I walked past I noticed titles like "The Civil War","The Life of Albert Einstein" and some more bizarre titles like "The History of House Plants". These books weren't new either , they were all coated in a thick layer of dust which made me wonder............. "How old is this place?" I asked out loud. "Over 300 years!" said a strange voice that made me jump. "W...W...Who said that?" I stammered "Why I did!" said the voice. I walked around the corner and saw the source of the voice. He was a short bald man, no taller than 4 foot 8. he had a short orange beard and was wearing a green poncho and a green sombrero. In a way he reminded me of a Mexican leprechaun. "Who are you ?" I asked. "I am Jose, the librarian here!" he replied. "What is this place?" I asked. "This.........Is the secret library!" he said. "Well why is it here?" I questioned him. "Anyone who is skilled enough to find this place is granted the possibility to know everything about one topic, all you have to do is choose the book with the topic you want to know everything about and you will be granted all the knowledge in the book" Jose explained. "So which book will you choose?" he asked. " Now Jose, I know I might sound lame but I don't want to choose a book." I said. "But why not?" Jose said. "Well because if I knew everything about a subject then I wouldn't get to do all the fun stuff and activities learning about that topic."I said. "You don't know what you're missing!" Jose yelled as I walked away. – Thomas Dunbar, Grade 6, Area Enrichment Class at Northlake Woods Public School

If I had to make a decision between millions of books (I love books) packed with endless knowledge, I would choose the one written about how to live truly happy. When I refer to happy I mean spiritually, mentally, physically and socially. Popularity, intelligence and athleticism are qualities that I have no need for; in fact no one does. Over time, we humans have invented a way of artificially satisfying ourselves with these and our fancy gadgets. How can we achieve a positive, optimistic, energy that lasts long enough and is strong enough to overcome these and many other obstacles in our lives? I know the secret to this is probably right in front of me, like everything else is, but I just can’t see it. Sometimes I get a little taste of it, but, just like free samples at M&M’s, the sensation does not last forever. I want to be one with the great spirit behind life, that some of us call God, and his glorious creation. I desire for my mind to be at rest and to accept all the challenges and I face. I crave for my body to be happy and healthy. I wish to have many friends and family to share the life I was given with. By turning the pages of this book, I hope to unlock doors leading to the secrets of true happiness.

-- Riley Bauman, Grade 7, Area Enrichment Class at Northlake Woods Public School

“This thing all things devours
birds, beasts, trees, flowers
gnaws on iron bites on steel
grinds hard stones to meal
slays kings ruins towns
beats high mountains down”

This is a riddle from The Hobbit, one of my favorite books. Time is a mysterious force with unknown origins . The power to control this force would change lives. Just understanding it would be the greatest find of the century. Imagine if we could go back in time and teach others what we know today. We could stop the plague or the sinking of the Titanic or even 911. All of these things have damaged large portions of human life and are regarded as some of the greatest disasters of all time. We could even stop people from aging by creating time shields that for a small radius would stay in one time. The possibilities are endless. If I made a mistake I could just go back in time and fix it. If I got a bad mark on a test I could go back and study. If I broke my arm, go back and it never broke. Time controls and manipulates us so the power to control it would be spectacular. One other reason people fear time is because no one understands it. It is the fear of the unknown, an undiscovered phenomenon, that controls the fabrics of our universe. Theories range from a central time line that controls all of the others, to time just replaying itself over and over. Time is a force so powerful it could destroy the earth instantly - a force that I would choose if the opportunity of a lifetime was presented to me. It could not only help me but it could change the world forever. All I have left to say is my favorite quote by Dion Bouacicault: “Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.”

-- TJ Arsenault, Grade 8, Northlake Woods Public School

The shelves of books lined the room, they stretched through the center, books piled in all directions. The books were thick, thin, paperback, and hard cover. They were leather bound, rugged, old and new. And all that was visible was before I stepped in the door. When I did step through, the amount of books I assumed were there tripled, well, what did I expect, this was the biggest library around. I quickly flipped through a thin paperback and glanced at the title. A Tale of Two Ci...I didn't read further and started to browse thoughtfully through the shelves. "Need help dearie?" A spidery old lady peered out from behind a towering pile of books, "Anything you want me to find?" I smiled politely and shook my head as I turned around to continue browsing. There was just more and more books as far as my eye could see, but one caught my eye. It had a yellow jacket with red and blue lettering, spelling out The Key to Happiness. The book seemed to generate wisdom and power just from the simple paper pages. I tucked it under my arm, and sat down at the nearest seat in between the Children's books and Atlas sections. When I cracked open the cover, out of nowhere the librarian appeared. "All the information in this book will be instantly be transferred to your brain. The knowledge is yours once you begin to read...choose carefully." She announced. Then she bent down to talk to a young child about where the Dr. Seuss books are found. I knew which one I'd read. The one sitting in my palms...my palms that began to sweat, because do I really want all this knowledge? But it was on HAPPINESS, so I'm sure it would be great. If you had the knowledge on happiness to people, you could prevent so many things in your life from happening. Any break-ups, arguments, problems, or war could all be stopped, if you knew the right thing to say to make everything okay again. You could prevent all bad things from happening, or problems from starting. You could fix everything if you just said something. I remembered whenever any of my friends were mad at me...I would just say something and we would all laugh and be happy. Or when my brother is fighting with me...I do something that will sprout happiness between us...no problems. And if someone was sad... like depressingly sad, heart wrenching sobs sort of sad...it would be all fine in a gesture, a word, a touch. Or even just the sort of sniffling sad, watery eye sadness, it would be fine too. Imagine if I had the power to stop all that. Heal sadness. Prevent sadness. Stop anger. Could happiness do ALL that? If it could then...then...could we do all that? What a better place the world would be with no fighting!!! No sadness!!! Everyone giddy and excited, perfectly and happily communicating with others around them for the rest of their life?! Just from the key to spreading happiness. It would be amazing! Happiness is definitely important in peoples lives, and if I knew how to make people happy then everyone I knew could be happy all the time. If they spread it, and they spread it, and they spread it, then the world would be a much better place. It was all up to me. I cracked open the book again and started to read.

– Meredith Watson, Grade 7, Area Enrichment Class at Northlake Woods Public School

We've included below as many of the of entries to this category as possible, because they are great to read alongside each other. Collectively they give a snapshot of the concerns, interests, and dreams of children in the year 2012.

I would choose a book about how to be an alien. Do you know why? So I could build little ships and fly into space! I want to fly into space so I can visit all the planets and visit Marvin the Martian and play with him. – Liam Ellis

What would you choose if you could learn everything about one subject? If I were faced with this situation, I would choose to learn about music composition, for many reasons. First, I play several instruments, so I would be able to write my own songs. This skill would make getting into a band immensely easy. I would be able to write amazing songs, and the music might become popular if it was written well. Another pro to choosing the skill of music composition is that I might be able to learn music more efficiently if I understood how the composer wrote it. This would greatly speed up my ability to play difficult pieces, such as guitar solos. If the lead guitarist in a band can play a solo, it makes the rest of the band look good as well, so money and fans could be gained faster. Also, as an alternate income, I could become a mixing DJ. With this skill, you would be able to find songs with similar beats to fade into each other for the crossfades. Like the band choice, being an excellent DJ could lead to a surplus of money, because the better a DJ is, the more gigs they will play, and the more money they will be paid. The final thing the I would be able to do with this skill, if none of the other career options above worked, is write music for a movie-producing or video game-developing company. With this career, you would be paid once per project, but hired again and again. You would never really be out of work, because new movies and games are always being created. This would probably be the most stable occupation, but when you look at how many other types of career come out of this, you see just how useful this skill could become. That is why I would choose the ability to become a great music composer. -- Jacob Lee

As I trudge up the steps of the soaring library, finally out of the torrential rain, I peer into the great halls full of books stuffed full of information. As I creep into the library, a gravely deep voice speaks, “Pick one, and only one. Be sure it is the right choice.” A key to the past, a way to discover what really happened when the world was created. To discover exactly what happened when the dinosaurs vanished. These things, we only have ideas about them, mere assumptions. Yet with this book, we could learn all of these things, and more. I search through the piles of dusty and ancient leather bound books. The topics and titles swirling in my head. I stop, staring at one book that catches my attention. It is labeled, “a Key to the Past.” I pick it up and start to read. As the words pour over me, I realize just how much we don’t know. If I were faced with this choice, I would choose a book about the history of the world. What we do and don’t already know. I find this topic intriguing because we could learn from our ancestors past mistakes and hopefully become better earth citizens. If this were a book, we could learn if the “Big Bang” theory is really true, learn of past cultures that have simply vanished . Anything you have ever wondered about the past, the answer would be right in your hands. Now would be your chance to grasp it and learn everything about anything, extinct or still alive. A key to the past, at last. I step back, dropping the book on the lavish marble floor. Did that really happen? Why? How? My mind is reeling. I don’t know what to think. As I gather my thoughts, I spin around to the sound of heavy footsteps. I hear a click and I freeze. There is a gun up to my head and a voice whispers, “you know too much, some things must remain a secret.” -- Emily Lant

I would like a book about the world. Because then I would know all about the world. The world is our home forever. The world is not just my home it for everyone. I love the world and my family. I would get to know all about pets. Of all of the things of earth the thing I would most like to know is people. People are good at a lot of stuff. They are very interesting. I would always know what I see, and some people would not know what they see. And I would do a lot of stuff right. My family would ask me a lot of stuff. I love the world. I love the world. – Rukhsana Cameron-Morton

Humans have come a long way since slavery ended and women were considered equals but we aren’t done. We never asked ourselves the question, are all beings who roam the earth being treated fairly? Most of you who have seen a lost dog on the streets haven’t even bothered with it; much less consider the story behind it, as if it was part of a daily scene. Is that really what you want? If I could read about one topic in out of all of all the topics in the world, I would choose a book on all the animals we’re abandoning without a thought. I would let the world know what is happening, what we should do to help. Saving these animals is just as important as saving a family member. But it isn’t just tossed away pets I’m talking about. It’s the animals that we are killing from our daily contribution to global warming. It’s the animals we are killing from our ruthless tree logging. It’s the animals we are killing for our warped sense of fun and greed for furs, and we have to do something about it, before we are alone on the earth. Animals do so much for us, and we should return that favour by helping out. Take strays to animal shelters, volunteer at animal shelters, and above all, tell people about this. Yes, my dream book is about the way we can help animals. Someday, this world will end, but we can make a difference and prolong it to the far, far future. – Nancy Huang

Every second of your life, something is happening. People are breathing, blinking, moving. Time never stands still and there is never a moment when nothing is happening. Events have been affecting you for your entire life, since the day you were born, but you can’t revisit or relive them. Some you can’t even remember. There is so much in life that we have missed or has flown by too quickly. If we had the power to go back in time, everything would change. which is why my book of choice would be one that would tell me how to travel through time. I would be terrified to travel to the future, so I’d make the best of traveling back in time. I would love to see myself when I was a baby and maybe even change some of the more unfortunate events in my past. Letting my sister cut earrings out of my ears with nail scissors and walking coyote path with her were not the best decisions and altering those would be a slightly better one. I would also love to see my all time favourite band, The Beatles, perform live. Another place that I would like to go is to see the first World Series that the Boston Red Sox won in 1918. Seeing all of the past would be the most amazing experience. Most people would want to see the future too, but I’m not sure if I could. What if I looked ahead and realized that I wouldn’t ever get married or have kids and pets like I want to? What if I looked ahead and saw that I lived in a world so unlike my own that I couldn’t even comprehend it? What if I looked and had no future, that the sun had burnt out or I had died? Being a perfectionist, my dream is that everything in the future is perfect. I would be terrified to look into what may not be everything that I hoped, but I’m sure I would anyways. Despite my hopes and fears about time travel, it would be the most incredible, mind blowing experience discovery ever. If I could experience it every day or even say that I was the person to first establish and understand time travel, everything would be different for me. All because of a secret library and one little book. -- Ollie Davitt

If I could enter a secret library filled with millions of books, which one would I choose you ask? I would pick a book all about Tsunamis because I have a personal experience with them. When I was 2 years old, my family and I went to India for a vacation. On the evening of Dec 25th, 2004, we went to Marina beach in Chennai, which is the second longest beach in the world. Since we had a great time playing at the beach, we decided to go back again the next day. The next morning around 8:30 a.m., we left for the beach. At 9:00 a.m. when we were approaching the beach, we saw people running away from the beach and screaming that the waves were coming after them! There was lots of confusion, traffic jams and chaos on the streets. My mom screamed and told our driver to turn the car around and hurry back home. We somehow managed to reach home safely. The next day we went to Marina beach to see the wreckage the Tsunami had caused. Everything was wrecked and all the shops and children’s rides along the beach had disappeared! We couldn’t believe that the sand where we played the previous day was completely washed away! The death toll around the world was roughly 250,000 with nearly 43,000 missing and many hundreds of thousands injured and suffering. I felt very sad for the people who lost their loved ones and their homes. Roads, bridges, water and electricity supplies, health centres and schools were destroyed. We experienced one of the deadliest natural disasters nature could give, the Indian Ocean Tsunami. Now I am 9 years old and I am looking back at the pictures we took in India. I am feeling very sad for the people who lost their lives but most of all I am grateful that our family escaped from the Indian Ocean Tsunami by just merely 10 hours. When I heard this story from my parents a few years ago, it got me wondering, what is a Tsunami? A Tsunami is most often triggered by undersea earthquakes that cause massive changes to the ocean floor. Tsunamis can also be caused by landslides, or even asteroid impacts. Most Tsunamis occur in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The boundary of the Pacific Ocean experiences frequent earthquakes. This boundary is known as the Ring of Fire. So in conclusion, I would pick a book about Tsunamis because I have personally been in the middle of the biggest one in the world and escaped from it as well! I also have seen the destruction they cause to structures, and the suffering they cause to humans. Tsunamis are a scary yet a very interesting subject to learn about. I would love to learn how and where they are formed and also learn how the people can be warned well in advance before Tsunami hits. – Shreya Krishnammagaru

Last Friday night I was at a party, I opened a door I was sucked in to an amazing room with beautiful architectural features it was what appeared to be a library! A mysterious shadow appeared in the mist “Choose one book. Any book you choose will give you unlimited knowledge on the subject you choose.” And the hooded figure vanished into the darkness. I wandered around and I tripped over an old dusty book, it had mysterious ancient printing on it and fortunately I studied it in school it was titled All World Secrets. Out of all of the possible topics why would she choose that one, as you may be thinking well let me explain. If it has ALL of the secrets of the world then it will have the cure of terrible diseases such as cancer! So, that will save millions if not billions of people from being taken by death! How amazing would that be? – Devon Cron

I once went to a secret library where I could only select one book that would teach me all about a subject. I chose the book called “The Secrets of Control” which had the knowledge to make people do what I wanted in whatever way I wanted them to do it. Have you felt like you always want to learn more about a certain subject that you just can’t stop thinking about? Well that is why I chose to convince the librarian to let me use all the books, so I would be an extremely smart, super genius. That is when it hit me! With this book I could change the WORLD! I started changing in the first place I thought of… School! I stopped bullying, fighting at recess and yelling at lunch. I thought that this magic library should be shared with the whole world. So they could live even better than before because I made the librarian let them use the secret books. That was the day I became famous for the secret library. I used all the money I had to sponsor a variety of charities across the world. My tip for you is that, when I got the book I could have used it for evil, but instead I used it for good. So, it doesn’t matter what you get, it matters what you do with what you get. – Dylan Jozkow

The book I would choose would be called “Toys of the World”. I’ve never seen every toy in the world and the book would let me see each one. I want to learn about different toys from different countries. I know that kids are interested in toys. I want to tell my friends about what I have learned about the different toys of the world. – Joshua Cahgnon

If I found a secret library with books of any subject I could imagine, I would choose the book with all the knowledge of all the other books. I would choose this book because then I could learn about everything. I could learn about animals, science, math, the world, sports, foods and many other things in just one book. If I had that book I would be the smartest person ever! I would know everything! That would be my favourite book ever. Everyone else would want to borrow that book so they could be as smart as me. I could rule the world with all the knowledge I had. That book could be the way to stop every war so we could have world peace! That could be the way to end world hunger! That book could be the best thing ever! That book would be awesome! – Stratton Windsor

When I got up in that sunny morning, I looked out my very clear window and there was a HUGE building in the way! I really wanted to check that humungous building out but then suddenly I instantly teleported into a magical library that had millions of epic books! I bet you’re wondering why I selected this amazing book? I’ll tell you. I adore animals. I’ve always craved for a dog or a bird for myself. But my mom ALWAYS says no to getting the best pets. She says she doesn’t want to clean the droppings. The second sad reason is I used to have a dog named Jack. He passed away on Dec.6 2010.he died of cancer. That’s another reason I want to be an extraordinary vet and to cure cancer in animals! The third reason is I like to learn all I can about animals. I LOVE ANIMALS!! Yesterday was my cousins 13th birthday. I was playing with his very cute new puppy named Duke . My other cousin got a cat for Christmas . I get along with her new kitten who’s named Emma . The last reason I chose this book is because I want to be a animal sitter to take care of them , to play with them and to be friends with them .This knowledge is important to me because I love animals , I get along great with animals and I want to learn all I can about animals . One day when I’m a vet ….I hope to cure animals. – Alethea Bronson

When I caught a glimpse of the astronomical building I decided to stroll on inside, turns out it was a magic library and so if I read a book I would learn what ever that book was about so I chose parkour, the book was called: Move Like a ninja. Now, now stop bickering amongst yourselves I shall tell you why I chose this book. It’s because parkour is very urban, I can now jump a thirty-foot drop … and survive! Like I said it’s urban. Oh! So you’re still not won over by what I think is the ideal skill, well let me give you Know-it-alls another reason, now I have such speed I have won every single race. Finally! Okay so now that that you starting to agree with me, thank you, now let me give you a third reason why I chose Move Like a Ninja is that now I’m not afraid to go jump of a building, never mind going on a roller coaster. Well the way I see it, I now have more strength (since I can parkour) it now helps me do other tasks such as swimming. This book will change your life so when I restore this book to the library you should sign it out. – Marko Sacka

I thought I would go to soccer when I spotted a tremendous library. I had a few minutes to spare so I went inside “wow its gigantic in here “I screamed. I discovered a book on how to become an expert on mind reading.you may ask why I have selected this textbook. It’s because you can get information from other people without them giving it!I wish I could do this because it’s very original and no one would know I had this awesome power (unless I told them). You may think why should I select this? I’ve chosen this because you know how amazing it would be to answer questions for other people? Say your in class and the teacher asks you to answer a question. If you didn’t know the answer then you could read the minds of other students and respond like a genius. Do you know about mind reading? Well it is so fun to do because if someone is hiding something and you want to find it ask them. If they don’t answer read their mind and they will probably be thinking the location. I selected this book because I could assist the police in convicting criminals. If the police brought somebody in for questioning I could use my super powers to see if he is telling the truth or not. I am so luck that I found the magic library. This super power will change my life, will you come with me next time? – Isaac Cardoso

I was going to go to waterskiing school, when I advanced inside a magic library and a dusty old book caught my eye- Let’s go! How to be a professional waterskier- and it contained all the knowledge to become an expert waterskier overnight. Why, you ask me, why did I pick out this book instead of all the billions of others I could’ve chosen from? Well, waterskiing runs in my family, so obviously, I wanted to be just like my parents! My parents are very acceptable at waterskiing, and I want to be, too! Since my parents are efficient waterskiers, they slalom, ( skiing on one ski), and I’m still on two attached waterskies, so I’m nowhere near even just dropping one of my skis. I’d like to slalom when I’m older. Do you know any famous waterskiers? Well, I know countless, and one of their names is Whitney Mc Clintock. This is one of the causes I chose this book. I want to be famous, too! I have a cottage and love to waterski, so being famous might be possible! But first, I have to get better at it! I can’t be prominent if my skis are still attached! Keep your eyes open! Maybe some day you’ll find an enchanted bibliotheca too… – Eleena Stubbs

It was like any normal day ,I was walking to school and saw a sign that said “Magic library” I burst into the doorway ,snatched a “zombie survival guide” book and quickly ran to the counter and a woman spoke “Any book you choose will give you all the knowledge it contains. Choose one.” And she drifted off into the shadows. Now, you may be think to yourself ,why ,out of trillions of books, I chose a zombie survival guide? 1. Because I dedicate my life to flesh eaters. Many people are petrified of zombies. In my opinion, I think they’re pretty darn awesome. I have many items that involve zombies. I’ve had my love for zombies ever since I was four years old.   2. The gut munching monsters don’t get respect any more. They’re harmless! (Not really)I think they should be cared for more. I discovered them while watching so many horror movies. Everybody hates them these days. 3. One day, me and my mom were at the public library, and a gleam of light caught my eye reading “zombeez” which is a section I stayed in for ages. Conclusion. Some day I hope to be a zombietologist and learn every single fact about them! -- Landon Leroux

I thought I was royally stuck in the beginner chess club but when I got there I saw out of the corner of my eye a magic library where I explored an amazing instruction book with the title of “I confess I’m good at chess.’’ You may be curious why I chose this book the first reason is that I love chess but I want to be a professional player who can get everybody in checkmate. The second reason is that there are different creative pieces and boards. It’s very exciting to play on a cool looking chess board. If I want to be a professional player, I need to know how to put someone in “check”. The final reason is because you can learn all of the chess rules and then help your friends in Chess Club and that is AWESOME! Reading this book will help me improve my chess skills. So, when I challenge the “king” of chess to a match, the best part will be… I am the one winning!! I will be the one saying, “CHECKMATE!” -- Andrew Baker

I was on my way to volunteer at the veterinarians office when I stumbled upon a creaky old library with a dusty old fur covered book shaped like a cat and called “How to be a vet overnight” I had to have it! You may wonder why I selected this book out of millions of books in this magic library .The reason I chose this book is because when I grow up my goal is to be a worldwide veterinarian. I also adore all types of animals. I have taken care of different types of animals since the day I since the day I was born .At my house I have ten animals in my house two of the animals are cats, one is a hamster, five are fish and two are frogs. At home I feed my animals and take care of them .I want to know how to take care of all the animals that come to a veterinarians office. I don’t just want to know how to take care of the animals properly when they are healthy, I want to know how to make and give animals needed medication when they are sick .I am very excited to read this book called “How to be a vet overnight” because I want to find out if the magic in this book actually makes me know everything there is to know about being a vet . Next time come with me! – Mikayla Howlett

I arrived at a brand new library in town and when I stepped inside it wasn’t just your normal bookstore-no, but a colossal room with thousands of millions of books and one caught my eye in particular it was a green and black guitar shaped book with the title of: “Learning And Loving 2 Play” I’ll tell you more… if you stay… So if you’re reading this, you stayed and I’ll bet a monkey’s uncle that you’re wondering to yourself“ Why did she choose this book out of thousands of others?” Well if you’ve heard or seen Stevie Ray Vaughn then you know and if you haven’t then go look him up! Anyways, I‘d LOVE to be as great as him! Still here, eh? Good! Because here’s another explanation :Don’t you think it would be enjoyable to play the guitar? I do, sitting around the campfire, singing, playing …awesome right? Please don’t stop reading! -- Sara Dardarian

I was cantering to a horse whispering course when I passed a dusty old magic library, and tripped on a book that titled, “How to be an expert horse whisperer.” You may wonder to yourself “why out of millions of books she stumbled over this one.” It’s because I’ve always dreamed of connecting with horses. I also want a horse of my own. You may question what horse whispering is! Well I can tell you this, it’s really cool, because you tell what the horse is thinking and saying. HEY DON’T GO I’ve just gotten to the fun part! Don’t you think it would be awesome if you could feel what the horse feels? (when you want to!) knowing if the horse is sick, scared, hungry, playful l, or really happy. Like I’ve told you already, a horse whisperer is really cool, and it would be alout easier for both the horse and rider. The thought of discovering all that this book has to offer made me whinny with excitement . Hopefully you will find a magic library yourself. -- Kira Mels-Wlliams

One hot summer day I was driving to cheer sport sharks for cheerleading when a black portal with all types of books swirling around appeared out of nowhere and we drove through it inside was a dark magical library. In there I found the knowledge holder for me ‘how to be an amazing level 4 cheerleader’. You may ask me why I choose this book out of the million books in the library well I adore cheer and I want to be better. That way I can instantly gain the skills so I can be better for my coaches and team. When I think I might be on the same team I’m on this year I start to try harder than I was before because I want to be a level 4 cheerleader next year and I want to advance in my skills each year. After I read the book and get all my level 4 skills I can start working on my level 5 skills so hopefully one day I can be on great whites .if I want to be on that team I need my full. One reason I would absolutely love to be a level 4 cheerleader is so that I can show off my skills at competition so we can win first place and make our coaches extremely proud. I love being a cheerleader and I cant wait to be even better after I read ‘how to be an amazing level 4 cheerleader’. My team will be amazed! -- Mikaila Cameron

When I was sitting on the bench with my friends I spotted a decorated door, so I entered it and inside was a huge Magic Library with millions of books, then a mysterious librarian appeared and showed me this particular book called: Do you want to be a professional football player. You might be wondering why I choose football, well I wanted to choose this amassing sport because when I’m older I want to be a football player. You know what, I want to tell you more about why I choose football. I also choose this rough sport because I like watching football and I’m also excellent at it and when I play in the NFL or CFL I want to be popular. I bet you want to hear my third reason, well when I’m older I want to play for the Green Bay Packers and be a quarter back. Just like exclusive Aaron Rodgers. I spend a lot of time playing football. He is my favourite football player and he always will be. Finally, the last but not least my final reason. I want to be drafted to the NFL or CFL one day. My favourite part about football is tackling the quarter back and the receiver, its awesome!! I think that football is important to me because its something that I spend forever trying to be the best! – Evan Corkill

One day I was outside with my brother when we saw a magic library, so we went inside. We found millions of books. A mysterious librarian came out of nowhere and said… choose whatever book you two want then she disappeared into the shadows. Finally we both found the book that we both wanted. It was called… LEGO FANS, IDEAS TO BUILD COOL CREATIONS. The cover had colourful pictures of new designs. This book captured my attention because of the endless possibilities of creating with Lego. The reason why I chose this book is because I love Lego, it’s awesome and amazing! I have enjoyed playing with Lego ever since when I was 5 years old. I have 10 series of Lego and many cool sets! I enjoy creating vehicles and crazy contraptions. I can use my mind instead of just using the instruction that come along in each set which I have to follow. Once, I actually watched a movie called… The Adventures Of Clutch Powers. It was awesome! The whole movie was Lego even the characters too. When I grow up, I want to be a engineer one day. I would be able to make new series! I could even make new minifigures for each set. This book is the best one ever in the magic library. You’ll be an expert builder in no time! – Anderson Orlik

I was driving to guitar lessons when I biked past a mysterious library so I went inside and signed out a book called “How to be an overnight guitar expert.” When I was signing out the book the librarian asked me. “Are you sure you want this book?” “Yes” I said, “I want to be a famous guitarist” Then I left the library. I was walking back to my house when my friend came over to me “why do you have a humongous book about guitar?” he said, “Because I love guitar,” I said. “Another reason is that I want to learn more, but my final reason is that I love to learn”…”well good luck with that” my friend said, bye I said…. Two days later, I wanted to thank the librarian but when I got back to the spot where the library was it was gone. -- Matthew Whitney

One day, around 2:22 pm, I was thinking of a cool and awesome idea…to become an expert baker! Suddenly I found myself in the mystic world of ka-ha! I saw an old mysterious library and I walked through the large brass door then I just realized an old book surrounded with gold edges. It was titled ‘epic cakes and how to make them’. As I picked up the book and an odd old lady with a silver walker. She spoke very soft and said ‘you will become a great baker after you read this book overnight.’ And hobbled off with the silent clang of her walker. As she left I was wondering about what she said but I kept the book any way You may wonder why I keep this book in hand I’ll tell you just hold you horses! I’ve always adored baking since I was 3. (I made my first cake when I was 7 or 8.) I find baking’s enjoyable because all the excitement, relaxation and of course the delicious smell! Baking is a good money making business, while I bake and give them treats I’ll be rich! Also you get good old family fun kids can help measure, cook and lick the spoon. I also want to be famous like buddy the cake boss (show on TLC). I hope one day I will be so famous I will be making cakes for all sorts of wonder full people in this world. I really want to be a baker. -- Kayla Reeve

I thought that I had to go to school to be a cook but I heard of a magical library so I went looking for it… You may wonder why out of a million books I chose this one because I dedicate my life to cooking the first reason is so I can cook for my family because they cook for me and another reason is to save money so if you cook for yourself with the ingredients you have you will save money. Cooking is extremely for me because you get to put your own ingredients so instead of being normal it will be extraordinary and my final reason is so I can cook a steak for my dad because he does for me and steaks are hard to cook and I will master the steak. So one day I went looking for this library but I have to of seamed to pass out and woke up In the library I was so happy so since I want to be a expert cook I looked or a book called how to be an expert cook then I found it so I took the book home and read the cover it said “read this book overnight and you will be an expert cook in the morning” so I started to read it and then I fell asleep and woke up in the morning and I was a expert cook. -- Zach Hart

Once I was going to school but I saw a magic library! I burst in the door when I was looking for a amazing book, I tripped over an old dusty book that said: Magica Way of the Mage. You may ask why did I select this book out of the billion others? The answer is so I can do amazing spells, imagine I was marching down the street when a car was coming, I could teleport to safety. Another reason I selected this book is so I’m not bullied like people don’t I’m dumb. Also adore magic and wizards, I even have lots of magic/wizard books, Pulse I can even do some magic tricks! My final reason is so I can do a spell to trick the old women into giving me all the books so I’ll be ultimate! So look out for the amazing library! -- Daniel Brown

I was eager to know more about disorders so I went to every library in town. In the last library I checked, which was called the Magic library, I finally found a book all about disorders. It was called The Knowledge of Disorders. You may question me about why I chose this particular book out of trillions of other books. I chose this book because I want to be the first 10 year old child to discover all about how people get their special disorders. I want to be the first child that might actually care enough to make a book all about it. I also selected this book because then I will have to information to help other kids comprehend how people became acquired to these disorders and became the way they are. I want others to understand that these people are just the same as you and I but just with a pinch of being different. What would life be like if everyone was the same? Their personalities might be a little different than ours, as well as their perspective of how they see things. We just have to understand that they are just the same as us. They are not weirdos or uncool they are people just like you and me. I selected this book was because I personally wanted to learn all about how people developed these disorder and how they manage. Some people wonder, but I wonder more...... what happened inside their mother’s stomach that didn’t happen to us. This is important to me because I have some relatives and friends that are different than me in how they speak and develop in their physical actions and I have been curious of how this happened. Another reason I am truly interested in the development of others because I love science and hope to one day work in a medical profession where I can help people find a cure or better live with their disorders. If there is no solution to someone’s mental problem, then one day maybe being a teacher to help others understand that differences make us special and unique and we should never tease or bully someone because they are different. All we need to do is read up about it and understand about them rather than not understand and hide behind teasing as a way or pretending we understand. The last reason I chose this book was my dream about learning how to teach others to be nice and friendly to anyone with disorders. We need to feel fortunate that we developed normally and know that just because someone has a disorder does not mean they will not be hurt by our mean words and actions. If you ever need any special book then find the magic library, it contains everything..... and by everything I mean books that teach you all you ever need to know. -- Anjeli Jaikaran

If I were in this library, I would read the ultimate encyclopedia of all time. I would choose so because I love to learn and have so many unanswered questions I want the answers to. Now you see, if I went and bragged about my knowledge it would be no fun and I would lose my friends and have a terrible life. I would keep my knowledge quiet and only speak out when needed or for my own usage. Hopefully in the future, there will be more knowledge for me to learn and I would keep having fun and learning. My desire is to have fun and learn one thing every day. If I read the encyclopedia and was helpful and considerate with the knowledge I would be happy. -- Ryan Ellis

If there was any book in a mystery library, I would choose a book on curing cancer. The reason I would choose this book is because I want kids to live and I want them to have the full experience of life, not just be in the hospital. Ever since I was born with a cleft lip and palate I have been going to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, and every time I go I think “Wouldn’t it be so nice if everyone in here could be free of cancer?” If I had this book, I would share all of the information with doctors around the world, so that everyone could be free of cancer. I would read it to the university students trying to become doctors. There are so many people trying to find a cure for cancer and I just want to help the world figure it out. With this curing cancer book the world can do extraordinary things and everyone with cancer will be free. -- Jack Fontyn

If I could pick any book in the whole library I would pick a book on arts and crafts. But it won’t be just any arts and crafts book. It will have all the information about ideas from famous artists. It will name every single craft idea, even the ones you may never have heard of before or the ones that are silly or don’t make any sense. Even the author knows every idea counts. That is why they added it. But that is not the best part! The best part about this book is that it includes every arts and crafts material in the whole universe. Like sand from Mars and paint from Antarctica. Except that the materials never run out. If they run out or finish they will just magically come back because they get the power to do that from the magical library. That way if you need to finish a project urgently and your materials all run out, you don’t have to go to a store and waste your time. The materials will just appear again. The craft book will inspire you to make cards for people who are lonely or badly injured. It will lift their spirits. They will be happy and cheered up. The reason I am picking an arts and crafts book is, because my favourite hobby is art. I also love making crafts. When I grow up I want to be an art teacher. With this book I will have all the knowledge to do so and I won’t get fired. It will help me out with my career and when I get money, I will put half in the bank and the other half I save it because I want to help the world. I will donate that money to deforest action and charities. I will help save the orangutans and for charities I will help the sick and lost kids and help out some orphanages. It will help save what we believe in. That’s why I would choose the book arts and crafts. -- Sapna Tripathi

I would choose a book where you could find out how to get magic powers where you could find out how to cure cancer and find out how to get A+’s on every subject. It would help people, get really good grades for school and it would also help teachers find out how to teach perfectly to their kids in the class. It would help Doctors figure out how to help people with cancer, like if jack had really bad cancer and he was going to die soon the doctor would figure out how to help that. I would share this book with everyone in the entire world because then they wouldn’t have to go to school to get good marks on every subject that you would possibly do in the entire world. People would love this because then they would more time with their family. -- Gabriel Handrikse

The book that I would choose to learn everything about would probably be a book about the cure to cancer. Even though there are many other topics I would still choose this book. The reason why I would choose this book is because many close friends and relatives of mine have fought in the deadly battle against cancer, some defeating it and some losing the heart-breaking battle. If I were to have this book I could have saved some of the loved ones I lost. For instance my uncle Steve lost the battle of cancer to a tumour in his brain. I could have saved him if I had that book and kept him with his children. I didn't have the book though and couldn't save him as he then passed away at a young age leaving his family behind. Another reason why I would choose the book is because at the moment I am doing a project on cancer. If I was to get that book, it would help me on my road to success with my project. The last and final reason why I would pick this book is because one day at my sister’s hockey game, I went to the Tim Hortons in the Grand River hospital. There I saw many cancer patients, as soon as I saw them I had a feeling that I wanted to help. I knew that no one had found a cure for cancer yet so I couldn't help them, just hope for the best. If I had that book then I could have helped my hospital friends. This is why if I was in a library with books on every topic I would pick one on the CURE TO CANCER. -- Daniel Carr

I would choose a book on peace. I would like to understand what peace is, and how to accomplish it worldwide. It would teach me about peace keeping and if the way we are going about in other countries is the right way. It would teach me how to create peace between nations and end all wars. I would learn about religious peace and what religions believe is peace. I would learn who the greatest keepers of peace were and what they’re methods of peace were. It would allow me to know how to obtain the rules for a fair and unbiased judicial system. It would teach me what fair human rights are for all races of humans. It would teach me how to get along with everyone. It would teach me how to resolve conflicts without fighting. It would make me understand why wars happen and why people fight. With this Knowledge I would take action teaching others the same things I knew and working on making peace in the world. -- Joey Friedel

If I were to chose a special book of knowledge, I would choose to gain all knowing of one of our biggest problems. Global Warming. Is it really happening? What will we do if it is? Why is it happening? What caused it? I have chosen this specific book because some people, including myself, are almost clueless on what is happening or is likely in the process of taking stage! Will the ice caps melt? Will the O-zone layer burn away? Will everything flood? I have found that I just need to know more! -- Emily

If I were to choose a book I would choose one that is very interesting. There are lots of skills or knowledge in the world that I would like to know but the thing I would like to know is how to play the guitar like a pro. I would like this skill because I know how to play the guitar a little bit but I would rather like to know how to play the guitar like a pro. Also I would like to know how to play the guitar like a pro because I would know how to play more than one instrument and when I play this instrument it would sound good with lots of song and it would be easy to sing to. If I knew how to play the guitar like a pro I think I would make a song, make lyrics and get some friends to help perform the song in front of a couple people or even lots of people. With this skill you can do more than entertain yourself but you can also entertain all your friends and family. So that will make me and other friends or family very entertained and not bored. I would love having this skill. – Emily Gallant

If I were to choose a book out of a mysterious library it would be a book about how to do Everything and Anything. This is much better of a choice than getting a book that is only about one thing, this way I could get much more education out of it. In the spectacular book of anything and everything would be solutions to everything like how to cure Cancer, how to end wars and have world peace, and it would just have ways to make people pleased.  The most tremendous thing about that book would be ways to solve any ones troubles, no matter how difficult they would be to fix, this most amazing book would have the answers. I can not even imagine how astonishing it would be to have that breath taking book! A lot of people would think that this book would be impossible to have and have solutions to everything but since this book is my choice it can have whatever you need to know or want to know in this book. This book would actually take a lot of weight off of peoples shoulders knowing that there is a book in existence that can take care of anything in this universe. The best thing in this book to know about is how to make sure no one passes away, just knowing how to do that would make one billion people joyful and delighted! If this book did exist I think it would have to be magical, I say that because I do know that some things are impossible to do and that some of the things would be non realistic. Its tragic that not everything could be possible but if they were, words couldn’t even describe how mind blowing it would be. So I think that a book can have some solutions to stuff but not everything so this is why I chose to pick a book about anything solutions in this world. – Avery Allen

Of all the books in the secret library I would chose a book about English which is going to help me speak fluently. This book would be very detailed and specific. It has to teach English very clearly to even someone who doesn’t know how to speak English. I came from Turkey about six months ago. I am seventeen years old. Seventeen years I spoke Turkish and I learned Turkish. But after seventeen years with a quick decision and with my Turkish education which is totally different than here, I decided to move Canada. Now I am challenged with English. Some reasons why I would choose that book is because; first of all; that book can help me to simply learn different words, and those words can remove my frustration when I can’t explain myself frankly. Additionally; my communication with people is hard in English, because imagine first, I have to think what I am going to say in Turkish second, I have to translate it to English third, I have to check it in my mind that, is it going to make any sense? And also I finally if I am going to be satisfied I can let myself to say it out loud. And also I have to do that so quickly because the person who I am speaking with might not be very patient. But if I take this book from the secret library it can help me to learn how to communicate. Last, but not least; in one language there is so many different ways to speak. Everyone is speaking different with their friends than with their teachers, with old people than them or in this century people are speaking different than last hundred years. And I want to know how to speak with whom to speak at the correct time. I want to know how to say something in old English. I want to read old books and current books and understand them. Again my book from secret library can help me to understand English and help me to clear the mess in my mind. To conclusion, I would chose this precious book about English because it can be another thing to help me to get better in my English. – Sim Suzer

If I could choose only one book, I would choose the one on how to predict the future because if I’m going to be a pro soccer player or pro tennis player, I want to know it early. I also want to see if I can get rich fast or if there’s going to be a cure for cancer, so I can find it faster so people can live longer or if there’s going to be an ice age soon or something like that. Predicting the future would also be nice because if I get a little sister I could run away before it happens or win the lottery and buy a mustang and mansion and video games. Maybe steal a saying from the future and say it early or something like that. That’s why predicting the future could be useful. – Ian Reimer

If I had to pick a book from that magic library I would choose the book of how to make solar powered machines because they could help the world in so many ways! They could help prevent the major problems like world hunger and they could find a cure for cancer and so much more! The machines could also be programmed to make more machines and then machines could do everything for humans! The machines could make school easier by making literal learning helmets. They would teach you everything you would learn in a seven hour school day in just five seconds. The machines could make the world a better place. -- Thomas Alexander Burke

If I found a mysterious library and must choose one book, I would most definitely choose how to cure cancer. It would be special to me because one of my Grandmas died because of breast cancer and I still miss her. I think cancer is terrible and it kills lots of lives. It would be wonderful for someone to find a cure for all kinds of cancer. Also when you’re older, you can become a doctor and help people with cancer. It also gives you more luck in the future. I think kids can make a difference and if we all come together we can all stop cancer. Maybe you could help save people’s lives! That sure would be a cool way to grow up! – Sophie

If I could choose a book about anything and could instantly know everything about that subject, I’d choose to know about global warming because in many coastal cities and even countries such as Bangladesh or New Orleans. Also global warming could mean the end of polar bears because they would have nowhere to live. In places like New Orleans they are building special walls to prevent a massive flood because of global warming, but people are still not sure if they’re safe. I would chose this book now because if I chose it in say 2130 the floods would probably have come already and the ice caps would be gone, so it would be wise to get this book now rather than in like 100 years. Also it would tell me how to completely stop global warming like if we just do more of what we are doing now it might just slow global warming down not stop it. But if I got that book it would tell me how to totally stop global warming. So if I could know everything about anything I would choose to know about global warming. – Henry

I couldn't sleep that night something was bugging me. Why is there poverty? Why are some people rich while others are dirt poor? It's not fair that some people have to live that way! The questions just kept coming. My mind was racing. But anyways I'm just 11, I can't solve poverty and it doesn't matter no one can solve poverty just forget it. Who cares about poverty I just need to get to sleep! Finally it's Saturday the day I do my neighborhood walk. As I passed downtown I noticed an abandonned building. I decided to check the place out. After walking ten feet in I noticed that it was an old library. There had to be millions of books in there. That's when I realized it was probably a secret library! I was getting excited!  Moments later I discovered that this was no ordinary library. But it had a book on every subject from how to tie your shoes to how to become a professional hockey player. There were books on how to cure cancer and how to make a sandwich. Just then a mysterious librarian came out from nowhere and said you may only ever take out one book. I was shocked how could I ever choose. In one book it had all the answers to cancer how would I ever choose one book! Maybe I will choose a book about how to become a famous singer then I will be rich!  Or should I choose a book on how to stop theft or bullying? Suddenly I remembered last night this was my chance to fix world poverty or become rich. I wanted to be rich but I knew that the right thing to do was to take out the book on poverty or something helpful. Alright I'll choose something helpful but what? If I choose the book on poverty I guess that would make a big impact in the world. That would also mean  people  would not have to go through starvation or live in horrible conditions! That would give so many people a chance to start new and maybe have a successful life! It took me a long time to choose I had to consider so many options. But in the end I chose to end poverty for good! When I told the librian my choice she said as soon as you open that book you will instantly know the solution to poverty. I couldn't wait to open the book and tell my friends about the library. They would be upset about my choice but that's okay everyone should be able to come home to a nice dinner and bed. We all should have education provided, food, access to medicine and doctors. I am happy with this choice. It will change a lot of people's lives and their outlook on life. I guess I can make a difference in the world afterall! -- Kirsten Lehotsky                            
 
I'm standing in the middle of a secret library filled with every book about everything known to man but I may only choose one book to read! I thought long and hard about which book to choose when I came up with the most brilliant idea ever... I will pick the book with the topic of all books in the library that way I'll get all knowledge in the library while only choosing one book! Once I thoroughly understand the book I will understand everything in the world and who wouldn't want to know everything there is to know. Knowing everything will lead to many wonderful things such as fame, fortune and everything in-between! Not only all those things but this single book will help me every step of me life!  -- Tori Chen

So there I was, just walking down the streets of New York.  I was walking home from school and then I noticed the door.  It was a small door in the sidewalk - very hard to see.  There was a small handle that looked like a crack in the ground.  I quickly made sure that no-one was watching and then I opened the door and jumped down.  Jumping was a big mistake because it was an eight-foot drop.  I fell down but got up quickly.  It appeared that I was in a secret cave.  A small door opened and I crawled through it.  I was in a HUGE library that appeared to be never-ending.  I heard footsteps and a librarian walked up to me.  I started to run away, but she put a hand on my shoulder and ordered me to stay.  She introduced herself and I introduced myself.  She told me that I was in a magical library with books on every subject and that I could sign one out.  I sat and thought for a while, then I decided. “I would like a book on how to make everyone happy,” I exclaimed.  “I would like this book because I can’t stand when my friends, family or just people in general are sad.  If I know how to make people happy, the world will be a better place.  No more will me or my friends and my family be sad!” “Very well,” she replied. I looked in the book and I was so surprised at what I saw. -- Joe Merikle

"Whichever one you choose, you will instantly and effortlessly learn all the knowledge it contains." The librarian's words echoed in my mind. All the knowledge on one topic...I could scarcely imagine it. Ideas formed in my head. I thought to the children who didn't have the right to go to school. I thought to the homeless man who wandered the streets at night. I thought to the families whose homes were being destroyed by war. This was the chance our world had been waiting for. The chance to truly make a difference. I slowly walked to the window ledge. With shaky hands, I opened the front cover. THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO PEACE. Images flooded into my head. I watched a school being built in Africa. I watched an old man enjoy a feast with his family. I watched a family move back into their home. I chose this book to acheive the world's dream. My only hope was that I could fix the world. – Marin Taylor

I would chose a book all about How To Make World Peace. I would chose this book because I think in years to come this is going to become one of the most important world issues. I think that it's important because the world and people inside it don't always get along and since we don't always get along it would be important to know how to solve our problems. If we had this book all races on this planet would get along, there would be no terrorism, and the world would be a beautiful place. If the world doesn't have world peace its not going to be a wonderful place. Think of a world with world peace, thats something most people would dream about. I think the most important book to chose would be on world peace. – Emma Payton

Wow, so many choices of books! If I had to choose just ONE book, I would choose a book that teaches me how to stop all animals from going extinct. I would choose this book because my enrichment class did a project, where each of us, alone or with a partner, had to do a presentation on an endangered animal. I realized that lots of animals are endangered, and there are TONS more that we didn't present about, so I would love to help somehow. It's not fair that animals are going extinct, mostly because of us! If I had that book, innocent animals wouldn't have to die unnaturally. Even though it might seem the animals will over populate, they won't, because of two things. 1, The carnivorous animals will have to eat something, right? 2, The animals will have to die eventually! So, this book would be good, because of all the things I explained up there, to tie it all together, this book would protect animals from dying for no reason! -- Megan Hughes

If I could gain eternal knowledge on one subject just by entering a library, the topic I would choose would be how to manipulate your parents. Every childs dream is to be able to control there parents so they could buy whatever they wanted, eat whatever they wanted or watch whatever they wanted. Well I'm only 12 so my parents still have some control over me, but boy what I would give to be able to manipulate them. It would change a childs life to be able to manipulate their parents. If I could manipulate my parents I would eat lots of ice cream and hang out with my friends and stay up super late and buy all the video games I wanted. I would also do no chores and go to lots of hockey and football games. What a life I would have if I could manipulate my parents. – Scott Williams

"Katelyn? KATELYN! Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere!" Taylor exclaimed. "Sorry Tay, but you will never believe what happened!" Katelyn exclaimed. "Well it better be good. I thought you were kidnapped! Or worse, killed!" Taylor shouted. "Shush would ya? I'll tell you what happened. When I went down to get the ice cream I noticed a glowing doo." Katelyn explained. "A glowing door? Really?" Taylor asked unconvinced. "Yes, a glowing door. I thought, 'Eh, what the pumpkin. What could happen?' so I opened the door and then whoosh! I was sucked into a whole new world! When I finally came over my confusion, I realized I was in a library with zillions of books. I was speechless." "Big whoop, there was a bunch of books. Now get to the part that explains your absence." Taylor said bored. "Ahh my little friend, that's what I thought until-" "Until what?" Taylor asked faking excitement. "Shut up and let me finish. So there I was, speechless when this mysterious woman came up. She had edgy clothes, and a hood that covered her face except her mouth. I was freaked out and was about to run when she said to me in an angel like voice, "Don't be afraid, you're okay. I'm Sora the librarian. This here is no ordinary library, although it looks like one. No, this library has a book on every subject you could think of!" Sora exclaimed with pride. "Every subject?" Katelyn asked sceptical. "Yes every subject." Soar replied. "Tattooing, speaking to dogs, bowling, memorizing, brain implants? Katelyn asked unconvinced. "Yes to all of those and yes to every subject you can name." Sora replied. "Is there a book on curing cancer?" Katelyn asked hopeful. "Why?" Sora asked. "Well, I was thinking, if you have a book on cancer, maybe I can pay you so I can have it and help all of those battling cancer." Katelyn explained. "And why would you like to help them?" Sora asked intrigued. "Because many people in my life have been affected by cancer. My great- aunt Ruth, great- uncle Lee,  great- grandfather, and many more. My grandmother, great aunt and some others have survived. Just the fact that I could help those families that have a loved one with cancer makes me overcome with wonderful feelings. No one deserves to go through that pain." Katelyn explained. "Do you feel like it's your responsibility? To help those families?" Sora asked. Katelyn nodded. "Well, in that case, here's the book. Keep it forever, and remember you are able to remember every single detail in it." Sora said handing Katelyn the book. "Thank-you". Katelyn managed to say before she was swept back to her house. "Wait, so you can cure cancer?" Taylor asked amazed. Katelyn nodded. "I guess that was an okay story." Taylor added smiling. She and Katelyn laughed, and then they started planning a trip to see the head doctors from every country to tell them the AMAZING news!!!!!!!!! -- Katelyn Taylor 

To choose any book, on any single subject, to learn every piece of knowledge, of that certain subject.  To choose a book it must contain knowledge that would help the world. Knowledge only certain books contain. This is why I would be choosing world hunger.  A book of knowledge on world hunger, telling me who is affected, and how to end it.  Ending world hunger would make a better world completely. Also ending world hunger would also end many wars over hunger. This is why I would choose to take a book on world hunger. To choose any book, on any single subject, to learn every piece of knowledge, of that certain subject. – Owen Fleming

The book that I would choose from the Mysterious Librarian would be the book that contains all of the knowledge about the human anatomy and emotions. That way, I could take all of the infromation I I have learned and figure out a cure for almost any disease, both emotional and physical. With the most complex book of human anatomy and emotions and a team of scientists and doctors, I could share my knowledge with the world and help stop cancer, MS, and even AIDS! But I wouldn't take credit for it. I would simply be happy when all of the mental and physical diseases of he world could be treatable.And if I recieved any money from anybody because of my findings, I would donate it back itnto charities, foundations, and research for more findings and research. That way, I could make the most amount of people happy, while still getting joy at the thought of the many people I helped and saved. – Cole Hickman

If I could pick one book that would give me all the skills and knowledge, I would pick a book on Earth. About the people, the places, and everything else.  If I new about the places, I could protect the nature  and give us a home. To me, if I knew more about Earth I could give everyone freedom and keep our  amazing animals.  If I could read a book like this, even if I didn't get skills, I would be so happy. It would mean so much to me, if someone cared enough about keeping life here on Earth to write a book and share  their knowledge.  To me and hopefully to a lot of others, preserving the life on Earth is one of the  most important things.I could just pick a book on "World Peace" or "How To Protect Animals" or only even on  "People and Places", but you can only pick one book, and The Earth gives you all 3 combined. To me, I absolutely LOVE being outdoors. With an Earth book I could not only protect that, but animals too, make world peace and teach everyone about Earth so they learn to enjoy life. For me  and hopefully others, my book would be on the Earth. -- Justine Hodson

As I walked down the steps, I was both nervous and excited. I didn't know what to expect, but it's not every day that you find a hidden stairwell in an old golf course. The stairs were quite rusty, and every time I took another step, they would creak. I was really scared that the stairs might just collapse . As I went farther and farther below the ground, I asked myself:
"What could possibly be down here?"
Finally, I saw the ending of the winding steps. I stepped onto the steps and looked in amazement. There was millions of books! It was an underground hidden library; there were shelves packed with books and piles that were taller than I was.
" Whoa." I said in awe. "What is this place?"
I walked over to one of the shelves and looked at the spines of the books. 'All about the Vikings, Is there water on the moon?, How to read people's minds, Governmental secrets."
As I read this I knew that this wasn't your ordinary library. I looked through a whole bunch more books, and grab the ones that were interesting enough.
"Is there anything that this library doesn't have?" I asked to myself After I didn't think that I could possibly read anymore books, and I had a huge pile of books of my own, I started to walk out of the library towards the staircase. Suddenly, I heard an old woman's voice say:
"You didn't think that you were going to take all of those books, did you?"
"N.N.N.No," I replied. "Who are you?"
"Why, I'm the librarian for this library." she replied.
"Why can't I take these books?" I asked.
" Because you can only take one book, choose one. Whichever you choose will instantly and effortlessly learn all of the knowledge it contains.' she said Over the next 20 minutes, I thought long and hard. Should I solve one of my problems, of a world problem. I looked at the 15 or so books that I had taken.
"I've made my decision!" I declared.
I am going to solve one of the world's biggest problems, one of the biggest secrets internationally. I am picking the book containing a secret that has to be solved as soon as possible."
"It's not going to happen very soon if you keep this up." she said, not sounding very impressed with my speech.
"I will chose the book that reveals the secret of." I lowered my voice a little "How they get the caramel in the Caramilk bar."
She looked at me with a puzzled look.
"What? How do you think they get it in there?" I complained. She sighed.
"Okay, if that's the book you chose."
From that moment on, I knew the answer to the biggest secret known to man. I never looked at a Caramilk bar the same. The secret is that they take the caramel and. oh, sorry, I ran out of space, that's Five-hundred words – Kevin Simone

“Choose one of these books. Whichever one you choose, you will instantly and effortlessly learn all the knowledge it contains.” says the mysterious librarian standing right beside me. I was startled, and jumped back. “The book you choose is your one and only ticket out of here, but choose wisely because the book shall change your life forever, whether good or bad!” I quickly started searching and examining the whole library. As I was examining, I came across The Book to Cure Cancer. I replied, “I have chosen my book!” The librarian snatches it from my hands. “Hmm, The Book to Cure Cancer, are you sure you want to take this risk?” “Yes!” I said confidently. Suddenly, a door appeared, so I ran for it and never looked back all the way home. At bedtime, I told my mom everything that had happened. I even showed her the book. She looked confused, and after a moment of silence, she asked “How did this happen, and who is this mysterious librarian.” I wanted to give her an answer but I didn’t even know what happened! She began getting all mom-like, you know, telling me not to talk to strangers, and don’t follow them. I just tuned her out. The next morning while I was eating my cereal, my mom questioned “Why did you pick The Book to Cure Cancer?” I jumped up and had a huge smile on my face! I was so happy that she had asked me! “Well, when our neighbour, Susan, died last year, I was confused as to why such a nice lady had to die so young from cancer and I want to change that! This book is the key to curing cancer, and soon enough, cancer will be gone!”I replied with enthusiasm. My mom was proud to hear that I wanted to change the world. She quickly placed my lunch bag in my backpack and sent me off to school. That is how it all started. For the mystery surrounding the librarian, it is still unsolved but definitely changed my life in a good way. I am going to change the world. – Catrin Cameron

I would choose a book on peacemaking, so I would be an expert on peace making. I would choose this because I could REALLY help the world and stop a huge problem! Anyone can be amazing in math or science if they study hard enough and pay attention all the time in class and go above and beyond. But nobody has succeeded in making world peace, countries just continue to fight. This is a serious problem because every time there's a war it hurts people and kills people, also lots of times families are really low on food because the bombs hurt the farmer's fields. They also don't have that good of a shelter because of the war and bombs might hit it also. With this book I would be able to stop war and keep it stopped for ever because I could teach others how to keep world peace before I die. Stopping war will really help the world because it won't hurt the cities with bombing and other dangerous weapons. Bombs are really not good for the environment especially nuclear bombs so with stopping all wars for ever this could help the environment a lot. When two or more countries have a problem with each other like one country wants something from the other country and instead of fighting for it I could make a deal which would make all the countries involved happy and keep the peace! So with this all the countries will be pretty happy because they usually get the things they want from other countries and also help the other countries by giving them things that they want. With this book on peacemaking I would reinforce human rights in all countries no matter what colour skin, gender, size, weight, religion or accent. So everyone will be able to go to school and so everyone doesn't get bullied in any form!  Making world peace with this book would probably just take a month so it won't take that long so I could still be a pro baseball like I've always wanted to be and yet make world peace and make it stay for ever with that book. If I had to solve a problem in between two or more countries I could do it just with a phone call to settle it quickly in between games or in the off-season if I was a pro baseball player so that would be good for the countries involved because I would settle it very quickly and make all the countries involved hopefully happy! Being a pro baseball player like I want to be I could help the world even more because I would donate lots of money to charities! – Brian Zapp

Have you ever actually considered the impact A.D.H.D has had on many children? This sicknesses has caused my family alone so many problems. The day of September 22, 1999 my younger brother was born and was diagnosed with A.D.H.D affecting him for the rest of his life. I would choose a book on this topic because, with this knowledge, my family and others diagnosed with ADHD can get some help. Why do they need help, you may ask? If you knew what my family goes through ever day, you would feel the same way. The amount of money we pay as a family for treatment, and medication to help him. The amount of people who bully him because of his differences in abilities to learn, concentrate, and communicate is greatly high. It is very difficult living in a life with this condition. A.D.H.D means (Attention Defect Hyperactivity Disorder ) and is a problem with inattentive, over-activity, and impulsively. It affects about 3-10 percent of school aged children. Yes, it can be difficult living with someone who has A.D.H.D and because of their very subtle nature of the disability, it can be hard explaining to friends that his particular behaviour is not deliberate. After living with this disorder for most of my life I have come to realize that there is no way out of this condition without a cure. For me to have this book of knowledge to a cure that could unlock the answer to my family's and other's happiness would be my wish of knowledge.  -- Laura Heimpel

It was a grey and ominous evening. It was storming outside, with a cold breeze in the air. I was walking down a country road. I was lost, so I ran into a nearby barn to escape the cold rain. When I went into the barn, it was dark and cold, then a soft voice whispered, "You may choose one book, and one book only. You will instantly know all there is to know on that one subject." Suddenly, the lights flicked on and I was amazed by the sight of the largest library I've ever seen. I passed by sections about every subject possible. Athletics, cooking, money, success, animals, cures to diseases, but I had to decide on one book, and one book only. This was an extremely difficult task. There was so many options and subjects to choose from! I discussed with myself in my head what book I would want, until it came to me.....MATH! If I knew everything about math, the possibilities to what I could do would be endless! Well, not really, but I could pass math in school with flying colours! I could know every single digit of pi, I could be the worlds best math professor, I could be rich! Even though I would get made fun a lot, for being such a math nerd, it would be worth it in the end, because all the haters would one day be working for me! I search through the library some more, until I find the section labelled "MATH & SCIENCE". I enter the small hallway of books and start walking until I found a massive novel that read "MATH" on the spine in big white letters. I stare at the huge book for a while, then I started to life my hand, but I hesitated. Then I grab the spine of the book and there's a sudden flash, and then the book disappeared! I assumed that somehow the knowledge from the book transferred  into my brain. As I started walking out of the library, I could actually start counting and memorizing how many sections there were! I realized even more possibilities of what I could do! I could be a professional math tutor, I could use math to be a scientist, I could even find the cures to mysterious diseases! Suddenly I tripped, then everything went black...... I sat up in my bed, confused. It was only just a dream! -- Jacob Totzke

It was pitch black, the only light was the crackling light of the night's lightning! I was... all alone with nobody with me or anything for that fact, I was stranded. Out of no where a magical library appeared, I really needed some were to stay so I carefully walked over and glanced in to the window of the mysterious library. It looked deserted so I took step closer and tried to open the door and it was unlocked, so I  just walked in. As I passed through the doorway I was greeted by this loud and forceful voice.  I thought that I was going to jail or something, but it turned out that it was a tiny, elderly woman who said, "Pick one and only, one book. The book that you choose will give you all the information about the subject and how to utilize the information within!" It took me close to one hour to pick my top three books.  They were: Cure To Cancer, Best Lawyer in the World and Best Soccer Player in the WORLD, even better then Lionel Messi! The one that I decided on was... Cure to Cancer.  Suddenly, there was a huge crack of thunder and lightening lit up my room, I was so disappointed, everything was just a dream, I was so close to having something so important. Even though it had all been a dream, I wanted to explain why I chose this subject, A Cure to Cancer. Some of my family and some friends had been affected by cancer over the years.  This topic has a lot of meaning for me and I felt maybe I could make a difference for the people who matter to me and maybe even the world. As I watched those who are close to me dealing with the illness of cancer, I can tell how bad it is just by the way they look, how they have no energy and can't do the things they really love doing.  When I think about it I feel really lucky to not have cancer myself.  One of my close classmates had to deal with cancer and the years of treatment when he was only nine years old! When he was diagnosed with cancer, our school wanted to help by fundraising, all the money that we received  from our pizza lunches went to cancer research. It was something small but somehow we all felt so much better doing something to help. I would not know what to do if somebody really close to me like my Grandma, Pappa, Mom and Dad were diagnosed with cancer because they are the ones that support me, put a roof over my head and food on my plate! What would you do if somebody you loved had cancer?  If only the Library that I found in my dream were a reality and we could read a book and make something like cancer, a disease that affects so many people just disappear. -- Andrew Cicci

Do you know how it feels when your hands and feet are "asleep"? That's what my mom feels in her extremities everyday. As I walk into the enchanted library, a women walks up to me and says, "Pick one book, on the subject you have always wanted all knowledge on." I stumble and hesitate to pick a book. I walked along the aisle on cures for various diseases. I stop as I see the book I have been waiting for. It is labeled, "A Cure to C.I.D.P." My mom was diagnosed with C.I.D.P in 2009 and has suffered with many symptoms such as weakness, discomfort and lack of taste for three years now. She has stayed strong, and she has been in pain for enough time now, and everyday I wish there was a cure for her. C.I.D.P is an acquired immune-mediated inflammatory disorder of the peripheral nervous system. The disorder is sometimes called chronic relapsing polyneuropathy or chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (because it involves the nerve roots). I would want the knowledge to cure everyone in the world from C.I.D.P. This would be helpful because C.I.D.P is a life disease (after you are diagnosed you are stuck with it for the rest of your life) which make you weak, and frequently you have to visit the hospital. The nurses inject two needles into your forearm,  you sit their for 2-3 hours and you cant move. You would take 3-6 pills daily and life is hard. This needs to stop and this book would give me the power to do so. People with this disease suffer most of their life. They are frustrated and they are in pain. They deserve a better life. In conclusion I would want a book on the cure to Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (C.I.D.P) to free all diagnosed patients from this tragic disease. -- Caroline Lukey

If I was to pick a book and instantly and effortlessly learn all the ultimate knowledge it contains, then I would choose the book about medicine. If I were to know everything there was to know about medicine, I will be able to treat people's sicknesses all around the world. I remember when my dad got pneumonia; I was 11 years old at that time. He took care of me and my brother because my mom was in a different country. I was the eldest child so I had to take care of my father.  He told me to call his Dad (My Grandpa) because there was no one to take care of me my brother and dad. My dad was lying on the bed drinking the hot black tea that I made for him. If I know everything about medicines, I would be able to cure my dad right immediately. Instead my Grandpa brought him to the hospital and my dad had to stay there for 2 days. My Grandpa paid a large amount of money because there were no health cards in Mexico. If I had the knowledge about medicine, my grandpa wouldn't have to pay for the hospital bills. Also if I had the knowledge about medicine at the time my dad would have been at home with me and my brother. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" asked my dad. "A doctor so you wouldn't have to go to the hospital." I said Learning how to cure different sicknesses would be amazing. Even making people laugh is a medicine. Everybody gets sick whether it's a fever or a cold. I'd love to cure people all around the world. If you have knowledge, then you will have power. I am happy to say the 3 days after my dad was cured, and we as a family got to spend time together. – Kathleen Rocafor

Have you ever wondered what your pet was saying to you? Well, I will never have to wonder again with the book I chose. I would choose a book with unlimited knowledge on how to communicate with animals and understand them. I'd never have to wonder if my cat was hungry, needed a clean litter box, or was thirsty! I could just ask. It would also be great  to communicate with my cat when I get bored. Just for the fun of talking! I could learn his interests. If he liked his food or wanted new toys, I would know. I could also learn how my cat feels through communication.  If he felt hurt after his annual shot, I would be informed. With this book, there would never be a worry or a wonder with any pet. -- Ena Manjgo

If I would be in an Imaginary Library I would pick the book about how to understand animal’s language, so I could talk to different animals and understand their feelings. I would like to know what animals need and want. And if I did not have friends, I could talk to the animals and play with them. Then I would build a zoo to keep all the animals that need help and are hurt, so they don’t die. It would be very interesting to know the animals’ language. I will also understand what bird and fish think. – David Patolsky

If I were to choose any book out of an endless libary filled with books that would instantly teach you about everything about a specific topic, I would choose the book about programming because I could use it to create lots of cool stuff all from my very own imagination, to explore the endless possibilities that a single computer can handle, to be able to create huge projects out of almost nothing at all, I could construct a game to put a smile on people's faces, and most of all, it wold be to have fun. – Kevin Guo

As I chose the book from the shelf, I instantly knew everything in the book, on the reasons behind global warming. I chose this book out of all the other selections of the topic, global warming, simply because, I don't want to die when humanity is behind destroying Mother Nature. I certainly don't want my future generations to die either. Why people don't do anything about it and is concerned, I don't get. Some people aren't even concerned at all. This is one of the reasons that global warming is still happening. If l knew all the reasons causing global warming and causing it to still happen today, then our planet might be saved. Even that one change, no matter how small, would make a big difference. For example, me. If I tell my friends to walk more instead of driving and don't use too much electricity, then they can tell their friends or relatives, and so on. That's just one step to eliminate global warming. – Ting Xiong

I've decided to choose a topic that would be fascinating to read and probably consume the rest of my life (whatever). Now, my book might revolutionize the world as we know it (don't worry, I'm not just being dramatic and using fancy words and stuff). Well, I'd better get on with it; my book would explain the entire history of the entire world. Not just what scientists guess or "presume" fromto choose "world peace, love and happiness" ect, -which I am by the way totally okay with- and might even say that choosing to learn something purely for "your own benefit" isn't right, but who knows, that's just their opinion and I have no right to judge them, just as they have no right to judge me! Just IMAGINE our world knowing all there is to know about itself, understanding everything about itself. Well, one teeny-tiny downside to that is that historians would probably be without a job, but hey, maybe they could make a living by all reading this book and then becoming professionals on all of history. See, they spent their entire lives trying to unravel the past, while I just had to get lost when I was late for class, and wander into this crazy library! About an hour or two later -and some freaking out, because I realized I probably missed my history test while I was reading the book- I was a professional on, well, the entire world. Well, first I'd learn everything there was to learn from that book, then I'd (attempt to) understand all that I learned. Next, I'd go a step further and tell/teach everyone about it. (You know, knowing -and keeping- the world's best kept and biggest secrets, is probably pretty hard right?) I just hope people don't think of me as the creep at the street corner, yelling nonsense and holding a big sign that says "END OF THE WORLD" . But who cares, I know who made the Easter Island heads, where Amelia Earhart's plane crashed, what happened to the ancient Mayans when they disappeared, where I left my I pod when I thought I lost it the other day (maybe that's not history, but it's something I'd like to know all the same), where the cornerstone of the White House is (by the way it's missing -creepy right?) and basically everything that is history. In other words, I would choose to learn all the secrets time has whisked away from us. The mysteries of history will be solved. I will know how the world began, and maybe, just maybe, someone somewhere might even know how it will eventually end. – Maddy Schneider

Now, this is a hard one. If I had a choice to choose a book that would allow me to instantly and effortlessly learn all the knowledge it contains, I would choose the book on how to become the prime minister of Canada. Why? Because I would have the power to do many influential things. Our economy is in a very bad shape right now, and the poor Americans are in an even worse situation. In fact, almost every country's, if not all country's, economies are sluggish. We (Canada) have currently over 580 billions of dollars of debt and 2.5 millions of people unemployed. And we don't even need to talk about the USA. The point is, this is unacceptable. 2.5 millions of our fellow citizens unemployed. The rate is 7.6% by the way. The government isn't doing their job right. They aren't doing everything to help the citizens in need. You may have heard of the elections in the United States, which is next November. In a recent interview with CNN, Republican Party candidate Mitt Romney said, ""I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs a repair , I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich.... I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling. We will hear from the Democrat party, the plight of the poor.... You can focus on the very poor, that's not my focus." I shudder at the thought of him in the White House. Anyway, like I said before, the government isn't doing their best to help the needy. They just keep on raising and raising taxes. Well, raising taxes isn't the solution. It's just a postponement to an impending ominous situation, and in this case, the situation is the ever-worsening economy. Prime Minister Harper must learn to balance federal budgets without raising taxes. You know, becoming the prime minister of Canada was never my ambition in life. It never even crossed my mind, until a couple weeks ago, when I asked myself this question. What are our future generations going to do when they wake up in a country with billions, if not trillions, dollars of debt and millions of people out of work? In conclusion, I would like to say that I would like to learn how to become the prime minister of Canada. Not for power, or authority, or anything, but because our country is in trouble, and I want to help the people. No, not just help, serve. To serve the citizens of this great nation. Thank you. – Edward Chen

It was a cold day, and I was bored, so I decided to make a trip to a nearby library. I hadn't been to the library before so I went to the computer and Googled Elmira, Ontario Libraries. Many options popped up, but one stuck out. The description told me it was the best around. I headed out into the blustery weather to experience this library. When I arrived, I was surprised at how quiet it was. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere a frazzled old lady, appeared! She seemed to be the librarian, and proved so by telling me about what a special place this library was. This place wasn't just any old library, it was a magical library, filled with millions of books. The lady explained that any of the books, as soon as you would read it you would instantly become an expert on the  subject. She also told me I would be allowed to choose ONE book. I asked if I could have some time to think about it, as the possibilities were literally endless. The crazy woman allotted ten minutes of time for me think, so I went and sat down in a dusty corner. I considered dance, because I enjoyed it but I decided against it. I considered math, as that would be useful, but I shot down that too. I sat there, puzzled when I came up with what I would choose. I decided on words. Words can mean so much to somebody. They can break a person's heart, or they make somebody feel like jumping for joy. Words can create pictures and images and mean so many endless things! I would decide on words because often I can't find the words to express myself. I use the wrong words and they come out the wrong way, and they can start so many fights. Imagine, knowing just what to say at just the right time. You feel like you're in an impossible situation and you think there is no way out, and suddenly you can blurt out a sentence and make everything alright. Words are powerful. Everybody is hurt by them at some point in their lives, but they also have very positive impacts, more positive than negative. The word knowledge would also help me with my future dream of becoming an author. The more I sat and thought about my choice, the more sure of it I became. I just didn't know how to tell the librarian. (See why I need the book) Suddenly, a ding emanated through the library and the lady appeared. Hesitantly I informed her the book I wanted, not sure of what would happen. A book then appeared in the lady's hands and she showed me the pages. Right after that, I then felt renewed and very knowledgeable. As I left that extraordinary place, I realized I knew just what to say. – Krista Quinn

Well first of all, I would chose the book that contained all the knowledge on medical techniques as well was medical knowledge in general. I would chose this book because in the future I hope to become a doctor that specifically works in the fracture clinic. I want to work in the fracture clinic for many reasons, one of these reasons is that, being a doctor means that you will have a stable job. This is because we will always need doctors which means you will always have a job. Another reason is that I want to become a doctor is that I will reassure you (even though your arm is broken) that every thing is going to be OK, and I will try to cheer you up, and that I will make you look forward to going to the fracture clinic. This is because in the past I have had doctors that were mean and didn't really care, so I want to be a doctor that people actually like. That is why I would want the book that contained the knowledge on medical techniques as well as medical knowledge.-- Joel Neumann

I would choose the book of Everything. If you learn everything about the topic you choose, would it not be wise to pick everything?  You would know everything  about  everything, surely.  Imagine knowing the exact decibels of a monkey's screech in Peru, 1997.  Or, perhaps, knowing how many grains of sand there are, and being able to describe each one to the nanometer.   Would such knowledge not be torture?  A curse?  Would oneís head not expand to the size of a submarine?  With the knowledge of everything on your side, hopefully you could learn to discard random bits of information, and save the important ones.  After all, the book is of everything. -- Tom Paraschuk

If I were to pick any book in the secret library I would pick a book on how to solve the problem of human equality.  The reason I would pick this book is because human equality is a huge problem in third world countries. Before I made this choice I was debating whether or not to pick a book on how to solve world peace. I realized that if the world didn't have bad people and good people in it the world would be a boring place because of nothing stunning really happening. Anyways back to the book on human equality. I chose this book because everyone is entitled to human rights as a human being. Just because you have a different skin colour or believe in different things doesn't mean you are not human. Everybody has their own way of thinking and people need to respect that. In school right now we are doing a unit on black history. After reading some books I felt bad for all the black slaves that were forced into slave work just because of their race or beliefs. I feel ashamed of the people back then that actually went along with this despicable way of thinking. They were back then treated has property of another person which I find absolutely revolting that we would even have done that back in time. Nowadays it has improved just a bit. As I said before in third world countries there are still people that practice this horrible act of enslaving other human beings that are like themselves humans. I want to know how to stop this so that we can start with the small stepping stones and move on to the next ones. One problem at a time until all world problems have been solved. – Field Westbroek

What does it mean to be human? In modern times, this definition has been stretched, crossed out, labeled, and stereotyped - but what does it mean to be a part of this species? The media portrays us as either violent savages or defenders of peace, treats us as shallow, and wants us to buy in to other materialistic satisfaction. The government portrays us as either ignorant to the greater good, or respectable 'citizens', treats us as pests, and wants us to be good little slaves. And we, ourselves, portray our species as either angels or daemons, monsters or heroes; we treat ourselves as either kings or peasants, and we want ourselves to be ourselves, but are afraid that others won't; so we are trapped in haze of uncertainty, too angry to stay, too timid to leave. Any other single subject would either add too much to, or leave too little of, humanity - would all the knowledge in the universe be too much for our race? Would a cure, or a weapon, turn out to be a disease, or a war? Humans are sentient, self-conscious, and intelligent, but are that all that defines us? Abstract thought, poetry, religion, too many others to list, all those are parts of, but do not truly represent the whole of, humanity. If we could just find out what we were, what we were meant to do, how this would affect us! The Book of Humanity should be chosen. Forget wealth, fame, and all those selfish endeavors. We would make better the secondary traits we cherish - medicine, education, free will and speech, all those things we value as 'humanitarian', would drastically improve in quality and quantity. Knowledge, love, hate, war, grief, spirit; all are part of humanity. No doubt the good of humans would outweigh the bad - Would a cure for cancer be found? Would world peace ensue? Most definitely. We don't need to know everything about everything. We just need to know what is human. – Anthony Tan

If I could choose a book that would have all the knowledge about one subject , I would choose the one about quantum mechanics, Because then I would be one step closer to one of my dreams: create a robot. Although it would be only one dream, I noticed, that one can only fulfill one dream in a lifetime. My dream is to make a robot humanoid (Maybe I should have gotten a book about making robot humanoids) that would take on human shape, characteristics, and jobs, like police (Teehee, RoboCop!), but would have superhuman abilities (AAHHHH! Robots taking over the world!). NOTE: The robots will be strictly programmed to do GOOD. These robots will be in different ranks: The lowest, C rank, would be a "normal" household robot. C types would help around in the house: Doing chores, helping around. These will be given some or no special features, but none that are potentially destructive (Such as built-in fire extinguisher, dish-rinser (only water) and a battery recharger.). The next rank is B rank, which would be like a street cleaner, or it would do community affairs, or build buildings. These robots would have more abilities than C ranks, like a built-in jackhammer, some security features, and some cleaning tools. A rank is next. A ranks would be the most respected. They mainly keep order, and serve justice. They would have "superpowers" that would help them fight crime, like "Laser Vision" and "Superspeed" and those kinds of things. These would also be carefully made so it would be nearly impossible to harm. All these humanoids would be very helpful, and I would look forward to making them (If I read enough). -- Jerry Guo

If I had to choose one book out of a library with any topic, I would choose the book "How to be the Best Hockey Player Ever!" I would choose this book because I want to play in the National Hockey League as a forward. When you play in the NHL, you are able to play in the Olympic Games.  I would love to play for Canada and win a GOLD medal!! The book would show me how to be such a good player that I would also be in the hockey hall of fame. The reason I want to do that is because hockey is my favourite thing to do. -- Ryan Elliott.

Zeus, Poisidon, Aphrodite. These are all names of greek gods from greek mythology. I would choose a book about greek mythology. Greek mythology fascinates me and is something I am passionate about.  I would use my knowledge to share stories with every one because I would bring joy with my stories.  Hopefully when people see my passion for greek mythology that may help them find something they are passionate about.  I would love to see the smiles on children's faces and know that I had made them happy.  I would use my knowledge of the book to gain information such as the ranks of each God or Goddess and how they were all related.  The third thing I would use the book for was to find out which powers each god had, especially Zeus, being that he is the most famous god.  With this book, I could combine two of the things that I am most passionate about in life:  greek mythology and helping others. -- Ainslie Unruh

If I were in a secret library and could pick any book on any subject and learn it instantly, I would pick a book on art.  Art is any picture or sculpture made by arranging items like placing colour on paper or canvas.  Art affects how people feel and how they think. Art contains many skills such as the knowledge of pencils, brushes, paints, clay, and all other artist tools.  I would gain the knowledge of precision, perfect measurements, and some other mathematical terms.  It would make me a lot neater, more imaginative and it could help me paint really precise and beautiful paintings.  They would sell for a lot of money and I wouldn't have to have a full time job.  I could also paint pictures of a better future and because they would be so detailed people might help to make this better future come true just like in the painting.  I could paint pictures that would help people see things in a different way.  Art is a way for people of all different languages to communicate so I could make an impact on people who speak languages I do not understand. I am not an expert at art already and it would be a very good subject for me to know more about.  All of this is what I would learn if I knew everything about art. – Brendan Marshall

If I had to choose any book, about anything I could imagine, it would be a book about digital art. I would choose that book because I am very interested in acting. If I could make digital movies, it would be super cool. I would love to know how to make a digital photo-slideshow.  I also think it would be neat to be able to print photos onto a canvas, and put a photo on a wall in my bedroom. If I didn't read this book, I would never know how to do all those amazing things. I am an "artsy" kind of person, but I also have the technology side of me. If I could combine the two, I could learn different ways to create art. The only way to do that is through digital art. I would really like to learn more about technology, and since I like art, it is easier for me to learn about technology through having fun through art. I am a really creative person, who loves to create new things. Digital art is something that would really help me. If I knew all about digital art that could really let my creative energy flow through technology too. Plus, wouldn't it be cool to be holding a playing slideshow? – Marina Simonavic

I would like to have the power of creation! It would be SO great if you can have whatever you want, though if it was a naughty creation it won't be good. It could let you create a knowledge drink that make you have ALL the knowledge about another thing. Let's say we want an instruction manual that is soaking wet we could create one! It could solve almost any problem! We can make our dreams true or make a genius come back alive! We could also create the almost Impossible Time machine or make a new planet like earth an a teleport to travel there. That is why I would want to have the book of the power of creation. -- Henry Hu

If I found a secret library with all the different unique books in the world, but I could only choose one I would choose a book about solar storms. I would make this choice because it would help me with my independent study for enrichment. Also because if I read this book I could go into outer space and look at a solar storm strike and I would know what that type of storm it is. When I do get the book I would make sure that it stays in the right hands so no one would take the book about solar storms and become famous about it. A good idea to do with the book about solar storms is to make an extra page about how to make a solar panel that can absorb the energy from the solar storm and use it to power up the world. If this book ever gets in the wrong hands then I will build a self- destruct button so the book would snap in half and the words will disappear. Over time the book will get old and loose some pages and thatís what happened so now no one could read it. At least I finished the book and finished adding on to it so now I donít have to worry about missing pages. -- Ahmed Mooman

"Come on!" the librarian said quickly as she ushered me inside the library. "What now?" I asked impatiently. "I just...umm..." she stuttered, "I just want you to see this... But you can't tell anyone about it," she said mysteriously. She had just finished talking when I started to push open the second set of heavy wooden doors. I had that feeling you get when your parents tell you to go clean your room, or to shovel the driveway after a huge snowstorm- tiring and unwilling. But I did it anyways, and my attitude turned around completely when I saw the library. My eyes ignited, "Wow", i thought to myself... The average library is filled with books, but not this library.  This library was STUFFED with books it was cluttered with books everywhere. With a quick glance I looked around, and I saw titles of: Scuba diving, Dragons, Apples, everything you could think of! "Choose one of these books. Whichever one you choose, you will instantly and effortlessly learn all the knowledge it contains." the librarian said gently, and slowly she faded away into mist. I looked over and jumped up in surprise. "What just happ..." but I caught myself  as I realized that I really wasn't talking to anyone anymore. Which one to choose... Which one to choose... I thought to myself. I turned to my left. I saw a book that was titled "Climate Change." I grasped the old book, and blew off the dust. I opened it to the first page, and I knew that this was 'the book.' I would choose a book about climate change to first of all, to educate my self about climate change. Seccond of all, in my eyes, global warming and climate change is the worlds biggest problem, because in 10 years if the ice caps melt and sea levels will rise and flood many costal areas, therefore killing many people. Being educated and raising awareness is very important. Some reasons climate change affects me is because now I can't do all of the exciting winter activities that I always look forward to. Also it makes the Canadian winter which is unique to Canadians, not as special, without snow days, snowstorms, and I even miss those days it seems you spend your whole day outside shoveling, and then come inside for hot chocolate. Instead we haven't had more than a week of cold weather, a snowstorm or more then 2 feet of snow. And perhaps this is due to global warming and climate change. I know that it only takes little things to make big differences. So even if every school had a walk to school day where no greenhouse gases from cars were emitted it would have an amazing affect on our enviornment. How much more simple can it get than walking to preserve our earth? -- Jordyn Faiczak

"Why did you lie to me?!" "Sorry, I didn't want to get in trouble." "Well, you're going to be grounded forever!!" Have you ever been in that dilemma and thought, 'I wish I had a book that taught me how to get out of this situation.' If you're a Christian, the first book that would come to mind is the Bible. But you're not sure where to find the help. So the book that I would choose is a book like the Bible but it shows references with the names of the books, the chapters, and the verses for topics so you can look in your actual Bible and know where you're going to look at. Also, the book would talk about the history of Christianity and add facts that the Bible doesn't have. If you're not a Christian, then I think it's time to take up on Christianity because this book has lessons on certain topics and common problems and a section for new believers. Also, this book comes with a copy button on it, so you can copy as many copies (even a gazillion) as you like. It also has this really cool feature which can be explained as a built-in portable computer so you can search up topics since it's an extremely big book. Also, the built-in portable computer (a.k.a The BIP-C) will try to get to know you and give you helpful info if you need it. When you're sad there's this amazing feature named the Comfort Station that will try to comfort you based on what it knows about you.So those were just a few things that the BIP-C and the Bible book do. It can do many other things like it has a game that helps you memorize the books of the Bible and it has weekly quotes from the Bible. I would choose this book because I am a Christian and I want to be better with God, the Bible, and spiritually. Also, I want to learn to quote more Bible verses to help me. Thank you for reading my letter to Loving to Learn. -- Michael Wong

If I found a secret library with all the different unique books in the world, but I could only choose one I would choose a book about solar storms. I would make this choice because it would help me with my independent study for enrichment. Also because if I read this book I could go into outer space and look at a solar storm strike and I would know what that type of storm it is. When I do get the book I would make sure that it stays in the right hands so no one would take the book about solar storms and become famous about it. A good idea to do with the book about solar storms is to make an extra page about how to make a solar panel that can absorb the energy from the solar storm and use it to power up the world. If this book ever gets in the wrong hands then I will build a self- destruct button so the book would snap in half and the words will disappear. Over time the book will get old and loose some pages and thatís what happened so now no one could read it. At least I finished the book and finished adding on to it so now I donít have to worry about missing pages. -- Ahmed Mooman

If I could choose one book to have all the knowledge and skills from, I would choose a book on building structures. I would like to choose this book because I have always wanted to be a builder when I grow up. I could build a home for myself, others or even the homeless and I could be the one who invents or builds the future structures. So that is why I would like to choose this book! -- Cole

Zeus, Poisidon, Aphrodite. These are all names of greek gods from greek mythology. I would choose a book about greek mythology. Greek mythology fascinates me and is something I am passionate about.  I would use my knowledge to share stories with every one because I would bring joy with my stories.  Hopefully when people see my passion for greek mythology that may help them find something they are passionate about.  I would love to see the smiles on children's faces and know that I had made them happy.  I would use my knowledge of the book to gain information such as the ranks of each God or Goddess and how they were all related.  The third thing I would use the book for was to find out which powers each god had, especially Zeus, being that he is the most famous god.  With this book, I could combine two of the things that I am most passionate about in life:  greek mythology and helping others. -- Ainslie Unruh

Well first of all, I would chose the book that contained all the knowledge on medical techniques as well was medical knowledge in general. I would chose this book because in the future I hope to become a doctor that specifically works in the fracture clinic. I want to work in the fracture clinic for many reasons, one of these reasons is that, being a doctor means that you will have a stable job. This is because we will always need doctors which means you will always have a job. Another reason is that I want to become a doctor is that I will reassure you (even though your arm is broken) that every thing is going to be OK, and I will try to cheer you up, and that I will make you look forward to going to the fracture clinic. This is because in the past I have had doctors that were mean and didn't really care, so I want to be a doctor that people actually like. That is why I would want the book that contained the knowledge on medical techniques as well as medical knowledge. -- Joel Neumann

As I chose the book from the shelf, I instantly knew everything in the book, on the reasons behind global warming. I chose this book out of all the other selections of the topic, global warming, simply because, I don't want to die when humanity is behind destroying Mother Nature. I certainly don't want my future generations to die either. Why people don't do anything about it and is concerned, I don't get. Some people aren't even concerned at all. This is one of the reasons that global warming is still happening. If l knew all the reasons causing global warming and causing it to still happen today, then our planet might be saved. Even that one change, no matter how small, would make a big difference. For example, me. If I tell my friends to walk more instead of driving and don't use too much electricity, then they can tell their friends or relatives, and so on. That's just one step to eliminate global warming. – Ting Xiong

If I were to choose any book out of an endless libary filled with books that would instantly teach you about everything about a specific topic, I would choose the book about programming because I could use it to create lots of cool stuff all from my very own imagination, to explore the endless possibilities that a single computer can handle, to be able to create huge projects out of almost nothing at all, I could construct a game to put a smile on people's faces, and most of all, it wold be to have fun. – Kevin Guo

I would choose a book on peacemaking, so I would be an expert on peace making. I would choose this because I could REALLY help the world and stop a huge problem! Anyone can be amazing in math or science if they study hard enough and pay attention all the time in class and go above and beyond. But nobody has succeeded in making world peace, countries just continue to fight. This is a serious problem because every time there's a war it hurts people and kills people, also lots of times families are really low on food because the bombs hurt the farmer's fields. They also don't have that good of a shelter because of the war and bombs might hit it also. With this book I would be able to stop war and keep it stopped for ever because I could teach others how to keep world peace before I die. Stopping war will really help the world because it won't hurt the cities with bombing and other dangerous weapons. Bombs are really not good for the environment especially nuclear bombs so with stopping all wars for ever this could help the environment a lot.  When two or more countries have a problem with each other like one country wants something from the other country and instead of fighting for it I could make a deal which would make all the countries involved happy and keep the peace! So with this all the countries will be pretty happy because they usually get the things they want from other countries and also help the other countries by giving them things that they want. With this book on peacemaking I would reinforce human rights in all countries no matter what colour skin, gender, size, weight, religion or accent. So everyone will be able to go to school and so everyone doesn't get bullied in any form!  Making world peace with this book would probably just take a month so it won't take that long so I could still be a pro baseball like I've always wanted to be and yet make world peace and make it stay for ever with that book. If I had to solve a problem in between two or more countries I could do it just with a phone call to settle it quickly in between games or in the off-season if I was a pro baseball player so that would be good for the countries involved because I would settle it very quickly and make all the countries involved hopefully happy! Being a pro baseball player like I want to be I could help the world even more because I would donate lots of money to charities! – Brian Zapp

The book that I would choose from the Mysterious Librarian would be the book that contains all of the knowledge about the human anatomy and emotions. That way, I could take all of the infromation I I have learned and figure out a cure for almost any disease, both emotional and physical. With the most complex book of human anatomy and emotions and a team of scientists and doctors, I could share my knowledge with the world and help stop cancer, MS, and even AIDS! But I wouldn't take credit for it. I would simply be happy when all of the mental and physical diseases of he world could be treatable.And if I recieved any money from anybody because of my findings, I would donate it back itnto charities, foundations, and research for more findings and research. That way, I could make the most amount of people happy, while still getting joy at the thought of the many people I helped and saved. – Cole Hickman

The answer is really quite simple for me personally. I don't find the need to embellish in an effort to win anything, sorry to disappoint. If such a library ever existed, I would be interested in a book teaching me to retain everything that I read, research or experience in my life. That ability alone would enable me to never repeat the same mistake again, in addition to improving on my/other's pervious experiences and inventions not to mention learning to see every opportunity as learning experience. I don't need to learn how to play the violin like an expert, fix a car, find cure for cancer, human behaviour......if I can learn & retain(and hopefully improve on) what I have learned from the expert in each one of those subjects. In short a book on learning to learn and retain.  -- Darius Shahrokhi

I am a peace-maker. A difference-maker. Non-conformist, A Hippie. Whatever you want to call me. But when I think of these words, I think of the one book I would choose. It would be a book on how to stop war, or, in other words, how to make peace. Imagine, a world without fighting, segregation, or disagreements. If one book could teach me how to stop that? It would be my absolute favourite novel of all time. It would be the key to world peace. Maybe not necessarily the answer to ALL our problems, but to the one I find the most crucial. I believe in taking it in steps, little by little would I take it to changing the world. Peace-maker. Difference-maker. Non-conformist. I like these words, They mean something. A book to stop wars, make peace. That means something. They're connected, like the book is the pebble and these words, these people that these words describe, are the ripple. I would love to be that pebble, that ripple, that change in the ruined, tarnished waters that are our world. To have the power to do that? Unimaginable. Or maybe I should look at this differently. The library, Full of information. The book. The answer to the problem, or the question or the need. We could be that book. I would want to be that book, the instructor, the director, the one that would turn the tables. So that is why my choice would be a book on how to stop wars, or make peace. So now, I leave you to your thoughts. Say my way of thinking is wrong. Call me whatever. But if you don't like my choice of book, don't read my choice of book. Say you want a book on candy, or dogs, or cats. That's just not my type of book. But that's just my opinion. My thoughts. A book to stop wars? Well, that's just the wishful thoughts of a hippi. -- Hannah Kavanagh

The book I would choose would be about a talent I could redeem. Something that could make a difference in our world and change our society for as long as I live. Magic. Not just any ordinary magic trick were you can make a coin disappear or figure out the number on a card. None of that. I'm talking about true magic. The kind that could solve world hunger or save endangered species. Being able to make wishes come true, not just for those we love, but for those we haven't met yet. To make the world a better place. Love is an example of everyday magic, but sometimes hate overpowers love. Nothing can overpower magic. Take Santa Clause for instance, and the magic he possesses. If he can bring joy to all those little girls and boys in just one night every year, imagine what his power could do to the entire world everyday. All you need is love, faith and magic. -- Alyssha  Schneider

If an library where there were millions of book and each was all you need to know about a single topic, Knowledge or skill showed up in front of me and if got to chose one book and all of the knowledge would go into my brain. The book I would chose would be the book with the information about all the books in the library because it would make me the smartest person in the world, give me all knowledge about everything and if I didn't chose the book of all the books in the imaginary library I would be debating with my self for days on which book I would want instead. Some of the books I would be debating on would be the books on Hockey, Soccer, Cancer, Electronics, Robotics, superpower injections etc... That is why if an imaginary library appeared in front of me with every topic, skill or knowledge and from that one book you choose all the knowledge would go to you brain the book I would choose would be the book about all the books in the library. -- James Carr-Pries

I was on my way lessons to become an awesome artist when I tumbled into a magic library where discovered a giant pink silky book titled every thing you need to know about art with a sub title of how to be a fantastic artist over night!  You might be starting to wonder why out of millions of books I chose this one, well the answer is simple I love art and I have since I could walk because art is a fun and exciting way to express  all of you emotions. Did you know that I adore this book? you’re probably thinking why would someone admire a book about art? well here’s why, art is beautiful. I know I know, why would a girl like me care about beauty. Its  because when I see something beautiful I feel joyful, happy and excited. Your probably wanting to know another reason why I picked this book, well I  chose it because i want my art to my art to maybe go into a museum I want my art in a museum so other people can enjoy it to! I love art books so much  and I want to make so much art because art makes people feel great and when otter people feel awesome I feel  fantastic and like I made someones day! this book is amazing  I read it at night then in the morning, I painted the Mona Liza exactly the same as the original . so keep your eyes  peeled for a magic librrary. -- Avery Butters

I thought I had to read every single book about Egyptian History but I was walking around my sisters school I took a peek inside the library and it was a magical place then,  I grabbed  one  book out of a shelf the title was Anubis the ancient mystery I recognized the name I liked it so I got it. You may wonder why I picked this mysterious book out of billions of others, well my Favourite show is about Egyptian history so I am really into it. I also like to learn about other people’s cultures and the languages they speak because I am from a different culture too, so I know there must be many great things  that I can learn from others. I like how the Egyptian people are a bit mysterious because after tons of years. People have found many of the things they hid and they were amazing. When I am older I want to look for  things  like that and find some really extraordinary ones. I saw on my favorite  show that some really old puzzle pieces solved a mystery. I don’t think  they were the  real ones but they sure are cool. I like Egyptian history because it is  cool, mysterious, entertaining  and makes you wonder  about the  culture I would love to learn more about it. -- Daniela Castano

In your body you have 23 pairs of chromosomes.  Sometimes during embryo development something goes wrong and you end up with 3 of chromosome 21.  You will have a developmental delay known as Down Syndrome or Trisomy 21 . Down Syndrome is only one of many developmental delays. What if there was some way or possibly a book that could help me deal with, understand, and possibly cure Down Syndrome? IF there was a book all about Down Syndrome, it would teach me:  how they view the world, how they act and why. It would teach me to see the world through their eyes, to understand what they understand, and to learn what and how they learn. I would learn all the skills and knowledge I would need to communicate and teach them. I know a lot of people with Down Syndrome, and it would really benefit me to have a book about everything I need to know about Trisomy 21. This book would help me to explain to the world that they are no different than you or I, so why teach them differently? They only want to feel normal, but some people point them out in the crowds and giggle. Just think this could have happened to you too. In this book it would tell me if they know their different, if they do it would allow me to help them through the discrimination. This is only one developmental delay, and this is the one I would love to learn about the most.  If I know everything there is to know about Down Syndrome, they will know too! – Haleigh Simpson

Imagine you (or someone you love) have been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Your hair is falling out, you feel week and are contently going to the hospital for routine treatments and check ups. The doctor tells you that you have 2 years to live; you feel desperate, sad, alone, angry, regret, depressed and helpless. I chose a book that would contain all knowledge and insights on how to cure every type of cancer. Not to mention the thousands of people would lead fuller, healthier lives, Canadians would save a lot of money that could be spent researching and finding cures or other afflictions. For example, the annual operating cost of one cancer lab is between 5, 00,000 to 1,000,000 dollars (in Canada). This money could be spent on social programs or other medical services for Canadians. One must also consider the hidden costs of treating patients with cancer. Many patients, who could be working, find themselves unable to do so, resulting in a loss of productivity in the Canadian workforce and economics. Furthermore, cancer does not discriminate based on age. The chances of getting cancer increases as we get older but it can happen at any age. It should be no surprise then that cancer is the leading cause of premature death in Canada. Approximately 75,000 Canadians died from cancer in 2011 alone. Considering a more global prospective, the whole world would benefit from curing cancer in the same way as Canada. All around the globe money is being spent on finding a cure for cancer. This money could be spent on other world issues such as the third world hunger, overpopulation or climate change. There is the hidden cost in the loss of productivity to people all over the world as well. For these reasons I would choose a book that would provide the knowledge of how to cure all types of Cancers to the benefit of Canada and the world. – Yazan Hammoudeh

Like many people, I find even the smallest decisions very challenging.  It therefore goes without saying that if I had the opportunity to read a book that could tell me everything about the subject of my choice, I would have a very hard time choosing a book.  For this reason, I would probably like to read a book on making decisions.  A book like this would be very useful to any reader.  Imagine what it would be like to know that you could always make the right decision!  All your problems, from not knowing what to eat for breakfast, to having to choose what to do after high school would be solved!  Decisions are what shape your future.  For example, what you eat for breakfast plays an important part in determining how you feel and act for the rest of the day, while your post-secondary destination strongly influences what careers you will be able to have for the rest of your life, and therefore, how much money you can earn, and how you will live.  Although it is not the only factor affecting these aspects of your life, it is certainly a significant one.  A book on making decisions would also be useful because there are many more little choices to make everyday now, than there were a few decades ago.  For example, if you want to watch a movie now, you have a seemingly infinite selection to choose from.  You could watch a dvd, go on Netflix, or even just see what’s on one of your many television channels, or in theatres.  Forty years ago, if you wanted to watch a movie, you would have to watch it on the television or in a movie theatre, so there was very little choice.  Being able to effortlessly make decisions, big or small, would make my life much easier.  – Fiona Thistle

If I could pick any book from a secret library I would choose the book that shows me all the powers in the whole universe. I could freeze, rewind and forward time. I would do that if Iím late or early I would be able to float in the air to get to places faster. I would have all the powers of fighting and dodging. I would also have powers of being super smart for all the subjects in school. I would have the powers to duplicate myself. If more than two people want to talk to me that is when I would duplicate. I also would duplicate if anybody in the world is getting kidnapped or fell off a cliff. If I was going on a space shuttle I could breathe without a space suit. In space I could use my psychic power to know where all the cool things are. There would be an everlasting fuel can in the space shuttle.  I would also use my psychic powers to pick up objects then place them or throw them elsewhere without touching them. If I played a sport I could control the ball where I want it to go. If Iím playing soccer and I kick the ball missing the net my psychic powers would control the ball to go straight into the net. I could turn invisible when Iím playing any hiding games or games that you have to run away like tag. I would want to have special powers. Thatís the book I would choose from a[Marker] secret library. -- Keval Tripathi

"Come on!" the librarian said quickly as she ushered me inside the library.

"What now?" I asked impatiently.

"I just...umm..." she stuttered, "I just want you to see this... But you can't tell anyone about it," she said mysteriously.

She had just finished talking when I started to push open the second set of heavy wooden doors. I had that feeling you get when your parents tell you to go clean your room, or to shovel the driveway after a huge snowstorm- tiring and unwilling. But I did it anyways, and my attitude turned around completely when I saw the library. My eyes ignited, "Wow", i thought to myself... The average library is filled with books, but not this library.  This library was STUFFED with books it was cluttered with books everywhere. With a quick glance I looked around, and I saw titles of: Scuba diving, Dragons, Apples, everything you could think of!

"Choose one of these books. Whichever one you choose, you will instantly and effortlessly learn all the knowledge it contains." the librarian said gently, and slowly she faded away into mist.

I looked over and jumped up in surprise. "What just happ..." but I caught myself  as I realized that I really wasn't talking to anyone anymore. Which one to choose... Which one to choose... I thought to myself. I turned to my left. I saw a book that was titled "Climate Change." I grasped the old book, and blew off the dust. I opened it to the first page, and I knew that this was 'the book.'

I would choose a book about climate change to first of all, to educate my self about climate change. Seccond of all, in my eyes, global warming and climate change is the worlds biggest problem, because in 10 years if the ice caps melt and sea levels will rise and flood many costal areas, therefore killing many people. Being educated and raising awareness is very important. Some reasons climate change affects me is because now I can't do all of the exciting winter activities that I always look forward to. Also it makes the Canadian winter which is unique to Canadians, not as special, without snow days, snowstorms, and I even miss those days it seems you spend your whole day outside shoveling, and then come inside for hot chocolate. Instead we haven't had more than a week of cold weather, a snowstorm or more then 2 feet of snow. And perhaps this is due to global warming and climate change. I know that it only takes little things to make big differences. So even if every school had a walk to school day where no greenhouse gases from cars were emitted it would have an amazing affect on our enviornment. How much more simple can it get than walking to preserve our earth?  -- Jordyn Faiczak

My sister passed away three years ago. So the knowledge that I would like to gain from one of the mysterious books would be, “Where is she?” I’d like to know all there is to know about life after death – whether there is such a thing, and if so what it’s like. When I die, will I be able to talk and laugh with my sister once again? In the years since she died, I’ve read many books about these questions. But none of them gave me answers that seemed certain or satisfying. I don’t feel like I have any more knowledge about the question of life after death than I did three years ago. In fact, in many ways I feel more confused now than I did before she died. Having a book to answer all these questions would be a blessing. But only if the book’s answer is “Yes, you’ll see your sister again.” If I were to open up the book and see written on the pages, “She is gone forever,” then I’d rather leave the book on the shelf. – Sheryl Owen

Once upon a time in a far away land a baby was given a gift by her librarian fairy godmother. It was the ability to choose any book from a secret library and instantly and effortlessly learn all the knowledge it contained. When the baby grew into a little girl she said to her mother, “I want a book that teaches me how to read.” But her mother said “If you go to school you’ll make friends as you learn to read.” So she went to school and learnt to read and made lots of friends. When the girl went to high school she said to her father, “I want a book that teaches me all about math and science.” But her father said “If you pay attention to your teachers you will learn how to investigate the world and make sense of it through math and science.” So she paid attention and learnt to investigate and came to love math and science. When the girl went to college she said to her friend, “I want a book that teaches me all about love and passion and emotions,” and her friend said “If you study literature you can learn about love and passions and emotions and if you open your heart you will experience them too.” So she studied and experienced and loved and grew into a woman. When the woman fell in love with a man from a different culture she said to him, “I want a book that teaches me your language and culture,” and he said “If you take the time to experience my culture and study my language you can learn and expand your life, and also gain compassion for those who must learn your culture and your language.” So she experienced and learnt and expanded her life and developed compassion. When the woman had a baby she said to her sister, “I want a book that teaches me how to raise children,” and her sister laughed and said “I read 500 books, but still did not know enough, but if you read, share with other parents, and love your children you will learn humility from your inability to be a perfect parent.” So she read, shared, loved her children and learnt humility. When the woman got sick she said to her children, “I want a book that teaches me how to make myself well,” and her children said “If you trust the physicians and carers who have spent their lives learning and practicing healing they will make you well.” So she trusted the physicians and carers and learned to trust and was made well. Years passed, the old woman lay dying and her librarian fairy godmother came to visit. “Thank you for your gift,” the old woman said, “but I discovered that through learning I made friends, investigated the world, expanded my life and learnt love, compassion, humility, trust, and to love learning itself; things I could never have learned from a book.” -- Cathryn McCormack, Southern Cross University, Australia