Grades 6–7
Fantasy/SciFi, Narrative, STEMWritingDigestive Man is the superhero of Jungleville. He goes around to the local farms. The reason he does this is because he is the saver of animals. At night he goes around the farm and feeds every animal healthy foods so they can eat right. There is a villain getting in his way – Corn Boy and his sidekicks the Factory Farmers.
One night, Digestive Man was feeding the animals. He felt like someone was watching him from a distance. As he looked up in the sky he saw someone in a bright yellow suit with a bag of corn. It was Corn Boy! As Corn Boy was about to land on the ground, Digestive Man hid from him. Corn Boy started feeding the cows corn, and that was the last straw for Digestive Man.
Digestive Man came out of his hiding spot and confronted Corn Boy. “We meet once again, Corn Boy,” said Digestive Man. Corn Boy and Digestive Man had met once before, but they hadn’t seen each other since then. Digestive Man saw the bag of corn. Using his telekinesis, he threw the bag of corn as far as he could. He locked yes with Corn Boy. Corn Boy started running at Digestive Man with his superspeed, but Digestive Man saw it coming. There was an animal’s cell that was empty, so Digestive Man tricked Corn Boy to run into it. Digestive Man locked up the cell and gave him corn to eat and see how he liked it.
Once that was done, Digestive Man cleaned up the rest of the corn. He got his bag of grass to feed the cows. He felt like something was still in his way. He went to the factory farmers’ houses and reset the farmers’ clocks. He went back to the animals and fed them before the morning.
Digestive Man felt like his job was done so he left the farm and left Corn Boy in the cell. Digestive Man flew back home. He felt like he saved the animals from Corn Boy, and gave the animals food they deserved, rather than food they couldn’t digest.
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This book is a collection of superhero stories written by 7th graders at PS/MS 7 Samuel Stern in East Harlem. Each story engages with different food justice issues, from the harmful conditions of factory farming to the contamination of our drinking water. For six weeks, these young authors worked with 826NYC volunteers to craft original stories about a superhero bringing salads and fresh vegetables to school cafeterias, a villain who is a slice of pizza, and a monkey who saves the day. So grab a refreshing apple and get ready to meet some of the greatest superheroes you will ever encounter.
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