By Tanya Lee 

Illustrated by Tanya Lee 

4th Grade GL Elementary School • Published April, 2006 

Chapter 1. The birth of an angel 

Chapter 2. Introducing me 

Chapter 3. Customs and traditions 

Chapter 4. Start of my education 

Chapter 5. Tales of 1st grade 

Chapter 6. 2nd grade capers 

Chapter 7. Welcome to 3rd grade 

Chapter 8. 4th grade fun 

Chapter 9. Numerous 5th grade memories 

Chapter 10. Finally, middle school 

Chapter 11. Good luck in high school 

Chapter 12. The long years of college 

Chapter 13. Adulthood 

Chapter 14. Hobbies and favorite activities 

Chapter 15. Important memories 

Dedication 

To my wonderful teacher (who is a genius) for helping me edit this book, and to my best friends, Haoling, Pam, Purplehead, and Brittney (Purplelina) for helping and encouraging me to finish my book!! Oh, I almost forgot to also dedicate this book to my other friends. 

Chapter 1. The birth of an angel 

 
Here I am! 

Ten years ago in March 1996, Ahh, Ahh, screamed my mom in pain and agony. It was the 2nd week I was in the hospital. I was finally going to be born after being 2 weeks late for my birth. This is the day I am going to be born in the Vancouver Women's Hospital. As soon as I was born, spank! The doctor had spanked me. Immediately I cried, wah wah!! My mom and dad were so happy that they had brought me a 50 centi., 7.5 pound baby into the world. As soon as I cried, my mom was immediately thinking of a name for me. First my Mom exclaimed, let‘s name her Tian Tian. But my Dad disagreed and corrected, Mary, that's a Chinese name. If you want to translate that to English you can choose either Tanya or Tina. So my mom quickly decided to choose the name Tanya because Tanya sounded like a better name. 

Chapter 2. Introducing me 

Mom, Dad and Me 

My family is the best 

Currently, my family includes my mom, my dad and of course me!!! I was the 1st person in my family to be born in Canada. Anyways, my mom was born in Beijing, China. She has a bachelors degree in software engineering. My dad (A.K.A. Wei Li) was born in the small town of Wuhu. He spent one year of university on the farm, his last degree was a P.H.D in Linguistics. His trait and hobbies include making people laugh, staring at the computer, and playing with me. 

Next on my mom‘s side of the family, I have Grandpa and Grandma, they both are retired and like to enjoy the more relaxing parts about life. For example one time my cousin came to my Grandparents house for supper, but instead of eating, my grandparents and my cousin played a game called war by throwing balls of tissues and empty water bottles at each other. On my dad’s side of the family I have Grandpa. He was born in the town of Wuhu, China in 1936. Grandpa was born on the farm in a poor family and did not go to Elementary School. Even though he didn’t go to Elementary School, at least he had gone to middle school. Unfortunately, he didn‘t go to high school either, but instead continued his education in medical college. As soon as he had gone to Medical College, he met Grandma as his colleague. My Grandpa is still working as a famous surgeon in Wuhu. His hobbies are playing chess and fiddling with electronics. Next is my dad’s brother Da Bai, he was born in 1958 and he is just 2 years older than my dad. Like my dad, he has gotten straight A‘s through middle school. His last degree was a bachelor degree and he went to Lanjing University. His current hobby is swimming, but sometime he's careless. My dad's sister got good grades until Grade 4. Unfortunately she did not go to college, but instead she went to night school. Her hobby is eating meat, but she doesn't have enough nutrition. 

Chapter 3. Customs and traditions 

I love Chinese New Year 

Every family has a tradition, mine just happens to be Chinese New Year. Every year after January 21, our family would celebrate Chinese New Year by going to China to visit all my relatives. 

First my cousin and I would run around our Grandparents house and find something fun to do. Then my Aunt Caihong would take us to the Carnival and give us red bags with $20 in them (my cousin and I usually spend it on presents). As soon as we go back to our grandparents house, our whole family dresses up and goes to a restaurant for a banquet. At the banquet, usually me and my cousin Jing Jing would finish dinner first and drew on the wallpapered walls with water. When we were done, Jing Jing's mom would say, what did you do with the walls?! Quickly we would reply, we were drawing on the walls with water. A minute later Jing Jing's mom would calmly and quickly ignore me and Jing Jing. When cousin Alex was done with dinner, he would try to annoy us. When cousin Alex's dad drove our family and relatives back to my Grandparent's house, since we don't have firecrackers, we stomped on balloons and pretend they are firecrackers. Ten minutes later, we would dress up in a traditional clothing called Tan Zhuang and take a family photo. The last event is me, my cousins Jing Jing and Alex would line up by age and take one red bag from either my Grandma or Grandpa's hand. 

Chapter 4. Start of my education 

My hometown is Buffalo 

As you know you have already read a chapter about my birth, so I'll just go on to preschool. 

 
That’s me! 

June 12th 2000, I was slowly walking toward the front door of the childcare preschool when my dad comforted, don't be scared. But what he said just made me more nervous. When I entered the building, my teacher Mrs. Casey guided me to her room, I saw 6 colorful rooms with awe. But 3 of the rooms were for babies. Two minutes later, my teacher dragged me into her blue classroom. As soon as I entered the blue classroom my dad was about to leave, my eyes started to well up with tears. As soon as my welled up, my dad didn't leave. While I was making crafts and playing, I watched Dad and made sure he didn't exit the classroom. But the principal came and convinced Dad to leave. Soon my eyes welled up with tears again, and I cried non-stop. My teacher tried to comfort me, but there was nothing she could do, so I kept crying until at lunch time I threw up on my clothes. That was my first and worst day of school ever. 

At preschool my favorite book was Clifford the Big Red Dog. My favorite movie was Lady and the Tramp” and I loved to watch Arthur on television. My hobby was running, and my favorite food was pizza. My mom made me memorize every letter in the alphabet, how to add and subtract, how to write simple sentences and how to say my address. 

I went on to North Forest Elementary for Kindergarten. My teacher was Mrs. Hagadorn. My best friend Rena is smart and loves to cheer me up. I loved to listen to music and my favorite food is Chinese dumplings. 

Chapter 5. Tales of 1st grade 

Remember when... 

 
top student 

You just read about preschool and kindergarten, now on to First Grade. ;My best day ever is when my work is the best in the class, for example one time we were learning to write different sentences, my teacher Mrs. Frietag, she used my story sentences as an example!! That made me smile so much that I thought my smile was glued onto my face. My worst day ever is when I got humiliated by my best friend, Rena. One day in January I made another best friend, her name is Amanda. My favorite sport is soccer, and my favorite music is Lilo and Stitch. 

Chapter 6. 2nd grade capers 

Forest Elementary 

Second Grade is about the same as 1st Grade. The only things that are different about Second Grade is Mrs. Corrigan is my teacher now and the person who bothers me the most (M.) will now be in my class.  This was currently the worst year at my life!  M. said, I transferred classes because I was so annoying, but that's not true. At least I'm here with you though (giggle). What annoys me the most about her is she always giggles when she talks, she copies every move I had done (including copying my work) and she always tries to get attention by breaking up friendship to get new friends for herself. So you can say I complain a lot in 2nd Grade. My teacher Mrs. Corrigan is very kind. I think so because every math time we would grab partners and practice multiplication facts and at the end of math our class would play games. My favorite subject is math because I was so good at it. I'm so good at math because my Mom made me chant my multiplication facts in Chinese and made me do extra math at home.That year was kind of awkward for me because every day I came home, I jumped around the house and acted hyper. So I thought that I turned into a Pogo Stick when I came home. My best friends are still Rena and Amanda. But I can't see Rena as often because she's in a different classroom. 

Chapter 7. Welcome to 3rd grade 

I love China 

Welcome to 3rd Grade, my teacher Mrs. Lennert screamed. As soon as I took a glimpse at my teacher, I thought she looked a bit old, but seemed very cheery, until, when I started 3rd Grade she made us learn extra writing. She made us write essays, and persuasive letters to our moms. No matter how much I try, she is always nice to specific people, such as Meagan and Emily who seemed to be the smartest people in the class according to Mrs. Lennert's opinion. In 3rd Grade, Rena and I broke up our friendship because we started arguing a lot. Fortunately I made a new best friend, her name is Cieran. 

That year was the most exciting year because, when spring came I went to China. My trip to China was so fun I bought souvenirs, I visited my relatives, all very fun things, except I had to write a page every day for my teacher to read. My favorite subject was math, and my favorite TV series was Full House. 

Bye bye Buffalo 

Chapter 8. 4th grade fun 

The typical day of 4th Grade goes like this. First I would enter the classroom while my teacher would say cheerfully, Good morning, Tanya. Later, about 5 minutes to be exact, I would go to my desk and wait for everybody to settle down. At 12:15 (after lunch), what almost everybody in 4th Grade is waiting for, specials time. At specials, I would keep my mouth shut while my neighbor, M., (A.K.A. Blabbermouth) would blabber on and on, while I would ignore her completely. The bad part of all this is I had to move in the middle of the year. I thought this was bad news until my dad told me we would move to the City of D. I was overjoyed, and on November 29th our family took a plane to D. while every morning for 2 days, I threw up. When I started school in D., my teacher Mrs. Hagens was the best teacher I had ever had, except there was one problem: I did not have a clue what work they were doing. All I know is, it is much harder than New York school work. My first and only friend when I came here was Haoling. My favorite subject will always be math and my favorite music album is High School Musical. 

Chapter 9. Numerous 5th grade memories 

BBF (Best Friends Forever!) 

my new pals 

 
Last year of Elementary 

In 5th Grade I got Mrs. White for math and Mrs. K for homeroom. Mrs. White lets us play games all the time (she's only here for math), except at the beginning of math class we have to do a little bit of learning or else Mrs. White's classroom wouldn't be part of school!! Mrs. K. is very kind, but sometimes strict too, if you get her mad, she seems like a volcano erupting. In 5th grade Haoling, Purplehead, Brittney, and Pam were my best friends!!! We would always be friends because at the beginning of the 5th grade year we all signed a homemade treaty, so that we would all remain best friends forever. 

My favorite activities were soccer, talking, and going to the mall. I like soccer because I started trying out the soccer team and I made it (just barely). Ever since I made the soccer team, our team had won almost every single soccer game, we were unbeatable. Also I like talking because Pam and I have the common trait of talking (a lot). My friend Pam and I can talk and laugh for hours. That's the funniest and funniest part of our friendship. 

Chapter 10. Finally, middle school 

I am a teenager! 

 
Wonder years 

Middle School seemed to be the busiest year ever! When I first started middle school, I was worried about what teacher was I going to have?! Also Will I make any friends?! I actually had the right to worry. My teacher, Mrs. Kase had brown hair, blue eyes, and she was extremely kind, but she gives an awful lot of homework. 

In 7th Grade I started taking math club, orchestra, and basketball. At first the boys in the basketball club thought that girls are bad at sports, but they changed their minds when I challenged the leader of the boy's basketball team in a basketball contest. To my surprise I won by one point. The people in the math club treated me like the queen of math. They treated me that way because we entered the math national tournament at the beginning of the year and I answered most of the questions and lead my math team to victory. 

I started orchestra in the middle of the freshmen year and took up violin. To my surprise, I was in lots of concerts even before my senior year in Middle school. Middle School was still a challenge because I had to fit basketball practice, violin lessons, practicing violin, studying for math club, and hanging out with my friends all in one schedule. Another bad thing about middle school is, they have ranks, there are the losers, the normal kids, and the popular kids. The most popular group in school, or called royalties, are a bunch of girls who think they're the next queens of the earth. The group is led by a snobby, blond haired, blue eyes (that glare at unpopular kids) girl (whose name is Jamie Montez) whose idea of studying is blowing bubble gum while thinking about boys. They call their group royalties because of acting like royal, spoiled brats. Even though Jamie always thinks and talks about boys, it's really not that bad because I have a crush too: it is named Danny Purplestone. He has brown hair, and blue eyes, and also he is in the football team. Everyday after school, I go hang out with my best friends Pam, Haoling, Brittney, and Purplehead. We usually study and hang out at my house. 

Chapter 11. Good luck in high school 

First date at senior prom 

SATS, SATS 

Jasper High School is a stressful and busy year because we have to take SATS and decide what career were we going to have. The good part about high school is you get to take extra curricular activities. I myself joined the orchestra, the math team, and the basketball team. Since everybody had to pick a 2nd language, I picked Chinese. I had an advantage because when I was in 1st Grade I skipped a grade in Chinese School. Everyday was tiring because I had to practice violin, study Chinese, practice basketball with my friend Pam, do my homework, and make time to hang out with my best friends Purplehead, Pam, Brittney, and Haoling. Anyways when I was in 12th Grade I took a test and got a merit scholar in math and language. Even though I'm overjoyed, the pain-in-the-neck leader of  “The Royalties”, Jamie Montez, had more trouble on the way. This time there is another girl that is going to bully other people around, her name is Hannah Medley, otherwise known as person who knows all insults. Every time I see her, she either ignores me or shows the signal loser, but I was actually one of the most popular girls in school. But how would she know, her brain is the size of a peanut. 

In my last year in high school I got a job as a ticket checker at the Starlight Movie Theater and made $25,000.00 by the end of high school.  I became richer and richer because when I learned how to drive, the next time I got a lottery ticket and I watched TV, I won the lottery of $50,000,000,000,000,000!!!!! 

Anyways my favorite class was language and math because my dad taught me extra languages which make me particularly good at language and my mom is a math genius and taught me college math. Of course, everybody by this time would most likely have a crush, I was one of those people. But I didn't date him and he didn't agree to go with me until senior prom. My new crush's name is Bobby Candid, he is in the football team, already won the grand award, and he has haze eyes and black hair. In my opinion, he is perfect!! 

When I took the SATS, I was sure I have gotten the worst grade, but surprisingly, I got the highest score and got a 5 year scholarship to Harvard. 

Chapter 12. The long years of college 

Tanya or ...Miss Lee??? 

Harvard college did not seem any better than high school. Except for one thing, my new teacher is Mr. Wu, this was the first time I got a man for a teacher. Mr. Wu teaches my math class and I'm his best and most miserable student.  I was miserable because Mr. Wu kept calling me Miss Lee, but I was used to being called Tanya. One day I actually cried because I thought that I would never be called my own name again.  But as long as I saw my friends, I didn't cry any more.  In 12th Grade, I joined the science, cheerleading and math clubs. Now I continued to study the language of Chinese until college was over.  I got a bachelor degree in music, and my major was math and my minor is language. 

 
After bachelor degree, I attended law school to get another degree. Two years later I got a law degree and my education was finally over. Oh and by the way, I had a roommate through college, Brittney. 

Lottery again 

Soon after law school, I went to the supermarket to buy some shampoo and I passed by a lotto machine and bought a lotto ticket. To my surprise, I once again won the lottery of $50,000,000,000,000,000,000. I donated some to charity, mom and dad, and used the rest to pay off my education, with still some money left for me to buy food and clothes. 

Chapter 13. Adulthood 

 
My own castle 

After winning the lottery (AGAIN!!!), I worked as a lawyer in the Tanya Lee's Lawyers for the innocent (named after me).  I married a man named Joey Birmingham.  Joey and I got married in St. Paul Church, in New York, near my old school.  In March 2026, we decided to get married on my birthday because we could have double the celebration and Joey loved celebrations.  While we had our wedding, my mom was sobbing because she thought I was growing up too fast.  Later my mom said, “you could stand on top of your own wedding cake. 

New generation 

Later I earned $5,000,000 per week and my husband, the doctor makes $3,000,000 per week.  Soon we bought a castle the size of the Empire Building.  On June 10th 2029, I gave birth to Amy and on August 12th 2032 I gave birth to Kara.  The babies just keep coming.  On September 15th 2034 I gave birth to twin boys, Tim and Erin.  Lastly, on October 17th 2040, coming the girl Emily. 

Chapter 14.  Hobbies and favorite activities 

After marriage and the agony of birth, I started developing new hobbies and started to attend Yoga and acrobatic classes. My favorite hobbies were shopping, listening to music, going on the Internet, spending time with my kids, helping Amy with her homework, playing footsball with Tim and Erin, playing tennis with Kara, playing doctor with Emily, and hanging out with my pals Brittney, Purplehead, Pam and Haoling. I suspected I would be with Brittney, Purplehead, Pam, and Haoling forever, and I was correct. 

Chapter 15. Important memories 

Good old days 

I may have had lots of memories, but these are the most memorable. My first memories are when I was in high school I got a merit scholar and a 5 year scholarship to Harvard. I got married to a boy named Joey Birmingham and gave birth to 5 kids, Amy, Kara, Erin, Tim and Emily. I became a successful lawyer and my husband is a successful doctor. I won the lottery twice.  My next memory is I got the highest score in the SAT.  As I got older more people wanted me to be their lawyer.  Later my husband and I bought a mansion and we didn't use a mortgage.  One day I heard Amy say, “I have finally decided my career, I'm going to be a lawyer just like you”, I was grinning from ear to ear. 

The author Tanya Lee currently lives in City of T in USA.  She has written many books including Hamtaro, Remember When..., and the Winnie the Pooh Postman.  One of her books (Winnie the Pooh Postman) was made into a movie.  In her free time she likes to play pokemon on her gameboy, draws animals or flowers, and fiddle with electronics. 

WARNING: This book is only for certain people to read, or else !!