The Place I Live Hub City Kids Write about Home By the Children of Spartanburg County ISBN: 1-891885-20-0 Hardback 128 pages, 8.5 x 8.5 Full-color, 120 illustrations Publication Date: October 2001 $20.00

Prompted by the Hub City Writers Project, thousands of elementary students put pen, pencil or crayon to paper to describe and illustrate their little corner of Spartanburg County. From Woodruff to Landrum and Wellford to Clifton, they let their creative juices flow into poetry, stories and artwork.

Their imaginations take us to magical places: to a hole in the ground in Cowpens that Alexis Bailey's stepdad says leads to China; to a crossroads where Hunter Brown says the fields look like "tons of grasshoppers standing on their hind legs"; to a neighborhood where Terrica Mullins says the crying babies sound like "an old granny taking out her teeth."

These children introduce us to Trottin' Sally, Little Pink Anderson and a big tree called "Old Chunky." Some take us to places familiar: the clock tower, the Krispy Kreme and the Beacon. Others invite us to their secret places: the old tub in the woods, an Indian burial grounds, and a spot under the house that helps Josh Barnes "get unmad."

The Place I Live is a rich and often humorous portrait of the Piedmont. With this imaginative volume, the Hub City Kids take their well-deserved place alongside the rest of Spartanburg's Hub City writers.