Neil Armstrong is My Uncle Prize Package

In case you're wondering what's in that Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle Prize Package that Cynthea Liu is auctioning off to raise money for a Title I school in her home state of Oklahoma, here are the details.

• One signed copy of Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me
• A Slinky (not a cheap plastic thing -- a metal one, like the one in the story)
• A box of Fizzies (A 1960s favorite. You drop a Fizzie tablet into a glass of water and watch it fizz. The cherry ones are guaranteed to turn your tongue a brilliant magenta. They're also a good source of vitamin C so you get all that fun and good nutrition too).
• A coffee mug from the incorporated village of Massapequa Park and an I-Heart-Massapequa-Park pin. (Massapequa Park is the setting for the story and my home town. These are classics. It's not like you can walk into a gift store and buy these -- even in Massapequa.)
• A 1960s-style spaced-aged stress-reducing alien toy. (From the box: "watch your troubles melt away when you make the creature's features bulge out of its head!")
• A box of Krishes home-made candy. (It wasn't mentioned in the story, but this store was around in 1969. I have no doubt that Tamara, Muscle Man and the rest of the gang from Ramble Street spent many hours here. This candy is famous. One taste of Krishes home-made chocolate and you will wish you grew up in Massapequa Park too.)
• Oh and yes, those are tootsie rolls in that photo

There are lots of other goodies being auctioned off at Cynthea's Paris Pan Takes a Dare book launch. Check out the rest of the auction. If you're a writer, bid on a critique from an author, editor or agent. The money raised will go to buy leveled readers for a school in need. As Cynthea says, 'take the dare, show you care.' A whole bunch of kids will be grateful for your kindness.