Don't Like the Ending? Write Your Own: 7 Books That Practically Demand a Sequel

Every teacher and parent knows the moment. The last page turns, the book closes, and a kid erupts: "That's IT? That can't be how it ends!"

Here's a secret: that frustration is fuel. When a story ends in a way a reader can't accept, the reader's imagination starts fixing it — rewriting scenes, extending plotlines, giving side characters their due. Smart educators call this "fix-it fiction," and it might be the most fun way to turn a passive reader into an active writer.

The trick is choosing the right books. Below are seven titles — a mix of picture books and middle-grade novels — famous for endings that leave doors cracked open. Each one comes with discussion questions and a writing challenge, so the story doesn't have to stop at the back cover.

1. The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss

A boy plants a seed. Everyone says it won't grow. Does the ending pay off? Sort of — but there's a whole growing season of doubt the book skips.

Talk about it: What did the boy do while he waited? What were his family thinking?

Writing challenge: Write the diary of the seed — from the moment it goes into the dirt until it breaks through the soil.

2. Journey by Aaron Becker

This wordless picture book ends with a new adventure beginning, and readers only get pictures to go on. The gaps are enormous — and irresistible.

Talk about it: Where do you think the magic crayon came from? What happens after the last page?

Writing challenge: Write (or draw and caption) the very next journey. Bonus points for inventing a brand-new color with its own power.

3. Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty

Rosie's first flying machine flops — but the story ends at the start of her real journey. Young engineers will have opinions about what she builds next.

Talk about it: What would you invent if you knew your first try might fail?

Writing challenge: Design Rosie's next invention in words. Describe what it does, what goes wrong, and how she fixes it.

4. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Ivan's story resolves beautifully — but it's based on a real gorilla, and readers always want more. What is life like after the ending?

Talk about it: What does Ivan miss about his old life? What surprises him about his new one?

Writing challenge: Write a letter from Ivan to Ruby, one year later. What does he want her to know?

5. Holes by Louis Sachar

Zero and Hector's fates intertwine, but the Yelnats family luck — and the legacy of Green Lake — leaves plenty of threads dangling.

Talk about it: Does the family curse really end? How do you know?

Writing challenge: Write a scene set ten years later. Stanley's little cousin finds something strange in the dried-up lake bed.

6. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

This Newbery winner wraps up its mystery — and then gleefully tells you what happened to everyone, sort of. Sharp readers always suspect there's another game afoot.

Talk about it: Was Sam Westing really gone? Which character do you think figured out the most?

Writing challenge: Invent a second puzzle from the Westing estate. Who inherits it, and what's the first clue?

7. When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller

Lily's bargain with the tiger ends the novel, but the magic — and the family's story — hums with unfinished business.

Talk about it: What did Lily give up? Was the trade worth it?

Writing challenge: Write the story Lily tells her little sister a year later. What has changed about how she talks to tigers?

How to Use Fix-It Fiction at Home or in Class

You don't need a worksheet. You need a snack, a couch (or a rug), and one rule: the author's ending counts, AND your ending counts. Both can be true. That's the magic of stories — they keep going as long as someone keeps imagining them.

A few tips that work in classrooms and living rooms alike:

• Let kids gripe first. Ten seconds of "that ending was unfair!" is prewriting. Don't rush it.
• Lower the stakes. A rewritten ending can be three sentences. It can be a comic strip. It can be told out loud to the dog.
• Compare versions. Read the author's ending, then the kid's ending, side by side. Ask what each one does that the other doesn't. That's literary analysis, disguised as arguing about a tiger.
• Keep a "better endings" notebook. Some kids will fill it with sequels. Some will fill it with complaints. Both are reading deeply.

The best part of fix-it fiction? Kids stop seeing books as finished objects and start seeing them as conversations. And a kid who talks back to a book is exactly the kind of kid who eventually writes one.