THISIS YOUR O NLY CHANCE
WRITING FROM 826MICHIGAN’S
ANN ARBOR AFTER-SCHOOL
WRITING LAB
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN SPRING 2025
826michigan Staff
Megan Shuchman, Executive Director
Kinyel Friday, Operations Director
Megan Gilson, Program Manager
Denise R. Ervin, Program Manager
Amy Sumerton, Communications & Development Manager
Eli Sparkman, Program & Volunteer Coordinator
Diamond Sharpe, Program & Operations Associate
Catherine Calabro Cavin, Grants Writer
Teaching Artists & Apprentices for the 2024-25 School Year:
Paige Bennett
Rachel Chalfant
Jeniya Dabish
Rachel Debolski
Emmett Flinkman
Terance Gordon
Caitlin Koska
Alondra Mireles
Elizabeth Mitchell
Alex Quada
826michigan Board of Directors
Maria Montoya
Holly Hunt
Christopher Ankney
Abby Fanelli
James A. Hiller
Steve Janssens
Tanya Line
Denice Olson
Susan Morrel-Samuels
Patti Wheeler
Copyright © the 2024-25 school year by 826michigan and Blotch Books. All rights reserved by 826michigan, the many whims of Drs. T & G Blotch, and the authors.
The views expressed in this book are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of 826michigan. We believe in the power of youth voice and are thrilled that you picked up this book. No part of this book may be reproduced without express written permission from the publisher, except for small excerpts for the purposes of review or scholarly study.
By purchasing this book, you are helping 826michigan continue to offer free student programs. For more information, please visit: 826michigan.org
This is Your Only Chance
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN SPRING 2025
Jiyul
Aleana
Amy
Anais Choi — 4
Anna Kwak — 8
Charlie Hong — 10
Erin Pyo — 13
Eunchan (Bryan) Kim — 15
Eva McCall — 17
Gwen Etheridge — 20
Hobbs Huebner — 22
Isaac Jeong — 24
Introduction
As with any 826michigan publication, the stories included here are magical. And that’s for one simple reason: our student writers are magical. Their imaginations are vast, their humor is impeccable, their world building is inspirational, and their desire to share their words with readers like you is admirable (and brave!).
Stories have the power to transport us to faraway lands, to new planets, and into unexpected scenarios. In this collection, the words come from the minds and hearts of young writers who worked with teen mentors to bring their ideas to life.
In 826michigan’s writing labs, we explore the magic of storytelling: where crystal dragons roam, heroes save the day, and maybe an evil giraffe plots and schemes. The writing in this publication represents stories crafted in our Ypsilanti After-school Writing Lab, where students practice different habits of successful writers while writing their own unique stories.
And also, with this publication, there’s another aspect to the magic that you may not be able to see, but will certainly feel across all the stories. These pages came to life with the help of a new group of contributors to 826: members from our inaugural Teen Leadership Labs. The Teen Leadership Lab is 826michigan’s latest program offering, wherein a group of high school students bring their unique connections to writing to our youngest authors. This experience of having teen leaders is new to 826, and we couldn’t be more proud of the effort and enthusiasm
that every single mentor has brought to our labs. Just as writing labs focus on the habits of successful writers, Teen Leadership Lab presents teens with a variety of habits that successful leaders exhibit, like leaders bring authenticity and leaders provide feedback and leaders work on themselves in order to support others.
We are delighted to have had nineteen teens participate this first program year, across two semesters, in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. Thank you to every teen leader!
Ann Arbor Teen Leadership Lab
Cy Atkinson
Cece Brown
Camila Reyes-Herrera
Chloe Cordero
Rokaya Elahdan
Hanako McDonald
Maclaren Williams
Izzy Yip
Ella Yip
Rowan Yordy
Ypsilanti Teen Leadership Lab
Mariam Al-Taweel
Mariam Hamdan
Johan Jacob
Chisom Ndukwe
Keira Nguyen
Idris Sarmoum
Sara Sarmoum
Jade Thomas
Lola Upton
We invite you to read these stories with the same sense of fun and passion that these authors and teen leaders embraced while writing them.
—Terance Gordon, Teaching Artist Apprentice & Megan Shuchman, Executive Director
Aleana San Miguel
10
HALLOWEEN NIGHT
Mia and her friends Jackson, Molly, and Piper wanted to go to an old witch’s house on Halloween night. When Halloween night came, they went to the witch’s house. In the house, there were no lights, so they lit a candle. When they lit the candle, the front door opened and the witch came through the door. She demanded to know what they were doing in her house. Mia and her friends did not know what to say. The witch got so mad that she turned Mia into a cat with her wand! Mia’s friends tried to get the wand from the witch. But the witch ran to the other side of the room to grab her broom. Then she ran outside and took off into the air.
Mia and her friends followed on foot. Mia and her friends hoped to steal the wand from the witch to turn Mia back into a human. Then the witch tried to turn Molly into a cat, but she missed. So the witch tried again. This time she hit Molly and turned her into a cat!!
Mia and her friends still chased the witch. Mia and Molly jumped on Piper and Jackson’s backs so they wouldn’t lose all their energy. Piper and Jackson split up so they could catch the witch. Piper went around and ran in front of the witch. The witch got her so scared that she threw the wand
and Jackson caught it.
When Jackson caught the wand, he almost dropped it, and the witch almost got it. Luckily, Piper caught the wand, but Piper did not know how to undo the spell, so Piper and Jackson went to a good witch’s house so they could turn Mia and Molly back into humans. The witch said that she would help. But they needed some ingredients that the good witch didn’t have so they had to travel around Japan to get the ingredients.
Piper and Jackson hoped that they would not run into the bad witch. The first ingredient was wolf fur. So they went to the barber shop to get some. The barber was nice and let them have some wolf fur.
The next ingredient was tiger’s blood. So they went to the nicest tiger in town and they let them have some blood. They said thank you and they were off. Then they went back to the good witch’s house and put the potion together. They used a potion instead of a spell and it worked.
Mia and Molly were humans! Then Mia, Molly, Piper, and Jackson went back home and then the next day they went to school. They told all their friends, but no one believed them.
Amy Lee
8
PEPPER THE CAT
Hi, I am Pepper. I am a cat and I live in a park. I have a sister. She is five! I am three!
Me and my sister were looking for food. We were walking for so long. I was talking to my sister while I was walking, so I went very slow. I asked if I could stop because I was tired.
“OK,” my sister said.
Then we were walking again! I could smell fish while we were walking. I said, “I am very, very tired.” I was tired as a bear! “Why is it taking so long?”
My sister said, “I do not know.”
While we were walking, it was not very loud so I called out to my sister. She was not there!!! I called and called but she was not there!!! I walked and called. Walked and called. I looked all over the park. I even looked in the dog park, but she was not there! Where was she!?!?
Then I met a dog whose name was Lila. She was kind. She helped me to find my sister and she knew every place in the park. She led me into the woods but we got chased by two foxes! I ran down into the very big woods!!! Good news—Lila was with me. I was looking at my sister!!!! And, good news, she was fine. Lila knew a way to get out of there. As we went out, Lila talked about where we could find food. We went as we talked! After we ate, we brought stuff out. Me and my sister were happy again and had a new friend, and they had food, too! We were happy again!!!
Anais Choi
Age 10
ESCAPEE
Chapter 1
The clouds were slowly turning over the sky as Brunhilde stared out of the windows and turned to look at the library and the worn books. Now, it was quieter than the regular sounds of the library. During the daytime, this place was full of constant chatter. Through all the warnings the librarians gave them, the chatter never died down. At least, not in Wolo’s largest library—Ostilrek. This was also the most cherished and oldest library in Wolo, and there were many. It was a sacred place, although barely anyone thought of it as anything but a hang-out place. Except for Brunhilde. She went there to read books, ones that were filled with different worlds and mythical creatures. The pages of the books were as wrinkled as the creases on Ma’s forehead whenever Brunhilde came home late. She hadn’t meant to stay after the library closed, she had just been reading and had got caught in the climax of her story.
“Still there?” a voice asked. It was high and sounded questioning.
Brunhilde quickly turned around and said, “Remy? What are you doing here?”
Remy’s icy blond hair swished as she sat next to Brunhilde and exclaimed, “I should ask you that. Well, the answer is I can’t stand Rico and Opi.”
Brunhilde cocked her head and asked, “But don’t you
guys always get along?”
“Usually, but today, no,” Remy said and nudged Brunhilde for her answer. “What about you?”
“I don’t know. I like being with the books,” Brunhilde answered, shrugging as she picked up the book and put it close to her face, but she wasn’t reading it. How could she?
“Hmm, that’s not all with you, though,” Remy said, but quickly stood up and walked away, leaving Brunhilde alone. Brunhilde agreed. It wasn’t all to her. She had heard that there was a secret library hidden behind some shelves. She didn’t know which, but that was why Brunhilde was staying here overnight.
She walked over to a section that she suspected was the banned books section and made her way in. It was a battered, old place that could fit five people at most, and there were tons of books in there, more than she could count. She spied a book that was titled Unclearing the History of the Realms. That sounded trusting enough. Brunhilde opened the book and started reading the first page:
Long ago, there was a war. It lasted a hundred years, causing the world to create different realms. Believe it or not, this world used to be united, and there were no enemies or conflicts. Young one, the first realm to ever exist was Elde, although people say it was the last one.
She stopped reading then, and she tried to discern the information she had just learned. How could there be so much information that had been hidden for so long? Every textbook, every speech, pointed otherwise.
“Brunhilde, is that you?” a scruffy, loud voice said. Brunhilde hadn’t seen him when he came in. It was Tylen, Chief of Wolo. How could she have let herself get caught?
“Oh. Hey, Tylen. I was just, uh, exploring,” Brunhilde
explained, quickly hiding the book behind her back.
“I’m afraid that reading banned books comes with a price. A BIG price,” Tylen said, and dragged Brunhilde painfully out of the library, with Norm trailing by her side, whimpering.
Chapter 2
The sky faded to a dark, ashy color as Brunhilde went on, nursing soldiers. She still couldn’t comprehend how, just days ago, she had been in Wolo talking to Remy. Norm was asleep next to her, his paw pressing her leg like he was assuring her. She had found him when she was just eight years old.
“Brunhilde, you may go to your place now,” Ohrino’s gentle, calm voice whispered from behind Brunhilde’s back. It was unfair how she had to work such late hours.
The gruesome walk home was something that ignited a fire inside her heart, begging her to create a plan to escape from the depths of Verkelo and return to Wolo.
“Norm, it’s time to make a plan,” Brunhilde said to Norm, who was walking saggily down the road, muddy water splashing up. If she got caught, chances were, she would go to court, and the consequences were too horrible to think of.
Brunhilde thought that night, until she had the perfect plan.
Chapter 3
“Come on Norm, Let’s go,” Brunhilde whispered, tugging at the loose strand of hair that hung in front of her face.
Norm whined, pawing Brunhilde as she walked, his tail curled under his stomach.
“What’s wrong?” asked Brunhilde, turning around to stare at Norm. Although he was smart, he wasn’t always brave.
The whining became louder as Brunhilde lifted him up and continued walking. Norm was clearly scared, but she wouldn’t go to court without him—she couldn’t. Ever since she had found Norm as a stray, they both were inseparable.
They neared the large building where court was to be held, and Brunhilde could feel herself tense as the doors opened and Hiegol stepped out, holding a stack of papers, and motioning for Bruhhilde to follow him.
Norm whined once more, but when Brunhilde placed him on the ground, he didn’t budge. His fear was smaller than his love for Brunhilde apparently.
“Greetings, Miss Brunhilde. You’re late,” Judge Milen said, clicking her tongue when she said it.
“Judge, she brought the dog with her! Certainly that’s not allowed,” Hiegol exclaimed, sitting down next to a middleaged woman.
Milen sighed and answered, “Surely you don’t think that scrappy dog could harm anything.” When hearing that, Hiegol went silent.
Milen started again, and this time, Brunhilde was chilled. “Well, now that everyone is present, I can pronounce—this case shall begin!”
Anna Kwak
MIMI THE SNAIL
There once was a snail who lived in a tiny mushroom house in a tiny village called Mushville. She was a lonely little snail who wanted a friend. She had a light pink shell speckled with green. Mimi had moved into Mushville two weeks ago, and only had a pet pebble named Dot to accompany her. One day, after deciding to try to find a friend, she ventured out of her home and headed to the park.
The moment she stepped into the park, all eyes turned toward Mimi. The townspeople had never seen anyone new to their village in ages, and this anyone was different. Unlike all the ladybugs who had lived there for generations to come, a snail, to their eyes, was really quite weird. They all whispered and muttered to one another as Mimi nervously glided by.
“Look at what she’s leaving behind!”
“What is that?”
“She looks so weird.”
“Why is she carrying that thing on her back?”
Mimi wanted to make herself tiny and hide. But she bravely told herself to keep going and search for the perfect friend. And then, among all of the black spots and red wings, Mimi saw a little patch of green and curiously headed toward the eye-catching creature. She saw that it was a katydid, and he seemed to be also looking for a friend. He
noticed Mimi heading toward him and quickly said, without thinking, “Hey! My name’s Clover. What’s yours?”
Mimi hesitated, but replied, “I’m Mimi.” She smiled the brightest smile she could manage.
Clover smiled back, and asked, “Are you new here? I moved here just a few weeks ago.”
“Same!”
“I came here to see if I could make a friend, and well . . . here l am!” Clover started to run to the playground, and soon Mimi followed. The two friends played until sundown and promised each other that they would play tomorrow as well. Mimi had forgotten all about the nervousness she’d had had earlier in the day.
Only a few weeks later the two creatures were the bestest of buddies. Mimi and Clover would play every day and would laugh until their ribs ached.
One warm summer evening, while the two friends were watching a sunset together, Mimi said to Clover, “I’m glad I moved to Mushville,” and leaned over into Clover’s shoulder.
Clover did the same, and replied, “Me, too.”
Charlie Hong
Age 10
THE BLACK HOLE
PORTAL
Chapter 1: The Black Hole
They were going to space and their names were Leaon, Den, and Mr. William. Leaon is a smart driver, Den can fix everything, and Mr. William is the best leader of the spaceship. They were going to the moon because the other team forgot something, and they were on another planet. And they could get a bonus for a new spaceship.
But then Mr. Willam said, “There is a black hole.”
“We don’t have to go into the black hole.”
“No, we are going into the black hole. What should we do?”
Chapter 2: New World
“Leaon, use the full power of the spaceship.”
And an asteroid hit the spaceship’s left wings.
“Oh no!” said Den. “Why?”
“Leaon, I think the spaceship’s left wing broke.”
So, they went into the black hole. Twelve hours later, they were on another planet. There were other aliens, but they saw what looked like a sky-blue bunny and the grass was pink. The sky was the same as on Earth.
“OK, what is going on?” said Den.
“Good thing I have an alien translator,” said Leon.
And then they heard something, with the translator:
//\///\/\/\\/\\/0\\/\/0\\0////\0\\/0 Who are these white things and what are those huge white things?
Then Mr. William said, “Hello, we are from Earth and our spaceship has been broken, so we got into the black hole. Can you help us?”
/0\//\\/\0/ I heard if you get the five power stones, then you can do everything. So, I think I can help you.
And then, //0\\0//0 helped them go to the power stone. But the //0\\0//0 showed them other aliens.
/0\//0//\/\. This is Bloofy. He can help you guys.
7LC5ORY*0/!?7L. Hello, something.
Chapter 3: A Hard and Final
“Iwill give you someone to help you fight, because there are lots of monsters,” said Bloofy. So we went somewhere like a jungle. And a monster attacked us. We used our weapons and attacked and then two days passed. Then the Earth candy fell from the sky. It said, “Haha,” and I just propped it. We saw the rainbow powerstone and the big monster. We used all the weapons. But it was no use. The monster was OK. So we used our skills and we won.
“Now, let’s go back,” said Mr. William. And we finally used the power stone and made the portal.
The power stone was changed and was a little dark.
“OK, now there is the last portal,” said Mr. Willam. “Is everyone ready?”
“Yes, Mr. William,” said Leaon.
But the portal disappeared.
“Den, what is happening?” said Leaon.
“I think the portal switch has a little problem,” said Den.
Then Mr. Willam said, “Bloofy, can you do this?”
They used the translator.
**->6#@..o_l77L||** OK so I think the power stone’s got a problem. @oo-l-|->.@_..9-o. I will just use my power or I can just fix it. Wooosheee.
“Yay, we are back,” said Den.
“But I can’t keep thinking about Bloofy,” said Leaon.
Wooshee.
“What is that portal?”
“No, we are going into the portal.”
“OK, let’s gooo!”
The End.
(But where did the “haha” candy come from?)
Age 9
MAGICAL ESME
Rose has brown fur, white and blue eyes, and ears as big as lemons. Esme is as big as a refrigerator, shiny like silver, and shaped like a panda! Cat Rose wants to play with Robot Esme in Rose’s house, but the problem is Esme is a super big robot. Rose is sad about that because Esme can’t fit in Rose’s house.
When Rose gets much more money, Rose really wants to play with Esme. Rose gets money for her house by working at 826michigan. The problem gets solved because Rose gets a much bigger house!
Rose calls Esme. “Esme can you come to my house?”
“But your house is small for me,” says Esme.
“I bought a new big house,” says Rose.
Esme comes to Rose’s new house. Rose is so happy.
“Happy to see you!”
But they have a new problem because Esme is so excited to be in Rose’s big house. Esme stomps on Rose by accident.
Rose is mad at Esme. “Go away, Esme!” says Rose.
“I’m so sorry!” says Esme.
Esme is so sad because she stomped on Rose and Rose is mad at Esme.
A couple weeks later . . .
Esme goes to Rose’s house and knocks on Rose’s house door.
“Rose, I’m so sorry,” said Esme. “I’m OK.”
They became best friends and played in Rose’s house for twenty whole months!!!!!! In that time, Esme showed Rose she could do magic because Rose didn’t know Esme could do magic. Do you know what kind of magic Esme did? She showed a water bottle in the air, as well as teleportation. Rose was surprised at Esme! Rose wanted Esme to live with her.
“Esme if you want to live in my home, you can!” Esme said, “Sure, why not!” They lived happily ever after.
Eunchan (Bryan) Kim
FLUFFY'S ADVENTURE
Along time ago in the galaxy somewhere on some star, there was a monster named “Fluffy.” Fluffy smelled like sweet candy and he had a big horn on top of his head. And he looked like a circle. So he thought, All people will be like me.
So days later, Fluffy tried to find his friend. But nobody wanted to be friends with Fluffy. And then he found the problem. The problem was that Fluffy was a monster!! And he had another big dream from his mother: to travel all the galaxy.
A few hours later he was ready for travel!! But his mother said, “You can’t travel alone because you’re too slow so you need a starship.”
Fluffy was sad his dream was all difficult for him.
A few years later when he was twelve years old, he found a way to get friends. So he made a project for friends. That project was to help another person, because other people thought, All monsters are bad, so that monster will be bad too. But if Fluffy helped them, they would think Fluffy was good.
So Fluffy said, “I will start tomorrow.”
And that project ended well because Fluffy had friends now!!! Fluffy was happy because he had friends. Now he needed a starship to travel this galaxy. Fluffy’s friend had
an idea. “We can make another friend who can make a starship.”
But another friend said, “I know this idea is great, but I have a better idea. We can make a starship easily because I have a magic droid named 4P-R5.”
“Yeah, that is a great idea!!” Fluffy said.
Days passed and they were ready to make a starship with 4P-R5. 4P-R5 made a sound and pop!!! and 4P-R5 made a strong and cool starship. Now Fluffy and his friends would travel the galaxy.
A few days later, Fluffy and his friends were traveling to a planet named BBCCK. Because Fluffy’s grandmother and grandfather lived on BBCCK. On BBCCK they can play anything they want because BBCCK is a magic planet, but Fluffy was sad because his grandmother and grandfather died on BBCCK.
So Fluffy got out of BBCCK. And Fluffy traveled to a few more planets, but all the planets are not funny. So he and his friends thought, We need to go back to our place. And Fluffy and his friends played at their place and they finally had fun. So they lived there.
When Fluffy was ten billion years old, he got married and he had a baby named Fluffy Jr. When Fluffy Jr. was twenty-three years old, his parents died by an evil alien. And Fluffy Jr. was very angry so he went to the evil alien and Fluffy Jr. destroyed the evil alien. However, one of the aliens left attacked Fluffy Jr. and he died. And one of the aliens left was a robot sent by Fluffy?!! Because Fluffy missed him. However, he wanted to live happily in heaven forever.
Eva McCall
Age 10
THE TREEFROG THAT LIVED IN THE FOREST
Otho the tree frog lived in the forest. He did not know exactly what kind of forest it was, or where. But this is something, reader, that you should know about Otho, and that is that he just didn’t care. He had no imagination whatsoever and if he ever caught himself wondering about anything—anything at all—he would whisper his mantra, “Don’t dilly dally in the daisies.” His life was so boring and unremarkable that it is a phenomenon that he hasn’t been bored to death.
Otho had somehow come to understand that tree frog mating season had come. His instincts were taking him forward into the mating grounds. They happened to be in the center of the forest. This was his ninth outing and he did not know the forest well. He barely left his tree, where he had everything he needed. He recited his mantra, jumped down from his tree, and began the journey. He started off well, but then he got lost on the way to the center of the forest. He took a nervous step forward, and then he heard a sickening sound. SNAP! A pitcher plant wrapped around Otho’s body, crushing him. It was pure agony. Then he died.
Everything was white, but somehow, at the same time, it wasn’t. It was no color at all. It was just nothing. White nothing.
“HELLO. I SEE THAT YOU ARE FINALLY HERE.”
Otho was surprised. He had a very good reason to be. Standing behind him was not someone he wanted to see. He almost choked on the word.“B-but you’re Death!” he spluttered.
“YES, I AM. WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO BACK TO THE LAND OF THE LIVING?” Death said as if this was like throwing a paper airplane and not something impossible like bending space and time.
“B-but I c-can’t.”
“YES, YOU CAN. THIS IS YOUR ONLY CHANCE.”
“I guess I have some things in my life that need finishing.” Otho thought this was only fair.
“AH, YES. ABOUT THAT, YOU WILL NEVER BE A TREE FROG AGAIN.”
“Wait but—”
“BYE BYE.”
Disappointing. That was Otho’s last thought in the land of the dead.
In a flash, yellow this time, Otho was back to the land of the living. As life was surging through his numb body, he realized that he had not been breathing. The only sensible thing to do was to continue his old life. He tried to hop to the mating grounds and saw that his body would not budge. It was frustrating, really. He pulled and pulled but his feet were firmly stuck to the ground. He looked down at his body. This was the shock of a lifetime.
He tried to scream but all that came out was a small “Urk.” He was a pitcher plant! Out of all the things in the forest, he was a—buzz—before he could think, he had reached out and grabbed the fly with his powerful jaws. As he swallowed the delicious insect he felt a new feeling— pride. He quite liked this new feeling. And liking anything was new as well. He soon became aware of the vast varieties
of feelings open to him. As he explored this new wheel of feeling, he now knew what he had been missing.
Within two weeks, he found a sudden thirst for knowledge accompanied by many curiosities about his new body. By day, he listened to the chatter of the animals that inhabited his area and he learned that he was in a rainforest called the Great World Rainforest. On one side, four huge waterfalls led into the ocean. There was a wonderful river that flowed past him, watering his roots. The dark corner was full of terrible creatures and dark magic. The forest was crowded with trees. By night, he named the stars. He found at least one new star and named it before he fell asleep. He raised life and became a sponsor of learning. One evening he thought about how Death had saved him. He wondered why. He had no idea he would soon have a chance to find out. One night he fell asleep and never woke up.
“HELLO,” said Death.
And they walked away, happy.
Epilogue
A pitcher plant snapped. In its jaws was a stunned lincekfly. Death laughed.
Gwen Etheridge
VOWS AND VOWELS
Every day, I walk the halls of Ridgewood High, feeling the weight of eyes on me. They don’t see the truth, though. They see the perfect couple. Parker and Otis. We smile, we laugh. But behind that facade, everything is unraveling. Otis’s charm is magnetic. He pulls people in, and I’m no exception. At first, I thought I was lucky. But luck can be a cruel joke. Each whispered word from him feels like a thread, weaving me tighter into his world. I can’t escape. His friends warned me, the few he has. They say he’s manipulative, that he plays with hearts like toys. I brush it off. Who would believe them? But the tension in the air thickens.
Every secret he keeps pulls me closer to the edge. I can feel the cliff beneath my feet. One wrong move, and I could fall. Or worse, I could drag someone down with me.
“Did you hear the rumor?” whispers a girl nearby, her voice barely above the din. I lean in, snapping back to reality.
“Hello, light of my life!” Otis practically sings, skipping into the cafeteria. His voice fills my mouth with a sour taste. My mood and my appetite ruined.
“Did you hear about Arden? She’s a lesbian!” He chuckles. My boyfriend thinks it’s no big deal. He laughs it off and walks away, but I can’t help but feel uneasy. I want her to feel safe. I want her to know we’re in this together, whatever this is.
But then, I think about how I feel. I’ve never been the loudest in the room. I fade into the background. I’ve watched
the way people look at each other, the way they share their truths. I want that. I want to be brave, to say, “Yeah, so what if Arden loves girls?” But here I am, hiding behind my lunch tray, too scared to speak up.
I stand up, dumping my lunch into the trash. I practically drag myself to my locker; I look around for Otis.
Speak of the devil, but even that is an understatement. I slam my locker shut, the echo reverberating in the empty hallway, mirroring the chaos in my mind. Otis’s anger lingers like a thick fog, suffocating. He never understands. Not really. I glance at the old photographs taped inside my locker, reminders of a time before the walls felt like they were closing in. A time when laughter filled these halls, not shadows.
But now, everything feels heavy. I can almost hear the whispers of our classmates, their judgment circling like vultures. I exhale sharply, pushing past the fear and frustration. I can’t let Otis’s rage define me. I need to reclaim my space, my story. As I turn to leave, a flicker of determination ignites within me. Maybe today, I will stand my ground.
I walk to class, my thrift store shoes dragging slightly. The dirt from the garden clings stubbornly to the soles. Each step reminds me of the mushrooms, how they thrive in damp corners of our little yard. The weather in Astoria is crappy, but it gives life to our crops.
It’s a cycle I’ve come to accept, just like the weight of my family’s story. My mom’s absence is a shadow that looms over us. Life sentences carry a weight that’s hard to comprehend. Yet, I find solace in the rhythm of our daily lives.
To be continued . . .
Hobbs Huebner
LEAFY AND THE MAGICAL FOREST
One day, Leafy was going to go to his friend
Shelly’s house when Shelly burst out the door and said, “I’m so excited! I can’t wait!” Then they took a walk. When they were about halfway to the forest, they tripped on a rock and came tumbling down the mountain. They were rolling down into the spring!
Then . . . PLOP! They were in the spring! Something was under them.
“Ahh!” Shelly shouted.
The thing rose up and said, “Hello.” It was a dog. The dog said, “My name is Furry.” And the dog started to fly up to the sky! “Help!” Furry yelped. He was tied to a string that led to a sugar plum (not the same kind of sugar plum from The Nutcracker) in the sky!
Shelly noticed a tiny string tied onto the string that was holding Furry. She grabbed it and desperately said, “Grab on!”
And Leafy grabbed the string. They climbed up the string and yelled to Furry, “We’re going to cut the string!”
They pulled out the scissors that they’d packed just in case and started cutting the string. And they started climbing the string. They were cutting the string but . . . rip!
The string broke!
Leafy and Shelly screamed because they were falling!
Shelly shouted separately, “Dragon!” and a teal shadow came toward them.
“What do you need?” said Dragon as they went on his back.
“We need to free that dog from the string!” Shelly said. And Dragon flew over and bit the string and they started climbing up the mountain. They were about halfway up the mountain when they slipped on a shiny thing in the dirt. And they went tumbling down the mountain! They switched directions when they went crashing into a log and then they were going down a waterfall!
“Help!” they screamed.
When they woke up, someone was gazing down at them . . .
Isaac Jeong
THE ONLY SURVIVANT
Prologue
The shark was ten feet behind me. Eight feet. Six feet. Three feet. One foot. It jumped out of the water and charged at me. I looked back and saw rows of razor sharp teeth, jet black eyes, a vicious expression (if sharks had expressions), and dark gray skin. I swam with all my remaining energy, just barely dodging the attacks. My energy was draining and the shark was gaining. It could’ve been any one of 8.2 billion people. Of course it was me. I cursed, which was pretty dumb because that was just wasting my energy. I could finally see land. Far away but I was almost sure it was land. I thought, Maybe I can get to it. It was a hopeful thought. It would be the only way I could possibly survive. I was so close. So close . . .
I was washed up on the beach, a long deep gash along my left arm. It looked pretty deep. It didn’t bother me as much as my head. My head was like there were no thoughts. It was a painful feeling. It was a warm sandy tropical paradise; it would have been, if not for the circumstances. I felt tired. I wanted to go to sleep. Minutes passed, my eyes couldn’t take it anymore. My eyelids were like lead. Eventually, I fell asleep. In my dream, I was standing in a pit. A deep voice was trying to convince me to jump in. My body was like a statue, frozen in fear. This couldn’t be the end, I thought. Soon the pit collapsed, sucking me in. I held on for dear life. But then I thought, If this is my fate, I’ll have to accept it . . .
Jisung Baik
Age 10
A GOLDFISH THAT WANTS TO GET EATEN
Once upon a time, there was a goldfish named Silverfish. Silverfish always wanted to get eaten so he could be revived and get stronger, but nobody wanted to eat Silverfish because he was stinky. One day, Silverfish almost got into a human’s mouth, but the human had a heart attack so he couldn’t eat Silverfish. Silverfish was so sad.
Silverfish thought there must be one person who would like to eat him and so he started to travel the world to find someone who would eat him. Silverfish couldn’t find anyone. Silverfish was so sad but then one goldfish swam up and said, “It feels so sad to have no one to eat you. I also don’t have anyone to eat me?”
The goldfish’s name was Eunchanfish. Silverfish and Eunchanfish fell in love and they married. After one year, one goldfish named Diamondfish came and said, “I’m Diamondfish. I am mean and bad.”
Goldfish started to say, “I don’t like bad people,” but Diamondfish started to attack Silverfish. Silverfish and Eunchanfish ran away. Silverfish thought he needed to get eaten as soon as he could so he could get stronger. He started to travel again.
One day, one person picked him up. Silverfish thought the person was going to eat him but he just tried to put
Silverfish in the trash can. He ran. After one year, he met someone and he taught Silverfish Fish Fish attack, and he trained the skill. Silverfish met Hahigot, a creature he could ride on. He met a person named the Person. The Person stared at Silverfish. Silverfish was scared he was going to throw him in the trash. Silverfish started to run. The person chased him. Silverfish blew the whistle and Hahigot went out. Silverfish got on Hahigot and rode. The person got tired and couldn’t chase anymore, but Diamondfish just came out and said, “I can’t let you run away! Haha!”
Silverfish took out his sword. “Fish Fish secret move! . . . ASDH,” Silverfish said. Diamondfish also used his strongest move and, at last, Silverfish won. He thought he was safe, but while Silverfish was fighting the Person came. The Person picked him up. Silverfish was scared. The Person put Silverfish inside his mouth. The Person was a person who liked stinky things! Silverfish revived and became stronger. Silverfish and Eunfish lived happily.
Jiyul Colin Pyo
Age 11
WAR 전쟁
The one-eyed captain invented the big and powerful submarine with his followers. He has forty followers. The submarine could even make air and water. He also invented a powerful weapon that other people couldn’t even invent. And he caught fish and other animals in the sea to make food. He wanted to punish all of the people who live on Earth because people destroyed the ocean. He liked the ocean very much.
He decided to use magic to turn people into leaves. He discovered magic in an old book in a chest at the bottom of the sea. He practiced many times with his followers. They were ready for the war to begin. But they had a problem. The problem was that other people noticed, because one of his followers was a spy and spies stole the magic book. That was the problem!
At the end of the magic book someone wrote, “Some other spy is trying to steal the magic. It is gone from the world forever.” So the magic was gone.
The one-eyed captain thought hard. He could see the ocean through the glass in the submarine. One day he had an idea. He could use the same weapon. The weapon could reverse any attack. The other weapon could cut anything on Earth except the same weapon. He would use the weapon to destroy all the people. But the world-famous scientist invented and protected the reverse. So the first weapon was
not useful. Finally, the war began.
The other weapon was an electric sword. For the first time the one-eyed captain and his followers looked like they were going to win. But their enemy was much more powerful than they thought because the spy also stole their weapon. The world-famous scientist found how to make the weapon. The one-eyed captain and his followers fought well, but they lost people. This problem was the reason why they lost. Because they lived in the land of people, people made a big army so everyone except the one-eyed captain, all of his followers, died.
The one-eyed captain ran away to a far, far galaxy. He decided to seek some revenge. So he made a robot army on another planet like Earth. The robot army was more powerful than humans. He upgraded his weapon. The electric weapon was tuned so it could reverse and cut anything. And he made a shield to protect from attacks. Twenty years later, the one-eyed captain was back on Earth. His revenge started. The big war was starting again.
For the first time his army was more powerful than the land people’s army. So land people got someone to help. They found Cowan, who lost his parents. He really wanted to destroy the one-eyed captain. He was feeling revenge toward the one-eyed captain. So Cowan snuck into one-eyed captain’s submarine and Cowan entered his room. Cowan passed the security system and Cowan found the one-eyed captain asleep in his bed. Cowan tried to get him, but the one-eyed captain woke up and grabbed his electric sword and blocked Cowan’s sword. They were fighting and went to the control room, but the one-eyed captain smashed the controller and the submarine went out of control. His robot army was powered off and the submarine crashed into the huge rock and the submarine sank into the ocean. But Cowan and the one-eyed captain kept fighting and they sank to the bottom of the sea.
Kanaka Munajat
Age 11
THE LIFE OF AN ORPHANED CAT
Prologue
Seven moons ago in a tiny little forest laid four cats. One was a grown-up, the rest were kits. The biggest sighed, “The humans have advanced more into the forest. On Whitepaws’s territory.” Whitepaw, their neighbor, had kits herself.
“Mommy, is WhiteFang still alive?” said the little black kit, ShadowClaw.
“I don’t know, little one. We can just hope they are,” said the black and white she-cat. Then they heard it, all four of them. A loud rumbling. The ground was rumbling wildly.
The she-cat gasped, “The humans are here! Run little ones. I will distract them!” So three of those kits, ShadowClaw, SharpClaws, and SprucePaws all ran for their lives. Their mother, Fisher, did all she could to stop the humans with their large machines. But after that day she was never seen again.
Chapter One
ShadowClaw and SharpClaws walked along the little park. Geese and squirrels were everywhere, giving them enough prey. But humans were also there—lots of humans. The cats walked along carefully. Since their little brother SprucePaws died, they had been more careful around humans. Full moons have passed since that dreadful
day in the forest. They walked and walked for days until getting caught by humans and kept inside a cage. They barely escaped that. They were still considered young. Almost ten moons old. A barn could be seen over the horizon. The sun was almost setting as the two cats got to the barn. The smell of mice and sheep filled the air. As they fed themselves, SharpClaws said, “You know, ShadowClaw, I kinda wanna stay here. It’s perfect.” As they talked, they decided that SharpClaws would stay there and ShadowClaw would keep going.
Chapter Two
Four months later
ShadowClaw killed the mouse with one single blow. As moons passed, ShadowClaw joined a clan in the forest.
He met again with WhiteFang. It turns out she joined the clan of cats too. But a yowl of terror shook him back to reality. He ran as fast as he could. But the sight he saw stopped him right in his tracks. LionFur, an ambitious cat, stood over turtle shells. The clan leaders. Limp bodies. Blood splattered everywhere. The air was still fresh with the smell of death.
“What are you doing?” asked ShadowClaw, face still blank with horror.
“Ruling over the forest, of course,” replied LionFur smoothly. “Come join me. We’ll have all the power we want!” he said.
“Never!” ShadowClaw screeched.
As ShadowClaw stared into the blank, murderous eyes of LionFur, his former mentor stared back. “You’re a strong cat, ShadowClaw,” started LionFur. “I thought if I trained you well, you’d grow powerful and ambitious. But your softness made you weak!”
“I am not weak! You’re the one who is!” screeched ShadowClaw. They both lunged at each other. Of course, LionFur was stronger. As he was bigger. But ShadowClaw was faster. He scratched LionFur’s underbelly with sharp claws. Screeching, LionFur slashed ShadowClaw’s neck. He flinched, giving just enough time for LionFur to give a bite to ShadowClaw’s neck. Getting ready for a final blow. He bit hard.
Nora McCall
THE MAGIC LIBRARY
In the hot summer days somewhere in Michigan, a boy sat in the library. He loved the library, loved it even more than his own home. His name was Stephen, and he loved the smell of the books, like nothing you’ve ever smelt, more calming than any herb. He loved the feel of the felten book covers, of the intricately carved pillars outside. He loved the towering oaken bookshelves that seemed to hold infinite knowledge, all of which no man could possibly ever have. And most of all, he loved the librarian. The librarian was the love of his life. She was so wondrous! She gave him such an amazing feeling that could not be described. She was tall, and had dark hair, and beautiful brown eyes. Looking into them was like looking at an impressionist painting— you could see all the brush strokes. She always had a book waiting for him on the counter after school. Her name was Charlett, and he would gaze at her, writing in a small notebook on her desk—a shining gleam in her eyes. But when it came to late returners, she was as sharp as a knife.
“Mrs. Perible, the book has been missing for nine weeks!”
Old Mrs. Perible. Now, she was a rather wealthy woman. She dressed up very sloppily, in baggy sweats. And she was all excuses. “Oh, I’m just very busy. I’ll find it.”
“That’d better be soon, Mrs. Perible. I’ve had more lost books than I can afford.” Sometimes Stephen would help
Charlett in her office, cataloging books, many in foreign languages. Stephen still had school—he was in college after all. But each day he would stare at the clock, impatient to get to the library.
Stephen was cataloging again, but he was barely paying attention. He was too busy staring at Charlett. She looked troubled. He looked down at the book he was holding. On the desk, Stephen saw a strange letter. It was from heaven! Charlett was an angel!
Stephen went home pondering, Charlett? An angel? He pictured her with wings and shuddered. The next day, Stephen was eager to talk to Charlett. But, when he came to the library, no one was there. He spotted Charlett in her office holding a pile of books.
“Stephen,” Charlett said, a tone of urgency in her voice, “Something is wrong with the library.”
Oliver Edwards
SUPER AND THE EVIL VILLAGE
KOnce there was a great sailor named Super!
Chapter One: Six Quests
ing Anderson sent Super on a quest, not just any quest, a mega quest. A mega quest is a special job. The biggest job was a trip to Sard Forest. Take this map, X marks the spot. Super exited the castle, and the gigantic monster guard let him into Sard Forest. And then he gave him a clue: Go to the fishing pole and find an entrance to the Sard Forest. Super went to a fishing pole entrance.
Then, the city became silly. The boss took the crown. The vicious murderer king was not so smart.
Chapter X: Boss Fight
Super punched his crown. The king used a giant blast, but Super blocked it and used a bunch of cats to scratch him up. The king was dealt with, but his monster was still there. Super spotted the monster’s plug. He destroyed the plug and the monster died. Then Super sailed off to a new land of death. Then he saw “R.I.P. King Vicious” and a hand came out of nowhere.
“I am master hand,” the hand said. “Hi, have a nice time being crushed.”
“Not if I can do it first.”
“Well, well, well. Master hand will crush you last.”
“OK, but you will be destroyed by then.”
There was blood on the hand and then Super heard a scream of shock. Then he realized he finished the quest. Or did he? A shard was still there, so he went back. Then he spotted a bunch of master hands, and he said, “I’m going to crush you.”
Then they gave him a shard.
Oren Warpehoski
Age 11
TWO SIDES
Our amazing story starts with a planet, a special planet—a two-sided planet. One side is very grim and gray. The other is very bright and happy. On one, the trees droop and grounds wither. On the other, the air bursts with rich aromas and lucious plants border the cities. We then focus on two boys. Casper and Jakson. Jakson is very happy. Casper . . . isn’t. There would be no problem if not for two facts:
1. Jakson is a funeral director on the sad side.
2. Casper is a wedding officiant on the happy side.
Imagine your great aunt dies. You’re super sad. Then a person pulls up with a big smile, bouncing around, glowing with happiness, sounding excited, and there are highly weaponizable bottles nearby.
Or it’s your big day. The day is bright. You’re so happy. But you see someone sullen and hostile speak in a sad rasp of a voice. On YOUR big day. This is what it was like for Jakson and Casper.
Striving for a better life, they make a perilous journey through the frost land and the inbetweens. Seeing the barrier, they rush to the other side, past the checkpoints, who were there to uphold a 4,267.235-year treaty that no one crossed sides or a full world war would erupt. Seeing the other, they realize what they have to do. They band together by unspoken agreement.
In desperation they rush to the Islands of Sky. To the temple of the sun. Where head monk Jo was. They then plead with him to make everything normal. He obliges. He says to go to sleep and when they wake up, they’ll be in their real home. It makes them ecstatic, or at least Jakson. He then casts a spell and makes them teleport to their real home. It also erases everyone’s memory. Finally he makes everyone go home. And in the war, everyone is waiting for the other to attack. So no harm done.
Runa Florian
Age 11
A FROG NAMED EMMA
Somewhere in a lake there is a tiny island about the size of a dinner plate. This tiny island is called: Tiny Island. On Tiny Island lives a tiny frog named Emma. Emma shares Tiny Island with one tiny tree.
One day, Emma saw a piece of land. She didn’t know what it was called, so she called it the Mainland. Suddenly, Emma was tired of being stuck on Tiny Island. She pushed a piece of driftwood into the water and jumped on!
The water was rough and choppy and Emma was pushed back. Instead of letting the failure dampen her mood, Emma broke a branch off the tree to use as an oar. She was paddling bravely toward the Mainland when suddenly a storm came out of nowhere! Her arms were tired, the salty air stung her eyes, and the rain was really coming down now!
Still, Emma kept rowing on and on and on. Maybe she would have made it, if it hadn’t been for that wave. It came rolling toward the tiny frog, towering over her! And then, everything went black. Emma first opened one eye, and quickly closed it again. The light was way too bright and the crashing of the waves was sooo soothing . . .
“Come ON! Wake up already!” an unfamiliar voice called.
Who WAS that?
“WAKE UP!” the voice called again.
Emma blinked the sleep out of her eyes and saw . . . a
frog AS TINY AS SHE WAS!!!
“Hi! My name is Ella! What’s yours?” the other frog, Ella asked.
“Emma,” Emma said.
And just like that, the two were best friends. It turned out that Ella was from the Mainland! It also seemed like Ella was the kind of frog that liked the quiet, despite how much she talked. They talked and told stories of their lives so far. Then, Ella brought up the Mainland where she grew up and Emma was reminded of what she had been attempting to do.
“The Mainland sounds great,” Emma said wistfully.
“I guess,” Ella replied, “but it’s SO loud all the time! So I rowed over here. This island is amazing, by the way. So peaceful!”
“Hmm . . . ” Emma said. “I was actually trying to get to the Mainland because it’s so quiet here.”
“Well, now that I’m here your life is going to get MUCH more interesting!” Ella cheered.
“OK,” Emma said.
“Oh, by the way, TAG! YOU’RE IT!” Ella called, hopping away. Emma laughed, and hopped after Ella.
“You’re helping me get to the Mainland for that!” Emma called after Ella.
“Fiiiiiine!” Ella called back. “If we paddle together we might be able to get to the Mainland!” Emma thought out loud.
“Arrrgh!” was all Ella said.
SebastiÁn Arcia Chater
PLANET DIS
There’s this guy named Regorio. He wants to help the strongest people on the Planet Dis. The people are disrespectful and smell like ramen. When Regorio heard about the tournament of buffness he wanted to participate but when the tournament started, the announcer said that if you lose, you get erased.
Regorio met this guy in the tournament from Planet Dis named Bob. Regorio and Bob became friends. There were one hundred people in the tournament. Regorio and Bob teamed up and they both defeated twenty. They were running out of steam, but Bob had a magical food that regained your energy. Regorio ate one and regained his energy. Bob defeated thirty people (magical beings). But Regoio heard a legend about the magical warrior who appears every billion years. Regorio had super hard opponents. A couple hours passed.
“Hey, Bob. We’re in the final four!” Regorio said.
Match Number One:
Regorio vs. Zoctock (from Planet Tock)
Zoctock was very confident, but Regorio thought he was stronger.
“You’re weaker, Regorio!” said Zoctock. The match started.
Regorio teleported behind him and hit him. Zoctock was down. Regorio sensed his energy and was trying to find his weak spot. (If the opponent could count to ten then the person would lose.)
“Seven! Eight!”
“Uh,” said Zoctock.
Zoctock teleported right behind Regorio, but Regorio deflected the shot with a magical Uno reverse card. In the smoke, Regorio punched Zoctock in the face.
“Regorio wins!”
Bob vs. Ililo
“Go, Bob!” said Regorio.
Bob sensed Ililo’s energy. Ililo was lucky and was fighting weak people. Bob just flicked Ililo and he went flying.
Bob and Regorio vs. Neno
“The final match of the tournament of buffness begins now!” said the tournament of buffness announcer.
Regorio and Bob were fighting Neno. They took turns. Bob was severely hurt, he fainted and he got thrown off a cliff. “What did you do to my friend!” said Regorio. Then his rage overflowed and he went beast mode (Legendary Form). But Neno got stronger and now it was Regorio vs. Neno. In five seconds, a bit of blood came out of Regorio’s arm. He had a weakened arm but then he did a huge energy blast to which Neno countered by going behind him attacking his arm. So Regorio gambled his remaining energy and sent an even bigger blast. Neno also sent out a blast. It was a beam struggle. Neno was winning but Regorio had an extra energy source and beat Neno and everyone who got erased and died were brought back to life.
The End.
Shivanya Bhete
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD
Prologue
King Kelly and Queen Catty live in a castle. They have a nice life, but when Queen Catty got invited to her friend’s house a bad person came and locked her in a cage. However, she got out of the cage and then something terrible happened: she got sucked into a portal. Who will save her and will she destroy the bad guy? Or will she never get out and the mysterious bad guy wins?
Introduction of the characters
1. King Kelly (white cat, he is helpful, kind)
2. Queen Catty (brave, nice, playful, white cat)
3. Mysterious bad guy (always hungry, evil human, sharp, red ears! Yellowish brown eyes, slimy short hair)
4. Ashley (Queen Catty’s friend, brave, helpful, white cat with orange spots)
The Other Side of the World and the Villain, Book One
One time there was a queen and a king at a castle. Queen Catty and King Kelly were enjoying their meal. Queen Catty got invited to her friend Ashley’s house. On her way she got locked in a jail! When she broke out with a pin, she got sucked into a creepy portal! She stayed for days or even months in the creepy portal; she tried to get out, but nothing worked at all. She looked around
to find stuff to break out but nothing was there except red clocks all over the place. Then she got an idea, she climbed to get a clock, but it was too high for her. Suddenly, she saw a light in the portal hole and she got scared because she thought that it was the villain, but it turned out it was King Kelly. He was coming to save her. Queen Catty and King Kelly were together now and found a way to escape. When they got back, Queen Catty saw the villain. She and King Kelly tried to fight the villain. Finally they fought him and he died. They won!
Now they were back with a happy life again. When they got home, they went to Ashley’s house and they did not get stuck in a portal or jail. When they got to her house, Queen Catty told Ashley all about the adventure. Ashley celebrated Queen Catty and King Kelly, then they got home and went to sleep.
Stella Huebner
Age 11
FORGETTING IT
The trees were flying by like the Marvel Flash.
Lola the oldest was sitting next to Mimima who was squinting through the windshield muttering, “I’m just old enough to drive, but no! She says take the seven of them to Florida all the way from Maine!”
Danny was smushed up next to me, breathing softly, and Coco was on the other side of me. Liam was constantly kicking the back of my seat and Alona was sitting next to him. Jax was on the other side of Liam trying to stay awake but not succeeding. The car turned into the paved driveway and parked. The door opened and the humid air rushed in and the cool sweet lovely AC air was gone. It was hot and muggy, not at all like Maine.
“Mizzyyy! Get out!” Alona was now also kicking the back of my seat. Alona’s yell woke up Jax and he blinked, drowsy. I shuffled slowly on purpose, and then the seat smacked down, catching the back of my baggy shirt. I spun around and glared at the three of them and slowly turned and got out of the car. I stared down at the chipping nail polish on my feet, wearing pink flip-flops from three years ago. There were green and blue gemstones on the sides, many of which were missing. The rest of the seven raced to Mimima to claim their room assignments. “Alona: Pink cot, Danny: green bed with Jax, Liam: blue cot, Coco: pink bed, and Lola Darlin’: yellow bed,” Mimima turned.
“Mimi!” I yelled. She spun. “Lordy!! Child! Don’t kill me before I’m ready!”
“OK,” I said. “Mimi, you forgot me.”
“Oh,” she said, “you can share with Coco or Lola.” I pondered quickly. Lola was kicky, but nicer. “I choose Lola,” I said.
Me and Mimima walked into the house. Mimima turned into the kitchen to prepare lunch. Danny turned out of the bathroom and we walked down the green carpeted stairs to the basement. When we got down, we saw chaos. Alona was on her cot, pink suitcase next to her. She was clutching a blue-haired doll and murmuring. Everyone else was running around. Mimima called, “Dinner,” and “Hurry up!”
I raced upstairs to find the table set for seven, not eight. I looked to my content grandma and said, “Mimi, what about another plate?”
She got up and said, “Sorry, darlin’,” and got another plate.
After dinner I lay in my bed thinking. What if I tried having people forget about someone else instead of me. I looked at Jax and an idea sparked. At five in the morning my alarm buzzed. I got up, silently tiptoed over to Jax, and lifted him carefully into my arms. His weight was nothing like the five year old he was. I walked upstairs and set him in the vacuum closet. I ran downstairs and grabbed his blanket. Racing back upstairs, I dropped it onto him and closed the closet door, locking the flimsy lock from the outside. I went downstairs, got into bed, careful not to wake Lola, snuggled in, and fell fast asleep.
Florida, 5:30 p.m.
My grandma’s second guest room
I opened my eyes and looked across the room to Jax’s bed. But something was wrong. The bed was lumpy. It was flat . . . but Jax was not supposed to be in his bed. I tiptoed across the room, lifted the blanket, and there he was, sleeping like a baby. I don’t know how he did it.
To be continued . . .
Wally Huebner
Age 9
THE HEDGEHOG WHO DESERVED A LOT
Little Ally was a Hedgehog with a big imagination. He wanted to explore the world and find new things.
One day, he was climbing a chimney hoping he would find new lands and new things from up above.
Suddenly, there was a wobbly brick and he didn’t know what to do. He took one step and fell! It was a very long way down and then he fell into a stream. Hopefully, he grabbed a log and jumped onto a rock, but the bad part was it was moving, and it wasn’t the river that was making it move.
“Hello!” said a cheerful, but low voice. “You coming to swim in this river?” But they didn’t wait for an answer. Once again, they said, “I said, ‘are you going to swim in this river?!’”
“Oh . . . oh no, I’m not c-coming to swim in this r-river,” said Ally in a shaking voice. “Who are you?” he added.
“I’m a turtle, but I won’t tell you my name.”
“Why?” said Ally.
“Because, you might be a spy.”
“I’m not a—”
“OK,” interrupted the turtle, “I’ll swim you over to that river bank.”
“But how do I—do, I thank—”
“Just give me rainbow sunflower seeds.”
“How do I find—” started Ally but the turtle was gone. Ally fell asleep.
There was a large hissing noise. Ally woke up, looking at a large venomous snake. Ally ran as fast as he could. Suddenly, the snake stopped. There seemed to be a moving pebble.
Was this some type of prank? thought Ally.
The snake slithered away as the rock grew closer to Ally. Suddenly, it cracked open! It seemed to be shut together with tape. What type of rock is this? thought Ally. Something reddish-orangish climbed out of the rock. It was about Ally’s size, just a little bit tinier. It seemed to be a newt. The newt said with a squeaky voice, “Hello, are you here to explore the cave, too?”
“No,” said Ally. “But I’ll come with you.”
Once they got to the cave, it seemed to be full of bats. But they were all sleeping. One bat was awake and fluttered down to them. The bat said that her name was Luna, and she suggested that they get out of the cave as fast as they could because her dad was the bat king and was very mean. There was a river and a stream, and Luna said she would fly them across in exchange for some rainbow sunflower seeds.
They said, “OK. Once we find them, we’ll give them to you. And yes, we’d like you to fly us across the river.”
When they got across the river, Luna’s dad called back for her and she said goodbye. And they walked out of the other end of the cave.
Suddenly, before they knew it, they were falling down a waterfall. There seemed to be an alligator in the pond because there was a shadow underneath them. Suddenly, a friendly otter said, “Get on me! An alligator is right under you!” and swam them to shore. The otter said to pay him with rainbow sunflower seeds when they found them.
Then they went across the field and an owl high up in a tree told them it was not a safe place to be. So they went into a forest, pushing leaves aside.
Ally and the newt came to a large clearing with a clump of bushy stuff. When they got to the middle of the clearing, they pushed the bushy stuff open. Suddenly, there came a flutter of light. A bunch of leaves came out and some rainbow sunflower seeds came out.
“Rainbow sunflower seeds!” said Ally. “We found them!”
Ally and the newt were so happy that they were sure they would give them to all their friends.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to . . .
Caitlin Koska, Teaching Artist
Terance Gordon, Teaching Artist Apprentice
Ann Arbor Teen Leadership Lab
Cy Atkinson
Cece Brown
Chloe Cordero
Rokaya Elahdan
Hanako McDonald
Camila Reyes-Herrera
Maclaren Williams
Izzy Yip
Ella Yip
Rowan Yordy
Volunteers
Claire Chang
Lilly Freeman
Em Liker
Yu-Shan Lu
Harper Johnston
Judith Joseph
Jessica Rehberg
Luke Schaupeter
Claire Stano
Nolan Tompkins
ABOUT
826michigan gratefully recognizes the following supporters for their gifts for the 2024-25 School Year:
Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, including the African American Endowment Fund
James A. and Faith Knight Foundation
Leinweber Foundation
May Family Foundation
Russell Family Foundation
Flagstar Foundation
Old National Foundation
Washtenaw County Office for Community & Economic Development
Michigan Arts & Culture Council
DTE Energy Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
Galens Medical Society
Hawkins Project
The Robbins Family Fund
For twenty years, 826michigan has supported K-12 students through free writing and literacy programs.
Each year, over 4,000 students in Detroit, Ypsilanti, and Ann Arbor participate in our high-quality programs. We inspire students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers and provide students with the formative experience of seeing their work reflected back to them via a professional publication (in a book, on an album of songs, in an exhibit in a museum; publication projects are varied in iteration). Our programs improve student academic skills in writing, boost self-confidence in literacy work, and provide a positive outlet for socialemotional growth, while also instilling a lifelong love of reading and writing.
826michigan utilizes volunteers to provide students with one-on-one attention and small group work in every program offered. With the help of caring adults, students not only gain experience and confidence in writing, but also find a community of like-minded peers, and experience mentorship and social and emotional support that will feed them for a lifetime.
826michigan—the power of story.
WRITING LABS
In this weekly program, we build a supportive community of writers where students brainstorm, write, revise, and publish a story of their choosing. At the end of
the program, students’ writing is published in a book and celebrated with a book release party. Each session includes a mini lesson taught by 826michigan staff and introduction to a new writer's habit, such as “Writers change their minds” and “Writers make plans–and break them!” Students discuss and practice these new habits as they go through the writing process, building their own toolkit of writing practices and preferences. This program is offered both during the school day with select partner schools, and also as an after-school program open to students from the community.
WORKSHOPS
We offer a number of free writing workshops taught by professional artists, writers, and our talented volunteers. From comic books to screenplays, bookmaking to radio, our wide variety of workshops are perfect for writers of all ages and interests.
DROP-IN WRITING FOR WEE-BOTS
Each week, the youngest 826michigan writers meet to play and explore what writing can do. With stories that spark creativity and games that inspire students to write, the Weebots work in small groups—and with trusted volunteers—to bring imagination alive for these young writers. Students experience the joy of writing however they are able, from the physical act to conversation-based brainstorming and development of new ideas.
YOUNG AUTHORS’ BOOK PROJECT
Each year, we undertake a multi-session partnership with a class or grade that culminates in a professional publication of student writing. Whether it’s third graders writing poetry about frogs and learning about book
publishing in a project-based learning format or fifth graders imagining their world in fifty years for science fiction that starts in Detroit but travels the galaxy, these projects enable students to take a deep dive into the writing process. They learn revision, editing, and all the steps it takes to go from a brainstorming a first draft to being published.
FIELD TRIPS & ROADSHOWS
Always full of surprises and theatrics, our Field Trip program is an experiential writing extravaganza. We welcome teachers to bring their classes in for field trips during the school day or we can bring the party to schools as a field trip roadshow. Students join a group of volunteers, interns, and staff to help solve a problem through writing. Our field trips always end in a finished publication of original writing that students take home. Often the field trip writing is connected to a second leg of the students’ journey, whether a trip to a museum, library, or local record label, thanks to our many incredible community partners.
OUR STORE
Our Robot Supply Co. store, located in Ann Arbor, is a one-stop shop for robots, robot owners, and enthusiasts alike. It is designed to inspire creativity and bring awareness of our programs to the community. In addition, our online store is always open; visit the Robot Supply Co. at onwardrobots.com. All proceeds from our store directly fund our free student programming. Onward robots!
WRITING IS
826 National was inspired to take a stand on issues of inclusion and diversity in light of the many events that spotlighted social and racial injustices throughout the country. We as educators, volunteers, and caring adults need to be aware of the wide range of issues our students face on a day-to-day basis. We need to support these young people as they navigate through and try to make sense of the world and their own identities.
We need the support and the feedback from our community to ensure 826 is living up to these standards. Through our inclusion statement, our internal diversity and inclusion group, cultural competency resources provided to staff and volunteers, and partnerships with other organizations, we are always working towards being a more inclusive and supportive organization.
We at 826 have the privilege of working with the next generation of scholars, teachers, doctors, artists, lawyers, and writers. It's our job to make sure they are able to take their own stands.
As an organization committed to encouraging youth in their creative expression, personal growth, and academic success, 826 National and its chapters recognize the importance of diversity at all levels and in all aspects of our work. In order to build and maintain the safe, supportive 826 environment in which great leaps in learning happen, we commit ourselves to inclusion: we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, marital status, English fluency, parental status, military service, or disability.
The 826 National network is committed to encouraging youth to express themselves and to use the written word to effectively do so. We encourage our students to write, take chances, make decisions, and finish what they start. And 826 strives to do this in an environment free from discrimination and exclusion.
by Gerald Richards, CEO
A NONPROFIT WRITING AND LITERACY PROGRAM FOR K-12 STUDENTS