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the Journey to Confidence
WRITING BY THE YPSILANTI AFTER-SCHOOL WRITING LAB
YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN SPRING 2025
Introduction — ix
Sila Abd Elsayed — 1
Eleanor Ahn — 5
Sonya Bialk — 7
Mays Edwards — 9
Ismael Gilling — 11
Finn Hoppe — 14
Elisha Jain — 16
Ayaan Jain — 17
Henry Kim — 21
Jaeheon Lee — 25
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
Sila Abd Elsayed
Age 10
SILKPAW'S ADVENTURE
Long ago in a forest near a lake, there was a clan, or group, of cats called “Clan of the Forest, Wild Cats.” In this forest there were brightly colored fish splashing in the cold, splashy lake, and cats living near the green pine trees, hunting for food. There were often horrendous situations that required cooperation and hard work, like many cats being sick, or attacks.
Many years after the clan emerged, a young kit named Silkkit was playing with her brother and sister, Moonkit and Flowkit. “Catch this, Flowkit!” Silkit cried out while throwing a ball to her.
Her mother, Leafsong, called up the kits. “Kits, your apprentice ceremony is in a few minutes,” she said. “Yay! Can I become a cat-healer apprentice?” asked Moonkit. “No, I want to!” said Flowkit. “We will see, Mom. It’s up to Thorn,” Silkkit said. Thorn, the clan’s leader, called for a meeting.
*They change their names whenever they become apprentices. Their name ends with “Paw”*
“I now call my Clan of the Forest, Wild Cats members to gather for a meeting!” said Thorn. “These kits—Moonkit, Flowkit, Silkit—will now become apprentices. Silkkit, you will become a cat-healer apprentice, so Cliverleaf will become your mentor. Moonkit, you will become a territory guard apprentice. Goldpool will be your mentor. Flowkit, you will become a hunter apprentice. Windsong will be your mentor. Let us toast to Silkpaw, Moonpaw, and Flowpaw!”
“Silkpaw! Flowpaw! Moonpaw!” the other clan members cheered.
“Moonpaw, Flowpaw, you apprentices will train with me and Windsong,” Goldpool called out.
“Silkpaw, come with me to learn the basic medicines,” Cliverleaf called to Silkpaw.
Silkpaw was training with Cliverleaf. “This is Tylenol, used for stomachaches and used to stop milk in mothers,” the cathealer said.
Snowfeather, the leader’s co-leader, alerted the cat-healers. “Cliverleaf, Silkpaw, dogs are attacking the Clan!” she said. Berryfall, the best in the fighters section, tried to attack the dogs along with his sister, Iceheart. Goldpool, Moonpaw, and Cloudpelt tried to patrol the borders of the territory to make sure there were no more dogs. The hunters—Leafsong, Flowpaw, and Windsong hunted food to energize the fighters. The cathealers were taking care of Bluestripe, who was supposed to be a fighter. “Retaliate!” Iceheart said. Tealnight was also fighting, while Mistyheart helped gather food, and Swiftfur was also sick.
“This is a lot of work!” Windsong said.
Even the elders, Lightfur and Hollypetal, helped look out for more dogs. They were sick and tired, though they decided to help. Silkpaw was shouting, “I get to heal my first sick cat!”
“Silkpaw, please hand me some chervil,” commanded Cliverleaf. Silkpaw handed Cliverleaf the chervil, and she taught Silkpaw how to heal with it. “Silkpaw, you are thriving as a cathealer apprentice,” Swiftfur told her. “Your mother had a feeling you were going to be a good cat-healer apprentice,” Bluestripe said.
The dogs continued attacking.
Bluestripe had begun to feel better, so she continued fighting. Most of the dogs had run away. There were two left, but the fiercest ones. Berryfall’s apprentice, Wingpaw, helped fight.
“Fighters, use all your strength!” Berryfall said. “Pounce and fight, fight, fight!” Wingpaw encouraged.
“We have reported that no more dogs will be coming,” Cloudpelt reported on his special screen to talk (it’s like a walkie-talkie, but you can see their faces). “Screen Special, let me talk to everyone in the Clan of the Forest, Wild Cats!” said Leafsong and Flowpaw.
“We are all getting really tired,” Leafsong said.
“Looks like all the dogs are gone,” Moonpaw said.
“That is OK,” Thorn said. “You hunters—all of you—can rest and eat.”
“Let’s all come back and rest, OK with you all?” asked Tealnight. “Sure, let’s do that,” Snowfeather said. They all walked to the food pile. That is where all the hunters place their food they hunt, and everyone can go there and eat. When they went there, they noticed something strange.
“The food pile is empty,” Mistyheart said.
“Why is there no food?” Ambertail, a caregiver, asked.
“Yes this is very odd,” Thorn said. The leader investigated the problem, then made a hypothesis. “You hunters said you were tired. Did you not get much food?” asked Thorn.
“Yes, we didn’t get much. We decided to do a little fighting,” Windsong said.
“So, what shall we do?” asked Ravenpaw, Mistyheart’s apprentice. “I guess we will all rest, and then the hunters can catch prey to stock the food pile,” Thorn said. “And Silkpaw and I will treat everyone who is sick. We all had a rough day,” Cliverleaf said.
The next day, Leafsong, Windsong, Flowpaw, Mistyheart, and Ravenpaw all hunted as much as possible. Leafsong focused more on hunting, while Windsong and Mistyheart focused on training their apprentices. “Well done, Flowpaw!” said Windsong. “You’re getting so good, Ravenpaw. The clan really
needs more hunters. Looks like tomorrow you will have your assessment with Flowpaw!” Mistyheart said.
Meanwhile, Cliverleaf and Silkpaw treated the fighters and Swiftfur. “Tealnight! Here, I’ll get you some Tylenol,” Silkpaw said. “Make sure to do your exercises, Iceheart, so your leg feels better!” Cliverleaf said.
The next morning, a crowd of cats came to the cat-healers office. “My kits have stomachaches!” Ambertail shouted. “My leg is broken!” yelled Goldpool. “I have a bad cough, and so does my Cloudpelt!” Leafsong said.
“Cliverleaf, this is so very stressful! What do we do?” said Silkpaw. Cliverleaf did not answer. “Cliverleaf?” asked Silkpaw. “Cliverleaf?” she asked again.
“I have a sore throat!” Cliverleaf said. “What do we do?” Silkpaw said.
Then more cats came. “Sister, my throat hurts and so does Lightfur!” said Moonpaw. “Our legs hurt!” shouted Tealnight, Berryfall and Bluestripe.
Silkpaw found something in Cliverleaf’s drawer. “Gotta look for something! Can’t remember the medicines!” Then she discovered . . . a BOOK! “Yes, yes, yes! This is so helpful!” Silkpaw might have asked Cliverleaf, but she would have to do it later. She needed to help her clan! “Let’s see . . . for coughs, I need marigold.” She cured as fast as she could. “Next, Tylenol for Ambertail and her kits!” Silkpaw said. “Keep it up, Silkpaw!” Cliverleaf said. Finally, finally she had cured everybody!
The next day, Thorn made an announcement. “Silkpaw cured everyone so she will earn her cat-healer name! She is now Silkpool! We honor her for her bravery!”
“Silkpool! Silkpool!” everyone cheered.
“Good job, Silkpaw—I mean Silkpool!” said Flowpaw. She got the name Flowmist and Moonpaw got Moonflight.
Eleanor Ahn
Age 8
WEATHER SCHOOL
Once upon a time there were two queens. One was the queen of fire and one was the queen of frost. They had daughters, and their daughters were best friends. When they were kids, they played together. There was another queen who was evil. When the queens were young, the evil queen still did not like them. The evil queen had a kid, her name was Thunder. Thunder’s dad was the evil master of evil. He did not like the queens too, so he told Thunder to destroy the friendship of the daughters. Thunder hypnotized them so Frosa didn’t want to play with Fire. Rayna was Thunder’s sister. Frosa didn’t want to play with Fire, and Rayna came and pretended she didn’t have friends so Frosa would play with her. Now Fire was alone.
Fire wanted to visit the angel after school and went to the mountain to wish on her. The angel’s name was Skygirl because the mountain was so big, it was in the sky. But you can only wish on her if you need her because it’s on the top so you only have three chances to fly up.
Then Skygirl said, “Why are your eyes purple? Thunder must have hypnotized you!”
Fire asked to undo the spell but Skygirl said the curse was too strong, she couldn’t undo it. So, she made Fire and Frosa become friends again.
Then time passed, and they started middle school.
Unfortunately, they were in the same class as Thunder and Rayna. When they had a picnic, Thunder and Rayna found them and made them stay in their own world so they couldn’t see each other again.
One day, they used their phones to call each other, and Frosa said, “What if we go to Skygirl?” Then, Fire said, “Skygirl is in your world, you should go.” Frosa said, “OK!” and visited Skygirl.
This time, Frosa said, “I wish Thunder and Rayna were in a different school.” So Rayna and Thunder went to evil school. They were happy there. They learned to be bad and defeated other bad guys in the jail. They won trophies from the good guys because the bad guys had been bad for a long time. They won trophies because they saved the world.
Frosa also said, “I wish the curse was gone.” Frosa and Fire’s eyes turned back as Skygirl fixed the spell.
Now, Frosa and Fire were friends again.
They decided to go eat dinner together. They went to a fancy restaurant and ate duck. Then they got vanilla ice cream sundaes. Frosa and Fire were happy again.
Sonya Bialk
Age 13
ELVIE AND THE EVIL BOOKS
Elvie’s book had been stolen and she needed it. The book was filled with powerful spells. Any spell or story you wanted could be found in that book. There were only two others like it.
So now she was in the land of the mind-controlled minion elves with two other bookkeepers—Spira, a dragon, and Netteli, a queen. They were walking through a dark twisting hallway with jagged stones like knives. It was so quiet they could hear the shadows moving. Then Spira fell through the floor into a bubbling pit of repulsive noxious acid that was dark green! Luckily dragon scales are resistant to acid.
Suddenly, a dozen mind-controlled minions came slowly marching toward them! Elvie and her friends hid behind a gargantuan statue of King Olan the evil wizard, who was behind the mind-controlled army. Once the mindcontrolled minions had passed, they silently followed them to a monstrous twisted sculpture of a stone gargoyle. One of the minions tapped the stone gargoyle on its eye, and they disappeared, so Elvie tapped the gargoyle and instantly she and her friends fell down a long, twisting tunnel into a room lit by a purplish light. Strangely, the minions looked frozen in place. Elvie could see the books behind a magical shield. She conjured a bright flash of light and the stone floor cracked and thorny plants burst through the shield. They
could instantly see their books were different—they had bat wings, eyes, and sharp claws. They had soaked up the evil in this place.
One of the books shrieked, “There is nothing you can do to stop us. We will take over the whole world.” Immediately they conjured a whirling gray portal in which they disappeared.
Now three evil books were loose in the world and what would they do next?
“We must stop them!” Spira roared.
Mays Edwards
Age 10
A HARD BUG'S LIFE
Strike the bug was a grasshopper who was always told to never venture into the human world, for he was told, “Terrible fates await there—greed, loneliness, and feet!” His mother always told him that, and he always thought about what “feet” meant—would his legs get chopped off?
But with no question, Strike LOVED CURIOSITY. His parents told him: “Curiosity killed the cricket!” But that didn’t kill his curiosity! He loved exploring! But who knew that this adventure would cause him to fend for himself, protect his own children, and live a bug-eat-bug life? Before I can get to that story, I have to get through this story.
Chapter 1: Before 12:00
So Strike and his friend Flo were playing in the woods, and Strike’s dad told him: “Son, get dat durn tarnation back before 12:00 or I’ll ***********!” Of course, Strike didn’t listen, and Flo did, so they went off to the woods. But to keep things going, we’ll skip to 12:55.
12:55: Flo turned to Strike and said, “We’re lost!” Strike replied, “No we’re not.”
12:57: Flo tried to prove this point to Strike by exclaiming, “Look up, Strike! It’s dark!” As Flo said this, she pointed at the sky sternly.
12:58: To further prove her point, Flo took out her watch and said, “And, it’s also late!”
12:59: Carelessly, Strike replied, “It’s not like we’ll be punished!”
Flo ran away, and Strike followed. It took one minute . . . and then an hour, but they got the greeting they deserved. “I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TWO TO BE HERE BEFORE 12:00!! YOU’RE TWO HOURS LATE!!!!!!!!”
So after that, they were punished by being grounded for three weeks. This meant no exploring in the woods, going outside, or trying new things.
A day later, Strike crept out of bed and started flying. After he flew for a few weeks, he landed in a big neon city. His new adventure was just beginning.
Ismael Gilling
Age 13
THE GREAT EARTHIAN WAR
Boom boom boom!!! The aliens are attacking.
“We will be fine. Little do they know we have our new super-weapon,” General David Johnson says.
“When will we stop fighting? Violence isn’t always the solution sir,” Isaiah says.
“When violence is inflicted on oneself they have no choice to express it back.”
The Human War has been going on for six years. The Earthians pile into their war tanks as if they are going to a Travis Scott concert. When they get to the battlefield, the fields look more like wet red clay from how much blood is on the battlefield. The smoke takes people’s breath away as if they are having an asthma attack. The loud BOOMING noise makes everyone feel like they have ADHD.
And, in the middle of all of this CHAOS, stands a teen from Detroit. When his parents were still alive, he longed for peace, but if peace means war, “It’s going to be what it’s going to be.”
In the corner of Isaiah’s eye he sees a man with gigantic eyes and elongated ears, like something straight out of Santa’s workshop. That is an alien—they usually have bigger eyes and ears. “Wh . . . why does it look like me?” Isaiah questions. General David Johnson says, “Each person has an alter ego. They look like you but they have polar opposite personalities.”
Isaiah charges over to his alter ego and says, “There is no reason to fight. Let’s peacefully settle this.”
His alter ego completely ignores Isaiah and gives him a barrage of punches. Now Isaiah looks more like a blubber fish.
“Is it just me or do we look alike?” Isaiah says.
“No, I look nothing like you,” the alter ego says.
“Who are you?” Isaiah asks.
“Prince Isaac III, son of King Isaac, Jr.,” the alter ego replies. “Oh,” Isaiah says.
Prince Isaac III tries to shoot his laser gun at Isaiah, but Isaiah has Anti Matter, one of the rarest abilities. Anti Matter can get rid of any physical object within a couple thoughts. As Prince Isaac shoots his laser it disappears, “Wha . . . what is this?” Prince Isaac III screams frantically. Out of nowhere, Isaiah disappears. Where did he go? Prince Isaac wonders.
Prince Isaac feels a slight breeze and, present like none other, his heartbeat rises, his eyes begin to feel watery, is this his last stand? Then he feels a metal object on his back and in a chilling tone Isaiah says, “Tell your father to retreat or you’ll die.”
After a few seconds Prince Isaac yells, “RETREAT!” and their whole entire army begins falling back into their ship.
A few hours later, Isaiah gets back to base. “Nice job out there, Isaiah. Next time you should behead the snake.” All of the men cackle.
Isaiah says shortly after, “We don’t have to kill them.”
“He’s right,” the men say. “We can make a treaty, like Versailles.”
“Didn’t that turn out really bad because the Nazis decided to try to take over the world?” Cornel William Ford says. “The kid is right, we have to make good decisions, we can’t go in blind, we have to come in like a cat, very aware
and stealthy. So tomorrow we will infiltrate the aliens and take them down once and for all.” All of the people start cheering.
The humans found out through lots of research the aliens’ weakness is the cold. So the humans bring every cold superpower hero and Isaiah.
Isaiah wakes up around 2 a.m. He’d gone to bed early the other night because the attack was early in the morning, so they could catch the aliens by surprise.
The jets to board the alien spacecraft are packed as usual. The air feels like spring if you have allergies. The speakers go off, saying, “We will be boarding in two minutes . . .” and then BOOM!!! The doors open and they rush in. All of the people use their ice superpowers to change the temperature so the aliens pass out.
And, out of nowhere, Isaiah teleports to the bosses’ headquarters and confronts Isaac III who is sitting in a chair, almost villain-like. Isaac says, “My father is dead . . . you hold the power Anti Matter, but now I hold the power of MATTER CREATION.” At the same time as he says that, he creates matter and attacks Isaiah. Isaiah draws a weapon and tries to attack Isaac, but then he thinks back to what General David Johnson told him. “When violence is inflicted on one’s self, you have no choice but to show it back.”
Out of nowhere, Prince Isaac III creates more matter and shoots it at Isaiah, but Isaiah throws a mirror. And the mirror shows everything. Isaiah smiles. “This is the true power of a king,” he says.
Prince Isaac drops to his knees.
Everyone gaps . . . Isaiah comes out alive.
Finn Hoppe
HOW A BOARD GAME CHANGED BOB’S PERSONALITY
Bob is playing a game called Katan on his wood chair in his room while eating greasy delicious pizza.
But then, all of a sudden, his game looks quite like a whirlpool. Suddenly he gets sucked in and sees a lot of buildings that are so colorful and bright like neon.
He tries to escape but he is feeling down because it is almost impossible. In order to escape, you need to fight people around the city to level up so you get stronger and stronger, strong enough to fight the three bosses that protect the blades, and if you get all three blades, you go to the sanctuary and put them in the slots to escape.
Then he saw other people running around and asked one person, “Why are people running around?” And the person said, “There are multiple people who got sucked in too.”
He starts explaining the game to Bob. Bob gets up on one of the billboards and yells, “Stop! We all need to group together to beat the game, let’s team up to get out!”
“Boooo!” the crowd went because they wanted to get out themselves.
Bob feels mad because people won’t listen to him. He then says lightly under his breath, “Whatever—I don’t need them. I would probably be better off on my own.” He storms off until a man comes over to him and says, “I am the first person sucked into this game. I was testing the game before
it was released and I got sucked in.”
So they team up and then two years pass. They level up to the max level—Level 100—and then they are going to beat the bosses. Just then, Bob realizes that they don’t know how to find the bosses, so they look around for hours and find a shop with a shady shopkeeper.
They go up to the shopkeeper and ask, “What are you selling here?”
“Maps to find the blades,” the shopkeeper says.
So they say, “How much?”
The shopkeeper says, “One hundred coins each.”
They have to go get more coins and they go back to the shop the next day. They have enough coins and buy all three maps and then prepare to fight the bosses. They then venture off to fight.
They easily beat the first. The second was a little harder but still easy, and the last was barely beatable, but they managed. They see another boss and they think, No one ever beat this boss to tell about the fourth! They are flabbergasted at what they see but they somehow beat it!
Therefore, they both get out to tell the story.
The end.
Elisha Jain
Age 11
MONKEY BARS
Ryan is in the Harvest Saline School in summer. He likes the school because it has two floors. The school is a big building with brown-colored brick walls, escalators, stairs, and a rainbow-colored playground, and green trees. There are pink and purple small flowers in the woods. There are lilac flower beds in the back. The playground is behind the school. Kids are playing on monkey bars, swings, and slides on the playground. Ryan, a twelveyear-old boy, has black hair and he wears shorts. His favorite color is red and his favorite subject is math. He loves pepperoni pizza.
Ryan wants to run around in the playground. Ryan is playing with other kids on the monkey bars and the green metal slide. Ryan is on a pole and says, “Floor is lava!” All of the kids run fast to the side of the school.
Ryan is on the green and silver swings with friends having fun. Ryan moves toward the green pole. The floor is lava! Next, Ryan can’t find a new spot to be safe from the lava. This makes Ryan feel sad. Ryan suddenly sees the monkey bars and he walks quickly over to them. He doesn't even use the ladder to reach the bar; he just jumps up to the first bar. Then, he climbs up on top of the monkey bars. He carefully stands up, and walks slowly across the top of them. This was easy and fun! After getting to the other side, he sits down and jumps off. He was not scared because he is brave. He lands on his feet and walks to the slide. He goes down the slide, and as soon as he is at the bottom, the teacher blows the whistle. Recess is over and Ryan walks inside the school with his friends.
Ayaan Jain
Age 10
SUPER BOY
Chapter 1
One time in a school called Super School, a boy was sitting at his desk, bored. His teacher’s name was Miss Toiletnose, and—hey, stop laughing! Miss Toiletnose gave everyone a lot of math homework. Then in the hallway someone yelled, “Help!” The boy raised his hand to go to the bathroom, and the teacher said, “Yes.” The boy ran to his locker, grabbed his cape, and became . . . Super Boy!
Super Boy raced down the hallway. One minute later he saw three fat men and one of them was holding a first grader. Then Super Boy yelled, “Stop or I will tell the dean!” The bullies dropped the kid and ran away, but then the dean came and said, “You three go to my office!” So the three bullies went to her office with their arms crossed.
Chapter 2
Thirty minutes later the three bullies came out of the dean’s office, but then one bully got an idea. The idea was so cool that the other bullies went home at 12:00 p.m.
Chapter 3
The bullies went to their secret lab. One of the bullies
pressed a button. Then a big robot came.
Chapter 4
So the three bullies went in the robot and turned on the button.
Meanwhile at Super School: Miss Toiletnose got so mad at the kids that she kicked the door and left the classroom. Two minutes later a new teacher came in. But then the whole class heard a BOOM! and it kept getting louder.
Chapter 5
Super Boy asked to use the bathroom and the teacher said, “Yes,” so Super Boy came out of the school and saw a big robot.
Chapter 6
“What are you doing here?” yelled Super Boy. The bullies rolled their eyes and said, “What are you doing here?” Then Super Boy said, “Let’s fight?” The bullies said, “Good luck with that.”
Chapter 7
The robot hit the ground with his hand and Super Boy did a backflip. Then he saw the back of the robot.
Chapter 8
Super Boy saw a door on the back of the robot so he went in and saw a shiny powerful gem. Super Boy grabbed
the gem and got super special powers.
Chapter 9
Super Boy came out from the robot and kicked it. POW! It smashed! He hit it but it didn’t work.
Chapter 10
Then Super Boy got an idea. So he grabbed the robot and he threw it.
Chapter 11
The robot went flying in the sky. Then it hit the ground. CRASH! The robot was dead and the bullies went to jail. The end.
“Hey,” said a voice. It was Miss Toiletnose in a robot. Next to the robot was an X bot, + bot, ÷ bot, - bot, and a < bot. So the robot (and Miss Toiletnose) go outside.
Chapter 12
Meanwhile at Super School: Super Boy heard something. “What’s that noise?” said Super Boy.
Chapter 13
Three minutes later, Super Boy saw Miss Toiletnose and her robots. So Super Boy grabbed the x bot and hit it with the + bot. They fell on the ground. But then the bot with Miss Toiletnose hit Super Boy with the robot hand. Then Super Boy fell to the ground.
Chapter 14
After that, the robot stepped on Super Boy! “Ha ha!” said Miss Toiletnose. “Super Boy is dead!” But then he was shaking. And then . . . POW! Super Boy tripped the robot and the robot hit the other bots.
Chapter 15
CRASH! The robots hit the ground. Then Miss Toiletnose went to jail. Super Boy was a hero. Meanwhile in jail: Miss Toiletnose clicked on a button. Back to the city: Super Boy heard a crash! “What is that noise? I hope it is not a backup!” said Super Boy. Then he saw someone that looked like him . . .
To be continued . . .
Coming soon: Super Boy vs. the Evil Super Boy
Henry Kim
Age 13
THE JOURNEY TO CONFIDENCE
It was an ancient island that was hidden and untouched from the outside world. On the north side of the island, there wasn’t a sight of a human. There was nothing except little houses and trees covered with snow. The buildings and luxury houses were on the other side. People in the north and the south couldn’t even touch one another because the southern people had their banks full of money. A magical plasma was the obstacle blocking people from moving to the other side. According to written records from the ancestors, the plasma could give serious illness to the people if they try to go over it.
There was a teenager called Ben who lived in the north part. Ben always woke up at midnight. “Argh!” Ben sighed. He couldn’t sleep because of the cold breeze which went through his blanket. Every morning he saw the sun rising behind the high buildings. His first job was to go to the morning market and buy the cheapest bread for his family. His family shared it for their appetite. The bread was always dry and it made him thirsty. “I hate this place!” Ben said. He tried to remain in his homeland but he couldn’t stay anymore.
“I’m escaping this bleak place,” he said. He immediately packed his clothes and his pencil and eraser. Ben couldn’t think of anything else except running away. His heartbeat was running faster than the blades of the helicopters all
hovering around the border. “Let’s go,” Ben said. But, a strong thought mashed in his head. He needed to leave his family behind him. “I should leave a message,” he said. He grabbed a Sharpie and a Post-it.
He wrote . . .
Dear my family
Hi, this is Ben. You should be very surprised that I disappeared I’m going to cross the border Don’t worry about me. I will send another letter if I make it
Sincerely, Ben
He grabbed a family photo attached to the fridge with a magnet. He stuck the letter he wrote on the table.
After a few minutes, Ben was physically and mentally ready, and soon a cold breeze came in from the empty room with a Sharpie and a pack of Post-its falling to the ground. Ben was confused about where to go. He eventually went to his grandfather's grave. He wanted to say goodbye to him. But suddenly, Ben slipped on a bottle filled with a purple liquid. There was also an old note, which was almost ripping off. The note said,
Dear the one who’s trying to escape, I lived my 84 years to find out the clue to escape. There are 3 steps that you MUST DO.
First, you need to drink the Potion. It will give you an enchanted shield which will protect you.
Second, you need to cross the border before the sun arises.
Lastly, you should trust yourself. This is the most important step. Gaining confidence is the only way to success.
As soon as Ben read the letter, he drank all of the potion without leaving a drop of it. He had a shock in his head. He thought a lightning bolt had struck through his head. “I don’t have time!” Ben said. He couldn’t do anything besides run. “Faster, faster,” he said, his legs running as fast as a racing car and his heart beating like the bleeping light on the top of the lookout towers. Helicopters were all over the sky and Ben’s legs were still running. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING, LITTLE KID?” a voice said. Ben had a shock in his body. He felt like his heart was stopping.
“SURRENDER. SURRENDER,” Ben heard, and felt super scared. He felt like the entire world was slow motion. OOOOOOOOOOOO—the sound of the alarms was all over, through Ben’s head and his ears. The sun was rising and the soldiers were chasing him. He had to make a choice.
Surrendering or fighting against that moment. A sentence struck Ben’s head. “Gaining confidence is the only way to success.” Ben thought all about the work he did to prepare for the getaway. He punched against his own enemies, and he only needed to run a yard to cross over. He held onto his confidence and slid into the border. There was a magical pop around him. When he opened his eyes, he was
in front of the luxury building that he always saw with the sunrise.
He decided to walk toward a park near him. He sat on a bench and enjoyed the sunrise while holding the picture of his family. His two hands shook with happiness. He thought about how he would live his new life in the utopia that he wished for and that his grandfather had wished for.
Jaeheon Lee
Age 9
PHONE GAME PROBLEM
One day there was a kid named Kai, a kid who loved games. That one day, Kai wanted to play games on his phone when he got back from school. But his mom didn’t let him get on his phone.
The next day, Kai tried to play games on his phone so he could chill and enjoy himself but when he typed his password it didn’t work! He kept trying but it was no use. But then he remembered that his mom changed the password. He was sooooooooooo upset that he couldn’t get his hands on his phone. But he remembered that he could still play games at his friend’s house, so he asked his mom if he could have a playdate with his best friend, Max.
Kai’s mom said, “Why not—he’s your best friend.”
So when he got to Max’s house, he just rushed to his room and started playing games and Kai’s mom understood why Kai said he wanted to have a playdate with Max.
Max’s mom wasn’t happy about it either.
Sasha Patriacca
Age 12
ESCAPE BILL
At eight o’clock in the evening, Grace is sitting on her bed, playing Roblox. Her mom calls from the next room, “Grace! iPad off! Go to bed!”
Grace rolls her eyes. She turns off her iPad and looks outside. She sees her well. Then she gets an idea. She walks outside in her pajamas. The cold breeze slaps her face. There is the smell of fire from the next door neighbor’s grill.
She walks over to the well and looks at the coin in her hand. “I wish I could play Roblox forever,” she mutters and tosses the coin. Then she goes back to bed and shuts her eyes.
She wakes up in the morning and sees dark colors. Black and gray. She looks around and realizes—she is in her favorite Roblox game! As her eyes adjust to the darkness, she can see the long and dark hallways. She tenses from how cold and silent it feels. Grace’s face lights up until her brain snaps back into place. How do I get back?! she screams in her head. Then she thinks, I need to get all the keys. There are only four. She pauses and thinks, I got this.
Grace already knows where they all are so she goes there. As she’s walking through the dark halls she sees signs saying, “Don’t go on” and “Go away.” She soon gets three but then her heart starts to pound. The monster gets released when she gets all but one key. She looks around and sees a flutter of black cape. It’s the monster, Bill. He’s a big creature with a
big, black cape covering his eyes and body. He’s three times her size and makes her body freeze. His fingers are rotting and Bill’s mouth looks like it’s screaming. Bill’s head looks at her and she starts running. Bill is bigger and faster.
They run into the hall. The last key is there, waiting at the door. It’s glimmering with gold. She’s running as fast as she can but the monster is faster. She runs but his cape falls onto her. Grace looks into Bill’s dark eyes and he burns to ashes. She quickly recovers and grabs the key. Then Grace opens the door and runs into the bright glowing light. Ring! Ring!
Her school alarm wakes her up. Grace’s head is spinning. She can’t grasp the thought that it was all a dream. It had felt so real.
The end.
Matthew Polan
Age 11
THE DRAGON KING
Once upon a time, in the land of Grim, there lived two boys named Joe and Peter. Joe loved to fight, and Peter loved magic. The only thing Joe and Peter had in common was that they both wanted to be knights! They trained every day. Peter practiced magic and his brother, Joe, had a flaming sword. The two of them fought as one: like the rock and water together make a waterfall. Meanwhile, darkness was emerging from the shadows. A wizard was making quite the plot to turn the King of Grim into a dragon. King Orzevelt was the King of Grim, and he was a very, very, very rich king. He was selfish, as he wanted to rule other lands and become the most powerful king. King Orzevelt visited the wizard and asked him if he could make him unbeatable and the most powerful ruler. Unknown to the King, the wizard had different plans and cast a spell transforming King Orzevelt into a giant, wooden, evil dragon.
The King—correction, the Dragon King—blew the roof of the wizard’s lair right off with his powerful fire breath and flew away into the murky sky. The carnivorous reptilian beast entered the Land of Grim to wreak havoc! The dragon destroyed everything during the night. Joe and Peter spotted the Dragon King near the volcano and were ready to defend the land, but Peter was scared. Joe, in an enthusiastic voice, told him not to worry, because they’re sixteen-year-old
knights! Peter stood up and with a brave and loud scream yelled, “Let’s do this!” The two boys followed the dragon up the volcano. They pulled out their weapons and began to fight. Magic blasts fired and flaming fire swords sliced the Dragon King’s tail, but it had no effect.
Then it was the dragon’s turn to attack. The dragon used his strong and massive tail to throw its sharp wooden blades toward Joe and Peter. Thankfully the blades missed and instead crushed the ground. Peter said to his brother, “If this is the end, then I just want to say that I should have tried frozen yogurt.”
“Wow,” said Joe, “you’ve got to be kidding?”
“Yep, I never tried it,” replied Peter.
“I was being sarcastic,” yelled Joe, and as the mouth of the evil dragon got closer, Joe grabbed his flaming fire sword with both hands and with all his might thrusted the razorsharp sword into the dragon’s body.
Right after that, the dragon tried to fly away but he suddenly fell to the ground and was dead. The wizard appeared in front of them, and he said, “You both might have taken down the dragon, but my bomb is about to launch in five days!”
“Five days!” yelled the brothers.
“Well, good luck,” said the wizard in a sneaky tone. The wizard disappeared right before Joe and Peter’s eyes.
After two days of traveling, the two brothers faced a giant green Indian warrior known as an Ock. The Ock stood before Joe and demanded he turn over his sword. The two heroes fought the Ock and after a fierce and fiery battle, Joe and Peter defeated the Ock. They continued their quest until they made it to the wizard’s lair atop a mountain.
They only had ten more hours until the bomb went off. The wizard suddenly appeared. He chuckled with laughter
as he told them, “Ha, you have made it but the world will be reset.” The wizard then pushed a big red button on a nearby control panel. There was lots of smoke and sounds, and as the fog cleared, instead of a wizard a giant robot appeared. “Behold your doom!” yelled the robot. Joe, Peter, and the giant robot began to attack one another . . .
To make a long story short, they took down the robot and they won, but the bomb was about to go off until Joe sliced the bomb and made the ultimate sacrifice. Soon Peter became the King of Grim, and he set his brother’s sword on his fireplace to remember what they both did.
After that, Grim was called the Land of Luck!
Shanaya Jain
Age 7
MAGICAL WONDERLAND
Once upon a time there were magical animals in a magical wonderland. There was an evil giraffe named Dexter. The giraffe’s eyebrows were furrowed together, his nose was scrunched up, and he had a big frown on his face. Dexter was from the Land of Poison, and in this land, all of the animals were poisonous. If you weren’t poisonous, then you weren’t allowed to go inside.
Dexter went to a magical wonderland, leaving the Land of Poison. He was on a mission to do some very evil things. Dexter’s journey took 5,000 hours. He took the evil animal airplane. During his time on the airplane, he was using his evil thinking skills to plot his evil demise of Magical Wonderland. Dexter finally made it to Magical Wonderland.
Dexter told all the magical animals, “I’m going to conquer your land and take your powers.”
After Dexter said this, all the animals said “NO!” in unison, and they used their powers on Dexter, and so Dexter used his powers on the magical animals. Dexter’s powers won, and he took all the powers of the magical animals.
The magical animals found magical stones on the floor and they used them on Dexter and they got their powers back. The magical animals used their powers on him and Dexter got tired and Dexter could not defeat them and now Dexter was defeated. Dexter went back to the evil animal
airplane and it took 5,000 hours again. When he reached the Land of Poison, he told everyone about his journey and they all thought that he was joking.
Dexter said, “Fine. I am joking,” but he was not joking. Dexter went back to his house and slumbered for 10,000 hours.
After everything was said and done and everyone was safe, the magical animals all turned and said to one another, “Do you want ice cream?” and everyone exclaimed, “Yes!”and they all ate ice cream and watched the sunset together and lived happily ever after.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to . . .
Rachel Chalfant, Teaching Artist
Terance Gordon, Teaching Artist Apprentice
Molly Jendryka, Program Intern
Ypsilanti Teen Leadership Lab
Mariam Al-Taweel
Mariam Hamdan
Johan T. Jacob
Chisom Ndukwe
Keira Nguyen
Idris Sarmoum
Sara Sarmoum
Jade Thomas
Lola Upton
Volunteers
Jess Dailey
Shakthivelavan Elango
Tyaé Grant
Jessica Gutierrez
Sydney Ladue
Malina Maxham
Kyle Trautmann
Kristina Uribe
Frances Walewski
Our Partners at the Ypsilanti District Library
Mary Garboden
Nicole Russell
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
We create a safe place to be ourselves and try new things
We support the ways that writers work (like thinking, sketching, talking)
We study the writing we want to do so we can try it
We learn how to change our writing for genre, audience, and purpose
We work with a group of writers who help and support each other
www.826michigan.org
A way to figure things out by ourselves
A
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.
