Whether writing suspensful nightmares, first-person (fictional) historical accounts, or reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic, these students find power in their words. Hear from a child left home alone at night, a family camping in Goblin Forest, a tenth century outlaw, and a traveling paper trader.

— Simon Traub-Epstein, International Library of Young Authors

From the publisher: “This anthology is the product of a collaboration between 826 Valencia and Buena Vista Horace Mann, a bilingual K-8 school in San Francisco's Mission District. Throughout the school year, tutors, interns, and staff worked virtually with groups of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders as they developed skills as writers. These middle school students were supported across a range of subjects and projects, including research about COVID-19 vaccinations, imagining what life might have been like in ancient times, reflections on their experiences staying home this year, and writing scary stories. This anthology includes excerpts from these reflections, journal entries, argument pieces, and scarratives.”