Poetry, letters from aliens, how-to guides, and more. Read about baby rabbits, a vacation to the desert, the Lord of Scribbles, a girl named French Fry, and how to bake banana bread. Also inside: a seven-step cat instruction manual on how cats ought to treat humans.

— Simon Traub-Epstein, International Library of Young Authors

From the introduction by Isabel Geerer: “You hold in your hands a compilation of personalities. The writers of Phoebe Hearst are a diminutive sample that reflects perfectly the larger Sacramento community of writers. Like their adult counterparts, these young writers are a diverse group. Among our ranks are several poets, action/adventure writers, mystery writers, horror writers and more than our fair share of comedians. Some of our writers are loud and boisterous and work best bouncing their fabulous ideas off of one another. Others need quiet reflection as their pens continuously pass back and forth across their journals. We all have one thing in common: a love of the written word.”