We’re thrilled to present this year’s 826 Pub Month by showcasing a collection of 826 books across the Network by young writers. Last year, 826 published over 1,300 student publications and published over 5,000 young writers. This year, our students wrote about time traveling to eras unknown, spooky mysteries that’ll make you belly laugh, creatures that roam safaris and through your living room, and more!
Check out a few of the 826 Books published this year below!
FROM 826 NATIONAL:
A Place Worth Being: Explorations by Young Writers
Foreword by Jason Reynolds
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A Place Worth Being features outstanding work from more than 60 student writers grades 7-12 from across the country. An anthology of poems and essays created in partnership with Jason Reynolds, bestselling author and three-time National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, these works were inspired by his poem, For Every One. Here, you’ll find the writers’ reflections of the worlds inside themselves—those that exist and those they imagine building.
- Submissions reviewed by 826 National’s inaugural Student Editorial Board, a group of 19 students grades 7-12, and 826 staff members Cristeta Boarini (826 MSP) and Nakia Hill (826 Boston)
- Includes 826 Digital writing lesson from bestselling author Jason Reynolds
The Beast: A Collection of Poems by Young Writers
Foreword by Charlotte Yeung, 2023 National Youth Poet Laureate finalist
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The Beast is a collection of poems from young authors, ages 8-18, across the country about beloved family pets, mythical beasts from storybooks, and local creatures resting outside our window—all relationships that offer the opportunity to reflect on the world we live in, and the world we wish to live in.
Inspired by a writing prompt from Ada Limón, 24th Poet Laureate of the United States, in which she reminded students, “Paying attention to animals that are around us … is a good way to remember that we are animals too.” With a foreword by Charlotte Yeung, 2023 National Youth Poet Laureate finalist, this publication extends an invitation for young writers across the country to notice the beasts around and within them.
- Full-colored illustrations throughout the book
- Submitted by students from all across the United States and through 826 Digital educators
- Inspired by Ada Limón’s 826 Digital lesson of the same name
From 826 Boston:
This Bad Boy Is A Time Machine Journal One & Journal Two
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This Bad Boy is a Time Machine is the latest chapbook from 826 Boston’s After-School Writing and Tutoring Program. It features original stories about time travel, exploration and adventure, friendship and rivalries, technological mishaps, and more!
- Equal parts humorous and serious
- Students-led design, reminiscent of a “relic from years’ past” and features one-of-a-kind illustrations by students
- Two-volume anthology perfect for all ages! Start off with “Journal One” (for readers six and up) and continue the adventure in “Journal Two” (for readers twelve and up).
From 826DC:
Looking Into the Sky: Poetry By the 3rd & 4th-graders of Savoy Elementary School
Foreword by E. Ethelbert Miller
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Third and fourth-grade students at 826DC have been grappling with the questions: How do I tell my story? What stories do I want to tell? Who do I want to tell them to?
In collaboration with writer and activist, E. Ethelbert Miller, the third and fourth-grade Black students of Savoy Elementary School in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, DC answer the questions above through poems in Look Up Into the Sky. These poems tell the stories of friendships and dreams and celebrate pleasure and play!
“In poetry everything is possible. One only needs to look up and see the sky; one only has to embrace the miraculous blue.” – foreword excerpt by E. Ethelbert Miller
- Poems about experiences as universal as the magic of a movie theater or the chill of winter are interspersed with personal tales of broken arms, beloved books, and barber shops.
- Their work explores the real and the imaginary. Zombie apocalypses and shadow men appear beside birthday parties and grandma’s house.
- Written by three classes of Black students in Anacostia, the same neighborhood where Frederick Douglass also lived and wrote about his life.
From 826CHI:
El Chiquito Big Book: Writing form the Students of Pickard Elementary
Foreword by Melissa Castro Almandina
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In the foreword to El Chiquito Big Book, poet Melissa Castro Almandina writes, “The works in this book will touch you, will remind you of what it’s like to be a child again and will change you from root-to-soot-to-gold.”
The students of Pickard Elementary spent their year with 826CHI exploring poetic forms, experimenting with language and finding ways to wrap words around the world that go beyond what is typically taught in schools. Some poems are small. Some poems are large. Some are set in the future. And some are living deeply in the now. But all of these poems, like their poets, are exactly as they should be—exactly as they are.
- Full-colored illustrations throughout from 826CHI students
- Poems focused on re-imagining the future
- Includes bilingual poems in both Spanish and English
From 826LA:
I Ain’t No Scooby Doo, But I Think I Just Solved a Mystery
By 826LA Write On! After School Tutoring Staff
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Step into a world of wonder and intrigue, where the imagination of students runs free and mysterious tales abound. In I Ain’t No Scooby Doo, But I Think I Just Solved a Mystery, you’ll discover a collection of short stories crafted by young authors who have mastered the art of suspense, cleverly weaving in flourishes of comedy. So, come along and join us on this journey of mystery and discovery, and prepare to be amazed by the creativity and talent of these young storytellers.
- The stories embodies the creative minds of 826LA after-school tutoring students
- Includes student illustrations throughout
From 826michigan:
Atomic!: Earth’s Final Fight with and against the Strange
Foreword by Micheline Hess
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Go on a wild and wacky adventure with fifth-graders from 826michigan! Atomic! is a collection of science-fiction stories that is sure to take you on a trip of a lifetime. Includes a foreword by graphic novelist, Micheline Hess.
- Illustrated throughout by Daisy Illustrations
- Introduction by graphic novelist, Micheline Hess, author and illustrator of Malice in Ovenland. The Anansi Kids Club, and The All Saints Day Adventure
- Wild and wacky and sometimes heartfelt sci-fi stories from fifth grade students
From 826 MSP:
More Than One Voice, short fiction by 6th graders
Foreword by Marlin M. Jenkins, poet & school teacher
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Here, there be dragons. And haunted houses. And Tasmanian devils. And aliens, and so, so much more.
More Than One Voice is full to the brim of unbridled energy and whimsy from sixth graders in Minnesota, written in partnership with 826 MSP Youth Writing Center. Through sci-fi, fantasy, suspense, and fables, these young authors explore everything from the edges of the galaxy to the hallways of middle school. Also included are educator resources so that anyone can write the same style of stories in this book. For both young audiences and the young at heart, this anthology will remind you of the power of imagination.
- Nearly 100 stories from young authors
- Sci-fi, fables/animal stories, and mystery/suspense
- Something for everyone: from super cute and whimsical to telenovela–level drama to blockbuster horror movie
From 826NYC:
Mango is My Middle Name: An Anthology by 826NYC Students at I.S. 171
Foreword by 826NYC Teaching Artist Jaydra Johnson
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Read Mango is My Middle Name if you dare to embark on the journey of a lifetime with the students of I.S. 171 as your guides.
You will visit the unknown world of Monkeyman–a coconut-wielding superhero–where dangers lurk by the dozen in the dark of the jungle. You will be carried away to the Dominican Republic, land of palm trees, ocean breezes, bachata music, and all the mangú you can eat. You will follow intrepid young writers from the mountains of Ecuador to the hallways of a middle school in Brooklyn, where frayed nerves are transformed into brilliant smiles thanks to new friends.
This volume includes a cacophony of poems, where students tell each other, and the world, who they are. You’ll also find a rich collection of journey narratives, some real and some imagined, but all full of the stuff good stories are made of: drama, comedy, action, and emotion. Crack this book and join us on an adventure you won’t ever forget.
- Features a mixture of poetry and short stories by middle school students at I.S. 171 in Brooklyn, New York. It includes some fun twists on the genres, from “two voice” poem where two writers collaborate with alternating lines, to a single short story with 8 different endings!
- Writing in both English and Spanish, as many students wrote their pieces originally in Spanish
- Many students chose to share their stories of leaving home, their memories of where they came from, and the foods and traditions that are important in their families
From 826 New Orleans:
There was Once a Piece of Pizza Named Fred
By 826 New Orleans Students
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2023 marks the 9th annual pizza poetry event at 826 New Orleans! In collaboration with teachers and students across New Orleans, 826 New Orleans collected over 400 poems written by students, grades 3 through 12. These poems were delivered through thousands of pizza boxes all across New Orleans, some of which are featured in There Was Once a Piece of Pizza Named Fred.
The Pizza Poetry Project centers the uniquely singular, supportive creative community that is New Orleans and connects us all to poetry month in a way that’s celebratory, innovative and fun! We hope you enjoy the amount of cleverness evident in this book and continue to celebrate the genius of incredible young writers in New Orleans and beyond!
- Written by New Orleans students grades 3-12
- Poetry workshops were led by high school students from New Orleans Center for Creative Arts
- The poems featured were distributed through thousands of pizza boxes across New Orleans on April 28, 2023
From 826 Valencia:
Never Forever Last
Foreword by Tommy Orange
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Never Forever Last is a collection of personal writing about the visible and invisible parts of identity. This anthology contains writing from the tenth and eleventh grade students at the Academy San Francisco at McAteer in San Francisco, CA. After exploring Tommy Orange’s There There and meeting the author, students crafted their own original pieces, reflecting on the people, places, and interests that are important to who they are. The resulting writing is immensely self-reflective, engaging, and important.
In the words of Tommy Orange: “When young people gather to talk about themselves, to share themselves with each other, there is power there. This book is one such gathering. So read on. There is power here.”
- Personal writing by 10th and 11th graders on the visible and invisible parts of identity
- Foreword by bestselling author Tommy Orange
From 826 Dallas Project:
Exhale: Goodbye Silent Adolescence
By Students from West Dallas
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Exhale: Goodbye Silent Adolescence is a collection of student writing that defines the teenage experience as a time of learning, transition, hardship and loss. Supported by the 826 Dallas Project as part of the Young Authors’ Book Project, students from schools and community-based organizations in West Dallas wrote short stories, personal narratives, and poetry that contend with taking the next step in life in an increasingly uncertain world.
- Written by students from West Dallas during 2020
