ABOUT 826NYC

over to the lawn. They seemed to plant a bunch of things at the base of the chimney. The gardener looked nervous, but no one was paying attention as the block was empty with lots of uninhabited HAL homes. Ava was the only person living on the street.

Pleased with his dirty work and having planted the virus, the gardener brushed off his gloves. It would slowly creep up the side of the house until it reached the roof, where the real damage would be done.

Ava stepped out the front door, eyes still glued to their phone. They wanted to meet up with their friends to get ice cream, but they didn’t know how to use GPS to get there (they’re, like, really old). Ava was still texting the details when they stepped onto their hovercraft. They didn’t even realize that HAL had been changed to a whole new state while they were away.

CHAPTER 2

It seemed like Ava had been starving and hadn’t eaten the entire day (HAL’s pancakes were taken for granted). Ava was arguing with friends at the ice cream shop about the best flavor when the power surged and went out. It was strange to see the power go out. Chicken nugget-flavored ice cream began melting first, always the last flavor to sell out. Ava’s friends seemed nervous, their faces glowing in the dark from their cookies-and-cream cones.

No one seemed to know what to do in a future without power. Grabbing a fistful of napkins for their melting ice

cream, Ava became so mad that she had to rush through their cone and their hangout. They missed their friends already.

Ava got freaked out because the house might go crazy. The windows became flashing eyes. All the curtains came down, and the house was all dark and the doors were creaky. The house was pitch black. Knives were flying around. Rats were everywhere, crawling up the bricks of the house.

Ava called their friend, Nat, and informed them that Ava’s house was going crazy and they might need some backup dealing with it. Soon, Nat drove up and agreed with Ava that something was wrong.

“Hello! I’m so glad you’re here,” Ava said to Nat.

Nat showed Ava her car, a new model that can fly using electromagnetic technology on a train track, similar to a hyperloop.

“Let’s run!” Nat said to Ava. They drove until they found a bright light coming down from a streetlamp. They began looking up HAL on the internet and wondering what could have happened to the house.

CHAPTER 3

A stranger appeared under the streetlamp and approached Nat and Ava.

Losing the Keys

RICARDO FERNÁNDEZ, LUIS ESTEVEZ PICAZO, AND JAN WASILUK

WRITTEN DURING WRITE AFTER SCHOOL

One day, Nico was just chilling in the store. Then he checked his pockets when he left the store. Once he realized the key to the building was gone, Nico went insane and he didn't know what to do. Nico said to himself, “I’m supposed to feed the dinosaur, how am I supposed to feed it?” He saw someone walking a dinosaur, the dinosaur was walking alongside its owner. Nico reacted normally because there are a lot of dinosaurs, this dinosaur is a plant eater.

Nico started running and saw a bunch of dinosaurs. He thought in his head, “I just lost the last T-Rex alive.” Nico got to the cage and saw that the bars were twisted and there were footprints.

Nico just lost his car key and his bike key. Because his bike was locked and he lost his key, Nico asked his neighbor if he could borrow his pterodactyl so he could locate the whereabouts of the dinosaur. Nico jumped on the pterodactyl’s back and was scared, slipping off second by second. The pterodactyl was big, it was running fast in the direction where people were because the T-Rex was hungry and had started to eat them.

First, the T-Rex found a bus full of people. The driver saw the T-Rex. He tried to drive away but wound up crashing into a pole, and the T-Rex ripped the top off the bus and ate

everyone one by one. Next the T-Rex found a train about to pass through; he broke the bridge it was passing on and the train crashed. He ripped the top of the train off and ate everyone inside the train.

While Nico was riding the pterodactyl, he saw the T-Rex eating all the people. Then, a huge portal came out of nowhere and another T-Rex came out. Nico said to himself, “Oh, I thought I had the only T-Rex alive.” The T-Rexes saw each other and decided to go their own ways and eat humans. But then the T-Rexes started fighting over the humans; they angrily bit each other. They started shaking the city. A wizard got news that the dinosaurs were fighting, so he decided to come and make an end of it, and send them back to their cages. Nico flew into the store and got the key.

Outside of the store, Nico had the key. He felt accomplished, the T-Rexes were back in their cages. A pack of velociraptors came along and ate him. Then Nico woke up in his bed, it was just a dream. He looked out the window and saw dinosaurs outside. He looked up at the ceiling and saw a T-Rex looking down at him through the hole in the ceiling.

The T-Rex ate Nico.

THE END.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THE TWELFTH ISSUE OF THE 826NYC REVIEW celebrates the work of young authors from across and beyond New York City who participated in 826NYC programs with their schools and virtually from home during the 2020-2021 school year. These stories showcase the incredible thoughtfulness, insight, humor, and empathy these writers wrung out of an exceptionally challenging year. They brought their voices to topics like identity, advocacy, dreams, and frustrations, writing stories and poems that give their readers the opportunity to laugh, cry, sigh, and imagine along with them. It is a privilege to publish these gifted and passionate writers, and we are eternally grateful to be their rapt audience and enthusiastic cheerleaders.

The publication would not be possible without the volunteers and staff who dedicated their time and talents to curating, editing, and proofreading this collection. We thank our awesome summer interns—all students from 826NYC’s Teen Writers' Collective—who worked together to select many of these pieces: MAXINE BABB, MIA CRUZ, MAYRA FERNÁNDEZ, KIERA FOSTER, and MEKHI VAZQUEZ. After their careful consideration, our copy editors and proofreaders reviewed each piece to ensure the authors’ messages came across loud and clear. Thank you to our editorial team: NIKKI BALDAUF, KATHERINE DEGENNARO, MICHELLE HASKA, CHAD HEWITT, JENNY MITSCHKE, TIANA MOE, and SARAH STEPHEN. A huge thank you to JOE IOVINO, who designed this beautiful

book and brought our students’ stories to life.

In addition to supporting the publication itself, 826NYC’s talented and dedicated VOLUNTEERS AND INTERNS worked with our students on their writing over the course of thousands of hours across all of our programs. For your support, encouragement, and mentorship, we thank you. Without your commitment to our students, nothing we do would be possible.

We want to give a huge thank you to TIPHANIE YANIQUE for reading this publication and providing such a thoughtful, inspiring foreword. Your commitment to the craft, as well as to supporting young authors as they develop their voices, is inspiring.

Finally we would like to thank the NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS and the PINKERTON FOUNDATION for funding this project. Additional support for this project came from THE JANE FRIEDMAN ANSPACH FAMILY FOUNDATION, THE FIND YOUR LIGHT FOUNDATION, THE HAWKINS FOUNDATION, THE RONA JAFFE FOUNDATION, THE KETTERING FAMILY FOUNDATION, THE MINERVA FOUNDATION, and THE RESNICK FAMILY FOUNDATION. We are grateful for your support.

ABOUT 826NYC

826NYC LOCATION AND LEADERSHIP

826NYC AND THE BROOKLYN SUPERHERO SUPPLY CO.

372 FIFTH AVE BROOKLYN, NY 11215 718.499.9884 www.826nyc.org

STAFF

JOSHUA MANDELBAUM, Executive Director NAOMI SOLOMON, Director of Education MANDY SEINER, Volunteer and Programs Manager SUMMER MEDINA, Programs & Volunteer Coordinator JULIANNA LEE MARINO, Programs Coordinator COREY RUZICANO, Programs Coordinator JESUSDANIEL BARBA, Programs Coordinator LAUREN EVERETT, Communication & Fundraising Coordinator CHRIS ECKERT, Store Manager

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MICHELLE MCGOVERN, President TED WOLFF, Vice President RAY CARPENTER, Treasurer KATHRYN YONTEF, Secretary MICHAEL COLAGIOVANNI JEN D'AMBROISE LIZA DEMBY JAMAL EDWARDS AMIR MOKARI ARJUN NAGAPPAN TAMMY OLER KATIE SCHWAB DANIELLE SINAY ANDREW SPARKLER ALYSON STONE MAURA TIERNEY THOM UNTERBURGER

826NYC PROGRAMS

WRITE AFTER SCHOOL Reading and writing go together like peanut butter and jelly. Write After School students work alongside 826NYC staff and volunteers to build their reading, writing, social-emotional skills and unleash their imagination as they play and learn about the power of language. Three times a year, students revise their creative writing for publications that are printed

in English and Spanish and shared with families, volunteers, and community members at celebratory readings.

WRITE AWAY WORKSHOPS Young writers come together in Write Away Workshops to explore a multitude of genres and subjects and to develop their voices. Groups write freely and participate in imaginative writing activities and lessons. Whether it’s a song, a piece of climate justice sci-fi, or a nature guide, young writers leave the workshop with a piece to be proud of, as well as a newfound understanding of the topic, and new friends.

YOUNG WRITERS PUBLISH Turn your classroom into a creative writing lab. During Young Writers Publish residencies, 826NYC teaching artists collaborate with educators on creative, impactful, curriculum-aligned projects that transform students into published authors. Residencies run from six weeks to a full year, depending on the project. Each Young Writers Publish culminates in a book, newspaper, zine, podcast, film, or performance featuring your students.

WRITE TOGETHER 826NYC hosts classes across New York City for Write Together: an interactive writing experience that encourages creative expression, explores the elements of storytelling, and strengthens writing skills. Elementary-aged classes collaborate on illustrated children’s books, middle schoolers

choose their own adventure, and high schoolers learn the art of memoir writing during a fast- paced and whimsical 90 minute narrative program.

TEEN WRITERS' COLLECTIVE Teens are the next generation of literary leaders. That’s why we launched the Teen Writers’ Collective. The collective brings together young writers from around the city to explore the art of writing and literary citizenship. They are a community of passionate and creative peers, serve as 826NYC youth leaders, and inspire younger students and peers across the network.

STUDENT PUBLICATIONS Through our programs, our volunteers work with students to help them create stories, poems, and ’zines. Because we believe that the quality of students’ work is greatly enhanced when they are given the chance to share it with an authentic audience, we are committed to publishing student works. By encouraging their work and by guiding them through the process of publication, we make abundantly clear that their ideas are valued.