Dancing with the Pen

A Collection of Today's Best Youth Writing

A lawyer for the Big Bad Wolf earnestly pleads his clients innocence in court. Mother Earth and Father Sky give birth to a rebellious child whose fiery temper threatens to destroy the world. A teenage boy discovers the complexities of fame after his bands first album skyrockets to the top of the charts. Tornado warnings turn a young girls routine babysitting job into a fight for survival. These are just a few of the imaginative, daring, and thought-provoking stories found in these pages. Also included are dozens of poems and personal essays exploring everything from travel to friendship, love to loss, fear to hope. What makes this book truly unique is it was written entirely by kids and teenagers. Dancing with the Pen features the work of more than sixty young writers in elementary school, middle school and high school. These authors come from all across the United States, from California to New York, from Kentucky to Michigan, as well as from abroad: Singapore, Canada, New Zealand. However, the themes and situations they explore transcend hometowns, backgrounds and cultures they are familiar to us all. Dancing with the Pen is a book for young writers and young readers and the young at heart. Even if you are not normally a voracious reader, this book is still for you. Every piece within these covers is written by someone who understands what it is like to be a young person today. Maybe you will recognize yourself in these pages. Perhaps you will even be inspired to pick up a pen, step out on the dance floor, and go for a whirl yourself.