826 believes in amplifying and publishing youth voices. Celebrate and honor their stories with us. Find inspiration with hundreds of student writing pieces in our Writing Gallery, and share your students’ writing on 826 Digital. Our students’ words will make you smile, think, sigh, cry so hard you laugh, and laugh so much you cry.
Your piece could be published in a beautiful 826 book, right here on our Writing Gallery, and beyond.
Read student writing on diverse topics from diverse authors. Find inspiration for yourself as a reader and as a writer. And let your students be inspired by mentor texts from their peers.
A student owns her strength through the fragility of a flower.
"A white dandelion in a field of flowers. The pale glow that stands out and without a doubt,"
In this rousing poem, a student asserts her strength and worth as a woman.
"I am more than a small waistline and an hourglass figure I am powerful and wise I am they that gave birth to a thousand generations And forged the way for others like me to be free of oppression I am many lifetimes of wisdom"
A persuasive piece for women and girls to unite and cultivate a culture of body image positivity.
“You might look at yourself and think, ‘How can I be prettier? How can I be more desirable to the people of whatever gender I’m after?’ How can I get noticed?’ Women today are struggling with the ideal body image."
A look at what's possible for all girls.
"At my last school we had to have a partner. So this girl, her skin was way lighter than me. She had to work with me but she didn’t want to. Then she said out loud, “I don’t wanna sit by some rezzy girl.”
This poem offers a very-real answer to "What do you want to be when you grow up?
"When someone says, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I answer, “alive."
This poem illustrates the effectiveness of descriptive language.
"The door is made of carbon fiber and it is gray with lights. It Opens using hinges. It’s in a frost and to get to it you have to find"
This poem uses descriptive language to leave the reader clues about the animal it is depicting.
"I live in different places, like the tundra or forest I look soft and white, with curly fur"
A creative field guide to the eastern gray squirrel.
"Lives with: Ginko tree & Penicillium Latin name: Sciurus carolinesis Description They weigh around a pound and are just under a foot tall. They have gray, sometimes brown, fur with white bellies. Lifespan They live between two and six years."
This poem uses the 1st person point-of-view to show what life looks like for a timber rattlesnake.
"I look like a snake and I’m gray. I live in the mountains. In the morning I go to wait for a victim."
A poem about appreciating trees and why we should study them.
"The oldest tree living is 3 or 4 thousand years old. Some grow as high as a 40-story skyscraper. Trees can be studied in every season, and they should be."
A poem about the fleetingness of change.
"It smells like burned fire with wet dog and dirt. I can see my two German shepherds playing in the yard.”
A poem about the devastation of climate change.
"i cry more than i used to but sometimes i can’t cry at all. i sweat myself to sleep"
In this public narrative, a student makes the case for creating community change by building youth centers in her neighborhood.
"I took my first steps in a small farming village in the northern part of Greece named Loudias."
In this narrative, the author uses vibrant language to explore their identity, in all its complexity, through different landscapes.
"I cannot be defined as one place, one clear image in your mind."
A student finds her wings in unexpected places in this piece about the transition to college.
"The Lancaster evening was bitter cold by my Southern California girl standards..."
This narrative calls us to see the world through the perspectives of others.
"It was like I was in a movie. A bad one. Moving slowly, hearing an echo of my dad’s voice, my body felt cold. My smile was gone."
In this essay, a student threads their identity across cultures, histories, and places, engaging with legacies of violence and the movement of people.
"They never think to ask if I’m Latina and they never guess I’m from Jamaica—speech lessons bleached out my accent long ago."
An ode celebrating an important figure in this student’s life.
"If my grandfather were A rainbow I would follow him Until I found a pot of gold"
This poem celebrates and mourns a taco.
"Oh, shiny, blue taco eyes, I lick the eyeballs like a lollipop. Blue taco eyes, like blue Airheads, you taste like my dream."
This poem celebrates a special person in the writer's life.
"Dear brave Sonia Melara You are responsible for accomplishing goals as an executive director You make the world bright like the stars"
An ode to Beans, Rice, and Chicken.
"Oh Beans, Rice, and Chicken, you give people energy to control their bodies. You keep me alive."
A shout-out poem to some things missed (Hyderabad) and celebrated (Mom).
"Here’s to my best friend Mahek, because when I am sad or bored she cracks jokes and makes me happy."
When we publish our students’ writing, something magical happens. Students see their ideas reflected in something tangible and begin to see themselves as authors with words worth reading. See the magic in action by checking out 826-published books that will feel right at home on any bookshelf.