Our Student Publications
“Maybe one day the pain won’t feel the same.
Me and my people won’t be lost in tears dancing in this hurricane.
But for now I’ll stand here today, pleading my case.
Asking that you all allow the broadcasting of our magic
that’s been effortlessly erased.”
Wonder of the West: The Stories Behind the Mask brings together a powerful collection of fictional narratives written by students who dare to explore what people often keep hidden. A motley collection of fictional narratives written by students who use storytelling to explore the emotions and experiences people often keep hidden. These stories don’t just showcase creativity; they reveal the students’ ability to imagine lives beyond their own, to empathize deeply, and to give voice to characters who are fighting to be understood. Each piece dives into serious themes such as loss, conflict, survival, emotional hardship, and the quiet resilience that emerges in difficult moments.
In “Never Really Gone: Horrors of the Past, Mysteries of the Future,” young authors from West Dallas take us through tales where secrets untold, fears are unspoken, and friendships are tested. This collection of spine-chilling tales, penned by the empowered youth themselves, invites readers into a world where the past haunts the present, and the future is cloaked in mystery.
In the pages of Six Feet: Same Distance, Different Stories, a profound narrative unfolds, capturing the diverse experiences of middle school students from the West Dallas STEM School during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through personal narratives, short stories, and poetry, these young authors invite readers into their world, offering profound insights into their lives during a time of unprecedented change and upheaval.
Visit the 826 Digital Store to purchase a copy!
Faceless: Untold Side Effects of Culture, Race, & COVID-19 is a collection of student writing that spans genre, space and time before, during and after the coronavirus pandemic. Supported by The 826 Dallas Project as part of their first-ever Young Authors Book Project, students from two Ethnic Studies courses at Trinidad Garza Early College High School in Dallas, Texas wrote honest and searing works that weigh the longstanding sins of American racism with the new realities of virtual learning and social distancing.
Visit the 826 Digital Store to purchase a copy!
Exhale: Goodbye Silent Adolescence is a collection of writing created by students from schools and community-based organizations in West Dallas. Exhale defines the teenage experience as a time of learning, transition, hardship and loss. As part of 826 Dallas Project’s Young Authors Book Project, students wrote short stories, personal narratives, and poetry that contend with taking the next step in life in an increasingly uncertain world.
Ready to Close the Book is a collection of poems, letters, and short stories written by youth from the Wesley Rankin Community Center in Dallas.
Inside the Mind is an anthology of poems, short stories, and personal narratives written and designed by 7th grade students from the West Dallas STEM School.