Explore Middle School is now home to a number of published authors. Students in Mr. John Dunphy’s English language arts class have had their short stories published in the book Mission: Catastrophe.
Mission: Catastrophe is the first of the Survival Saga series published by Young Writers. Young Writers is a small publishing company that encourages young writers to read, write, and embrace creative writing. Through contests, the company publishes students’ writing pieces in an effort to boost confidence, nurture creative talent, and showcase creativity.
Each year Mr. Dunphy assigns his students a creative writing task to enter into the Young Writer’s contest. Last school year, he asked his 7th graders to write a 100-word short story about a catastrophe.
Jonas Meyer’s story was one of the 17 students published in the book. “My story was about a character alone at the end of the world. Everything is covered in black smoke and the main character isn’t necessarily just dealing with the physical obstacles but also his internal conflicts with anxiety and the fear of being alone. To add some excitement to the plot I emphasized how bad the smoke was and made the character asthmatic. He spends most of the story trying to calm himself down so that he can properly use his asthma pump,” Meyer explained.
Mission: Catastrophe is described as a collection of “tales of destruction and redemption, new beginnings and struggles of survival of the odds.” Over 193 stories are included in the book by young writers from Eastern USA.
“The ozone layer has deteriorated and the radiation from the sun would kill you if you stared at the sun,” 8th grade student Elise Crows explains. “Through the first-person point of view, the reader understands that the character is young and very tempted to look at the sun anyway. My story does revolve around a catastrophe but it is focused on the theme of curiosity and rebellion when we are young,” she adds. “My parents were so excited I was published they bought 3 copies of the book.”
To learn more about Young Writers visit: www.youngwritersusa.com
