Oh no! Word had a birthday on Labor Day and we missed it! Dang! Well, happy birthday, WORD. We're very sorry if you've been feeling neglected lately. We are going to try our hardest to keep you up to date this year. And speaking of this year...

Hello readers of READ! Welcome back to school! And welcome to the new era of READ magazine! You should now have in your possession our first issue of the year. It's the one with Icarus flying toward the sun. Oh no his wings are burning! Ack! Will he survive? Turn to page 14 to read all about it!

This year, we are very excited because each issue of READ contains a *new* Writing section. Do you see it? It's there in the back. It starts on page 26, immediately following our exclusive interview with Esther Friesner.

As you can probably tell, my blogging skills are a little rusty. But that's ok because I'm going to be blogging a lot more frequently and practice makes perfect! Yay! And so is Alicia! Yay! And Audra, too! Yay! But if you aren't interested in our word ramblings, send us your poems, stories, and essays. Here at WORD, we love to publish student writing! Email us at word@weeklyreader.com.

OK, that's it for now. Hope you are enjoying Issue 1!