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!

The WORD inbox tells me that some of our student writers are heading back to school. Woe is Jason, indeed! (For those who don't know what I'm talking about will just have to check back on Sept. 12.) Well the editors at READ hope you all had a great summer whether you're already back in a classroom or counting down the days. The editors at READ have been working hard on this year's issues. Thank goodness, though, we did manage to squeeze in some summer fun. Reports indicate that Bry's car climbed Mt. Washington; Audra organized some kind of guacamole fest with lots of friends and lots of chips at an Upstate New York cabin. As for me, I hit the beach a few times and deeply regret never getting to the bottom of the secret of the Montauk Monster. I spent two beachy days there and did observe that the people of Montauk are too relaxed about the whole thing. Weird!

I'd like to use my back-to-school blog post to thank the following students for submitting their six-word memoirs to READ. They were in Cathy Alexander's 7th grade class during the past school year. Following the lead of this book, these fabulous writers tell us a very little something about their lives. The students in blue are appearing in the very first issue of READ. Thanks again writers!

Six Word Memoirs

Determination is my key to success. --Hyrum Weiler

Mom said, "No." Second option: Dad. --Diane Guzman

On your mark. Get set. Splash. --Lydia Pearson

It never hurts to be different. --Katherine Shaw.

Red crayons don't taste like cherry. --Emily Randall

Jumped off a moving skateboard, concusions hurt. --Sam Dodson

Jumping on the bed. Bad idea. --Sarah Nay

Toes tap, tutus swirl, I curtsy. --Taylor Brown

Practice makes permanent--not always perfect --Maddie May

High society boy with cheap clothes. --Armaan Velji

Nobody knows what's behind the smile. --Samantha Dean

Amazing athlete, "High achiever", don't contradict! --Jimmy Dyer 

I'm my orthodontist's main Guinea pug. --Lena Pearson

Blonde at heart, has brown hair. --Emily Hewitt

Intake into inquiry; inquary into insight. --Yikan Ge

Kill alarm clock with the hammer! --Stephanie Moon

I'm a header. Strong. Responsible. Determined. --Kyla S. Dickson

Once coccon, now a social butterfly. --Cara Young

To be myself, I act myself. --Suzanne Shorrash

Assigned homework, did homework, forgot homework. --Hope Carlson

Luv 2 text, $300 phone bill. --Katie Conway

Normal kid trying to achieve greatness. --Rory Martin

Burning hole in Dad's wallet. --Kristina Naso

Outside in the yard equals dirty. --Sam McCoy

If not the clown, then what? --Lindsey Foster

School:The nightmare of my life. --Hannah Tippetts

May spontaneously combust from exhaustion. --Katherine Jory

To new world; have new life. --Chuanze Wu

Fantasy sucked me away from reality. --Asaada Corley

I'm out of drawing paper again. --Rachel Pettit

Picked hard road ... paid off later. --Whitney Findley

A Michelangelo at four, still drawing. --Brion Chatman

All I can do is smile. --Krisna Patel

Ten games, undefeated season, golden trophies. --Kylena Branan

OCD, but unorganized to the max. --Katherine McLemore

Stealing is wrong unless it's home. --Zach Langley

At the peak of undiscovered talent. --Jamila Surpris

Come on! What could happen? --Elizabeth Trompeter

Pirrouting when I should be walking. --Hannah Watkins

Cheerleading, softball, school. I'm never home. --Sarah Oliver

99 years of life; Nana died. --Ndia Burton

Hit the balll over the fence. --Zach Gabrielson

Think of sparkling stars, my freckles. --Kara Strom

Illinois to Georgia, missing the snow. --Maddi Miller

Long haired vegetarian, not a hippie. --Morrison Nolan

Life's game: generous winner, gracious loser. --Alex Bowen

Tumbling all day, future gymnast star. --Leah Hodges

Best friends. Broken friends. Better Life. --Karen Eddington

Work piled on. Never stopped stressing. --Alex Marihew

Dumb blonde? I don't think so! --Meredith Pounds

Daddy said he'd visit;he lied. --Liz Shah

Daddy?! Oh wait you're not here ... --Jacoya Davis

Soccer jersey is never grass stain free. --Kimberly Pham

I'm short ... Do not bother me. --Saneen Shakeel

Loves music. Listens all night long. --Elaine Duong

I haven't figured it out yet. --Zane Bader

Global warming rising but still snowing. --Tony Wu

Can't shut up, gets in trouble. --Urvashi Betarbet

Just close your eyes and pray. --Jenna Bass

My life is a question mark. --Mariah Bowen

Grow older, but never grow up. -- Emilie Lostracco

Little brother, little sister, oh my! --Jenna Freeman

Goodbye sweet 7th grade. Hello summer. --Riley Weyner

Karma--my one and only enemy. --Rohan Mahadevia

Georgia to Pennsylvania, still best friends. --Katie Linton

My life doesn't have a hypothesis. --Devan Heyburn

Basketball, basketball, basketball bouncing through life. --Casey Staggs

Gone, but still barking from heaven. --Valerie Ward

My white jersey nevers stays clean. --Rob Youngblood

Smart girl. High standards. No limits. --Laura Anderson

I'm running away, but also forward. --Sarah Tucker

Will work for food. Chocolate anyone? --Natalie Neuman

All A's at heart, D average. --Keith Jackson

Dare to dream, but never sleep. --Aine Imbach

Working hard. Working together. A team. --Lauren Franklin

Don't need a parachute for free-falling. --Schafer Sirmer

Always living like there's no tomorrow. --Mary Helen Bowen

by Sarah-Jayne Kipling

He walks in to holy organ riot
Serpent sway
Unlined mouth
Agitation
That cracks the clay
Where the chieftain lies
"Teach me how to raise the dead," I say
His arms open into a porch

He pulls me back
Cawing
No fleeting mayfly backwards glance
A fetal world
Back, still further back
Into himself
Searing plain and shocked and open
Dark like a dead child's birthday
Rain has yet to be imagined
Inside the earth we reach the pinnacle
Eyeless

Seconds resume

He walks away
Just that
He walks away

The following blog entry was written by Sarah Solomon, an intern here at READ.

**Update: The first issue of Stand and Voice is here. And it looks fantastic! Chock full of stories, poems, essays, and artwork--all by teens--Stand and Voice is truly an accomplishment. Kudos to Baobao et al.

What does it take for a teen writer to be published? Teens seem notably left out. At least, this is the view of Baobao Zhang, who attends high school in Virginia. In order to mend this modern literary tragedy, she has started an online literary magazine – Stand and Voice. And it is just for teens. When asked how the magazine got started, Baobao, explained: "It got started around April this year when I was talking to a friend. I was getting rejected by — god knows what — every magazine in the country probably. We were talking, and we’re sure there are other teens who have this problem getting published, especially in adult magazines, because people don't want to take teens seriously. So we thought it would be cool to give people an outlet for their voice. Since then I’ve gotten published."

In terms of the technical preparations, "We had to find a web hosting company—we did it with Yahoo— and it's fantastic because you can edit it online and don't need software. We had to write everything about us. One of the challenges we had was to find a staff of volunteer editors, but we found them now." They also were lucky enough to be advertised by another magazine, Teen Ink.

Once the magazine was properly set up, it was time to start getting submissions. I asked Baobao why she thinks it's so important for teens to have their voices heard in today's society. Her response: "There's the adult world, and they don't take teens very seriously. And then there are the kids' magazines that don't take teens very seriously. We lack a voice. Modern media says we're irresponsible and lazy, but I don't think so. I think we have something to say."

Very well said.

On her hopes for the magazine: "I hope teen writers will have the chance to get published and put themselves out there. One of my goals is to spread this magazine to educators across the country. Kids that don't like to read can find something they're interested in."

Baobao and the rest of the editors have a whole process of deciding who to publish. Baobao says, "We have a review process. You send something in, when we're looking at it we're reading it anonymously and we edit it anonymously. We also have a rubric."

Writers can submit poetry, short fiction, personal essays, editorial essays, one-act plays, and even book movie or music reviews. Artists can submit drawings, paintings, prints, multimedia, photography, digital art, cartoons, and sculptures and ceramics.

All writing must be emailed to submission@standandvoice.org in Microsoft Word (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf), in a double-spaced standard font (such as Times New Roman). Since the writing is judged anonymously, put your name, date of birth, grade level, state, and name of school in the body of the email, but do not put information in the file. You'll also find a complete list of instructions at the site.

The first issue is going to come out in August. Deadline for the issue is July 27.

If you are a teen writer and want to be heard, submit your writing to Stand and Voice. If you are a reader, get ready to read some original writing from teens across the country.

READ thinks that Baobao is poised for success. After all, her poem "In Search of Sleeping Beauty" will appear in the first issue of READ this fall. We hope that Stand and Voice is a raging success, and wish Baobao and the rest of the team good luck!