The stories in this book were composed by a poised and intelligent group of 8th grade students from Columbia Explorers Academy during the summer of 2011. With the help of Open Books and a group of enthusiastic volunteer mentors, each student spent five weeks dreaming up, writing, and revising the wonderful pieces herein. In addition to writing stories of their own, the group also worked through Jeanne DuPrau’s The City of Ember. Their task was to re-imagine their own lives and experiences with the subtraction of one of their five senses.
