Close Calls, Near Misses, and Direct Hits: Stories of Fear, Failure, and Agony

This book is the result of a long process that started on the first day of school, when these sixth graders first began writing in their daily journals. It was their first, tentative step in gathering ideas, finding their voice, and exploring things that interested them as writers. Students had direction on topics, but also choice. Some 30-odd journal entries, four essays, and multiple drafts later, you are now holding in your hands the tangible results of their efforts: writing that represents many different writing “modes,” or means of written communication -- narrative, descriptive, expository -- and a piece of writing by each 6th grader that employs all three of them, at a minimum. While this book represents the pinnacle of these young writers’ achievement so far this year, it is just a step in the long process of growing as a writer that will continue through this year, into the next, and through the years after that.