Once upon a time, in pencil school, a brave little red pencil sets out to write an exciting story with nouns and adverbs and everything--but first she has to face the ravenous pencil sharpener, the Wolf 3000.

Abdul loves telling stories but thinks his messy handwriting and spelling mistakes will keep him from becoming an author, until Mr. Muhammad visits and encourages him to persist.

What happens when the story ideas--from a bored Viking to a space robot--kept in a teacher's special jar escape and get rowdy?

In this semi-autobiographical picture book, author Patricia MacLachlan relates what it might take to grow up to become a writer.

"Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by babysitters, shunted from foster family to foster family, and preyed upon by those she trusted. At the age of six, she poured her pain onto a piece of paper late one night - and discovered the magic and impact of writing. For many years, Nikki's notebooks were her most enduing companions. In this accessible and inspiring...

When thirteen-year-old Joan moves to California in 1972, she becomes friends with Sarah, who is timid at school but an imaginative leader when they play in the woods, and after winning a writing contest together they are recruited for an exclusive summer writing class that gives them new insights into themselves and others.