An important part of our work as a writing center is the community presence we've offered via brick-and-mortar spaces in Venice (since 2005) and Echo Park (since 2007). Volunteers who tutor at 826LA are serving predominantly local families, by-and-large neighborhood people who benefit from one-to-one writing instruction (offered during walk-in after-school hours and Make-an-Appointment Tutoring) and wouldn't have it elsewhere for free. Beyond the basic writing we cover to help kids with their homework, we believe kids should control writing, plan writing, and dream about writing. That's why we fill their time at 826 with creative prompts like the ones from our After-School Tutoring chapbooks.

If you're looking for a late holiday gift or just a unique document of what young people are thinking about, consider picking up one of our student chapbooks when they're released. They're available for various low prices at our Echo Park Time Travel Mart store, and if you subscribe to our donor community as a Chapbook Patron you'll not only receive regular copies in the mail, but also get a thank-you, to boot (for your help funding in-house production). Supporting 826LA is like supporting an independent bookstore, an academic skills program, and community of working artists all in one.

Our most recent book produced by 826LA West students was the Morrissey-inspired The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get. Each student who contributed to it had the responsibility to select one song by the Smiths or a Smiths member solo project, use that song as a title, and conceive a situation where that title might have an interesting meaning. You'll have to visit the store and read an actual copy to get a look at the works themselves, but a couple of stories that didn't quite get released with the regular anthology are included in this post to give you a taste. See what our students can do with their creative minds (and a tutor's help)!

Pretty Girls Make Graves
by William

Every boy goes through a breakup a couple of times in a lifetime, but some breakups are worse than others. Some can be violent, but some can be confrontational only because of the words. Girls can put any guy down if they're close enough. Even at a guy's happiest times, it's possible. To all guys: be careful who you let in your life.

"Pretty Girls Make Graves" is a Smiths song from their self-titled debut album. William goes to Mark Twain Middle School and is in the 7th grade.

Suffer Little Children
by Margarito

Little children will suffer when they're young because they will start doing homework in kindergarten. They will start crying because they don't want to go to school and they will feel bad about having to go to school for the rest of their lives.

"Suffer Little Children" is the closing track on the Smiths' self-titled debut album. Margarito goes to Westminster Elementary Computer Science and Math Magnet and is in the 5th grade.