We've released our newest book!

Written by students in the Humanitas program at John Marshall High School, The Elotes Man Will Soon Be Gone is an anthology of narratives, essays, and more that captures what life is really like for students in Los Angeles today.

The collection includes

• an ode to Kurt Cobain: Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" reminds me of a time when I was mad at my mom. When I would try to explain something to her, she would think I was wrong or dumb. She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak, the song says. (from "Come As You Are," by Paulina Perez)
• a gut-wrenching fantasy: There is this pain in my stomach—cold, raw, relentless pain—churning the insides with such extreme intensity—it's the longing, dear—eating away my guts until I am sure there will be nothing left by morning— (from "(Very) Personal," by Alexei Petrov)
• and musings on the places we call home. The following is from "My Second Home," by Rebecca Bowden.

My grandmother refers to herself as an “antique merchant.” Most of her sales take place on eBay, where what she auctions off is not determined by whether it belongs to her, but by whether it can fit in a cardboard shipping box. Most of her sales consist of items she buys at garage sales, or presents, already given to one of her children the previous Christmas or birthday, and now taken back. Her "selling off the house" (as my grandfather calls it) is probably due to her rigorous thriftiness. Once, when I was about nine, we were birthday shopping for a friend when I asked her for a Barbie furniture set I had seen on the shelf. I quickly realized I was wrong for doing so when my grandmother, in a hurried and almost hysterical tone, erupted into an explanation of her entire current financial status and why she couldn’t buy me the toy. After listening to a ten-minute lecture on my grandparents’ fiscal history I finally interrupted and told her, “You could have just said no.”

Get your copy today in the 826LA Store.