Breakfast Ride - Sarah Vierling, Liberty Christian School, USA [Grade=92 - "Solid, well-written story. It could be more ambitious, but it accomplishes well what it sets out to do." - Garcia]

Dirty Mirror - Andrew Johnson, Marcus High School, USA [Grade=94 - "Interesting use of language and a nice sense of the sounds of the words. Images rather than generalizations make it a poem." Garcia]

I Will Never Take a Bath - Kelsey Broecker, Marcus High School, USA [Grade=95; "Good illustrations and nice persuasive reading for young child - watch for commas before 'but' - last page not a good message for children to like leaving a mess for others" - Grimes]

Innocence - Diana Minot, Liberty Christian School, USA [Grade=95 - "Graceful, old-fashioned (in a good way) love poem. It could be more concrete in places and the images fresher." - Garcia]

My Blue Contacts - Andrew Johnson, Marcus High School, USA [Grade=95; "Good attempt to show the pain of reality and one's escape - Watch punctuation" - Grimes]

My Mother's Death - Stefanie Peters, Denton High School, USA [Grade=100; "I like this poem - it shows the discomfort and awkwardness of people who are struggling to deal with a situation of grief." - Grimes]

Prophetic Hope - Elizabeth Daniel, Marcus High School, USA [Grade=100; "Intriguing - one wants to read more!" - Grimes]

The Sun Beamed Down - Paul Mauer, Marcus High School, USA [Grade=90 (expanded version); "A nice job of propelling the story along. A good sense of the dramatic and skillful handling of physical action. The plot might be unnecessarily complicated." - Garcia]

Tyler's Surprise - Debbie, Clayton Valley High School, USA [Grade=95; "Very nice story which would appeal to a small child - I like the ending." - Grimes]

Weaving A Rainbow - Angela Olson, Mt. Vernon High School, USA [Grade=95; "Great descriptive wording ... and imagery. I loved the simile, "as skinny as a blade of grass turned sideways." In the fourth paragraph where you say, ". . .the entire average village in an un-average uproar," I would say, " the entire average village in an entirely un-average uproar" for sentence cadence. My only question is about the last sentence in your first paragraph. You refer to "the summer a certain little girl turned ten," but then never pick up that idea again ... Wonderful story with a thought-provoking message about hope and faith, and how average, unbelieving people can change through Faith." - Stone]