This was a few years ago now. I think it was a group of middle school kids who had come over to San Francisco from Alameda on a field trip to 826 Valencia. The kids all had book reports and we were supposed to look them over. One kid slumped into a beanbag chair and looked like he'd rather be somewhere else. All the other kids had neat folders with their work in them, but not this guy. He was tall and lanky, dressed in big baggy basketball shorts. I sat next to him and asked him his name and what book he was writing about. His name was Derrick and he had read "All Quiet on the Western Front." When he smiled a little, I saw a flash of braces on his teeth.

He reached deep into the pocket of his shorts and brought out a crumpled ball of paper. I tried not to look too sad when he handed it to me. I just didn't think he cared that much about the assignment and his presentation did not bode well for his work. I smoothed out the paper and read his account of the book.

I stopped cold when I saw this sentence: "The soldiers made lifelong friendships that didn't last very long."

"Derrick," I said, "that is the best sentence I have ever read."

And it was.

–Risa Nye