On May 21, we proudly released our 2015 Young Authors’ Book Project, If The World Only Knew: What Sixty-Six Young Authors Believe. This gorgeous book is a collection of essays by freshmen at Mission High School with a foreword by Glynn Washington, host of Snap Judgement. Over the course of a semester, these students identified something they deeply believe and each wrote a powerful piece about where their belief came from, how it has shapes their lives, and why it matters. The beliefs examined include everything from “I believe that I will be the first person in my family to graduate high school” to “I believe that ADHD is not a disability, it’s a superpower.”
We launched the book with a release party at Credo, a beautiful restaurant in downtown San Francisco whose decor theme happens to be “I believe.” The restaurant generously donated the space and delicious food for this private event to honor our young authors, and it could not have been a more perfect location! At the release party, Glynn Washington shared reflections on his childhood and words of wisdom and encouragement to the young authors, the student Editorial Board presented their co-authored introduction to the book, and several of the students read aloud from their incredibly powerful essays. We also presented our Teacher of the Month award to Max Anders, our partner teacher for this project and an inspiring educator.
It was a wonderful, fitting celebration of a book that contains stories that will be an inspiration to all who read them. We’d also like to specifically thank the amazing creative volunteers who helped bring the book to life: designer Lauren Mulkey and Production Artist Adam Bienvenu, for honoring the students’ stories with your beautiful design and illustration, and to Will Georgantas, our all-star copyeditor, for making sure every single comma was in the correct place.
Pick up your copy from our online store or your local bookstore!
Photos by Natasha Dangond.