Imagining Iraq: Teen Writers on War -- sponsored by The Merlyn's Pen Foundation

1. Ambush Roger Tsai, Grade 9, VA

He would destroy the enemy at any cost. But who was the enemy?
Genre Short Story Topic War, Future, Conflict, Childhood, Cruelty

2. Before the Rain Matthew Whelan, Grade 12, VA

Civil war in Rwanda places two families in terrifying danger.
Genre Short Story Topic War, Historical Fiction, Fear, Friendship, Foreign/International

3. R. E. Lee Sandy Hall, Grade 8, MO

Genre Historical Fiction Topic War, Death, Loss, Identity, Coming of Age

4. A Private Resistance Elisabeth Fink, Grade 8, NY

Was she too young to know the truth about the Nazis-- and her family's fight?
Genre Historical Fiction Topic War, Historical Fiction, Holocaust, Coming of Age

5. The Pongee Stick Alex Taylor, Grade 11, KY

Sometimes the hardest life to save is your own
Genre Historical Fiction Topic War, Death, Friendship, Suicide

6. Burnside Bridge, Sept. 17, 1862 Thomas Keith, Grade 10, TX

A snapshot of the Battle of Antietam.
Genre Poem Topic War, History, Death

7. A Hard Road Home Nathan Costa, Grade 8, NC

Jester escapes slavery to join Sherman's men, but finds cruelty wears many uniforms.
Genre Historical Fiction Topic Slavery, War, Freedom, Escape

8. Casualty of Fire Samantha Bates, Grade 8, OR

He had watched his father and his sister die. Would this war leave him nothing?
Genre Short Story Topic War, Death, Addiction

9. Forty Seconds Before Patrick Gray, Grade 9, NC

Genre Poem Topic War, Anticipation, Apocalypse

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