by Ramona du Houx

The Story I Want to Tell is a celebration of The Telling Room’s first ten years and its enduring belief in the power of storytelling. To mark this milestone, the book pairs twenty of the best pieces written by The Telling Room’s young writers with brand-new, answering pieces from award-winning writers.

“I had a blast working on this book. Where do I sign up for the next one?” said Richard Russo.

This wonderful collection includes contributions from Richard Russo, Monica Wood, Elizabeth Gilbert, Richard Blanco, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Lethem, Lily King, and other masters of the craft, as well as twenty works of writers ranging in age from 13 to 18 whose stories are as diverse as their backgrounds.

FOR TEACHERS:

There are many tools for teachers in this book, including a special “Note to Writing Instructors.” This book can be used as a core text in a writing classroom, a literary anthology for outside reading, or as a book club selection. Following the paired writings is a section of candid interviews with the contributors about their writing lives, the writing process, and the publishing process.

Also included are writing prompts for each pair of writings. These prompts may be useful as topics for classroom discussion and for out-of-classroom discussion as well.