Breakfast on Mars and 37 Other Delectable Essays: Your Favorite Authors Take A Stab at the Dreaded Essay Assignment

Breakfast on Mars and 37 Other Delectable Essays will inspire students to think differently about the much feared assignment in elementary and middle schools around the country: essay writing.

Rebecca Stern's fifth grade students were bored to death with essay writing, and the one thing Rebecca needed to inspire them―great examples appropriate for kids―was nowhere to be found. Inspired by a challenge, Rebecca joined forces with her friend, social entrepreneur Brad Wolfe, and the two came up with a terrific proposal―to gather together a collection of unconventional essays by some of the best writers around. They have compiled and edited a collection of imaginative, rule-breaking, and untraditional essays that is sure to change the way you think about the essay.
Contributors include: Ransom Riggs, Kirsten Miller, Scott Westerfeld, Alan Gratz, Steve Almond, Jennifer Lou, Chris Higgins, Rita Williams-Garcia, Elizabeth Winthrop, Chris Epting, Sloane Crosley, April Sinclair, Maile Meloy, Daisy Whitney, Khalid Birdsong, Sarah Prineas, Ned Vizzini, Alane Ferguson, Lise Clavel, Mary-Ann Ochota, Steve Brezenoff, Casey Scieszka, Steven Weinberg, Michael Hearst, Clay McLeod Chapman, Gigi Amateau, Laurel Snyder, Wendy Mass, Marie Rutkoski, Sarah Darer Littman, Nick Abadzis, Michael David Lukas, Léna Roy, Craig Kielburger, Joshua Mohr, Cecil Castellucci, Joe Craig, Ellen Sussman

Rebecca Jackson Stern was the Director of Programs at National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a nonprofit that believes stories matter and works to empower and encourage writing and vibrant creativity around the world. Prior to joining NaNoWriMo's staff, she was an elementary and middle school teacher for a decade, as well as a Senior Digital Editor at Pearson Education.

A Bay Area native, Brad Wolfe helps rising high school seniors craft their college admissions essays. He enjoys the breakthrough moments when his students begin to see their lives as empowering personal narratives, using the essay writing process to uncover their truest passions and aspirations.