Imaginative Stories
Illustration by Ros Webb for a student's charitable book to save polar bears
creative writing: your secret superpower
Every year, secret judges choose 20-30 Americans to receive the MacArthur Genius Prize, an unrestricted $625,000 grant for those Americans who are making our world better in innovative ways. What did the MacArthur Foundation find their winners had in common? As children, they created their own paracosms, or worlds. Evidently, creating your own world as a child gives you the imagination to change it as an adult. At Imaginate Ink, we learn to create our own worlds with the simplest tool possible: a pen.
Illustration by Ros Webb
What is it like when Scholastic, J.K. Rowling's publishing house, tells you the novel you submitted is "funnier than what we get from 99% of adults?" Find out how a scary teacher inspired 13-year-old Kendall's nationally award-winning novel, Miss Lavender Venumn.
Illustration by Andrew Hernandez, age 13
What is it like to grow up with an ultra-charismatic older sister who suddenly asks you to join her "spy agency"? Find out in 12-year-old Cam's story, which made the cover of an international magazine that's hailed as "The New Yorker for the pre-teen set."
Illustration by Ros Webb
What happens when your family gets "birthday Alzheimer's" and forgets your special day? Find out in this comical take by 8-year-old Leo, who won an adult contract with the L.A. Times for his story.