King Carl's Emporium, in San Francisco's Tenderloin, is dedicated to exploration. That's a good way to think about the newest volume of student work from our Tenderloin Center. It's got a lot of how-to instructions, a lot of "I Am" poems, and a lot of superhero stories. You could think of those as explorations of skill, explorations of self, and explorations of human possibility.

King Carl's is also dedicated to fish. Our students are not fish. For the last time, we only teach human children. But if you wanted to extend the metaphor, you could say that our students are making their way through deep and sometimes tumultuous waters, past dangers seen and unseen, pushing themselves along with only the strength of their bodies and the joy of their many-colored fins. That seems like a stretch, though. It's easier to think of our students as stars, their shining eyes looking out at everything.

826 Valencia's mission has always been to bring joy and wonder to our students, to invite them to explore, and to empower them to express themselves through their writing. We love to see the world they reflect back.

Look over this book