The YA Unfinished StoryBox Contributors

Special Notice: Due to the increased number of teachers, librarians, and others involved in tihs project, we will accept YA submissions until July 24. We will launch in the Fall. We hope that more will join in this national effort to inspire middle and high school students to be energized by your writing.

Authors have submitted unless there is a c which represents a commitment to submit.

Below is a list of authors who have submitted a story without an ending that we are asking for your students to finish. In most cases the story has not been published and in all cases, the stories are submitted by published or soon to be published authors. If selected to receive the StoryBox, we encourage you and your students to read their works and read the style of the writer. We are agreeing not to share the work beyond the classroom. It is Top Secret and you and your students are provided the privilege not only to read them but to co-write with the author. However, once the YA Unfinished StoryBox returns we will actively seek to publish these stories. (Details are forthcoming.) We will then share these co-created stories with others.

Joseph Bruchac -- is a highly- acclaimed Abenaki children's book author, poet, novelist and storyteller, as well as a scholar of Native American culture. Coauthor with Michael Caduto of the bestselling Keepers of the Earth series, Bruchac's poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from Akwesasne Notes and American Poetry Review to National Geographic and Parabola. He has authored more than 50 books for adults and children. For more information about Joseph, please visit his website www.josephbruchac.com.

Jody Casella-- Jody Casella is an author and a former high school English teacher. Her YA novel Thin Space received a starred review from Kirkus and was a finalist on the 2014-15 Florida Teens Read List. She blogs, reviews books, speaks at libraries and schools, and teaches workshops at the Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio. She writes stories and books for young adults. She is the Regional Advisor of the Ohio Central South chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

www.jodycasella.com Also, she walks her dog. A lot.

Liz Coley-- Liz Coley writes fiction for teens and for the teen in you.

PRETTY GIRL-13 from HarperCollins US and UK is available in eleven international translations and audiobook and has won several awards."There are secrets you can't even tell yourself."

Her most recent novel, THE CAPTAIN'S KID, is also available as a listen/read-along video serial presented by Undercover Reading, hosted on YouTube LizColeyBooks channel. Grab a blanket and let Liz read this sci-fi adventure to you. The Tor Maddox "pink thriller" teen series, including short story prequel DISARMED, as well as UNLEASHED (1), EMBEDDED (2), and MISTAKEN (3) represents the lighter side of Liz.

Her first published work was science fiction short stories, published in Cosmos magazine and several anthologies. Indy YA novel "Out of Xibalba" features a contemporary teenager thrown back to ancient Mayan times. "The story starts when the world ends."

Liz lives in Ohio, where she is surrounded by a fantastic community of writers, beaten regularly by better tennis players, uplifted by her choir, supported by her husband, teased by her teenaged daughter, cheered from afar by her two older sons, and adorned with hair by her cats Pippin and Merry. http://lizcoley.com

Carl Deuker-- raised in Redwood City, California, the son of Jack Deuker and Marie Milligan Deuker. Once he started school, Carl continued to wander about in the woods above his house but, as he grew older, he participated in sports. He was good enough to make most teams, but not good enough to play much. He describes himself as a classic second-stringer. "I was too slow and too short for basketball; I was too small for football, too frightened to hang in against a good fastball. So, by my senior year the only sport I was still playing was golf."

Married and the father of Marian, Carl taught EAP for many years in the Northshore School District outside of Seattle. He misses his students, but not the crazy amount of paperwork/testing that is plaguing the teaching profession . . . and students. He is the author of ON THE DEVIL'S COURT, HEART OF A CHAMPION, NIGHT HOOPS, PAINTING THE BLACK, HIGH HEAT, RUNNER, GYM CANDY, PAYBACK TIME, SWAGGER, and GUTLESS (9/​2016). ON THE DEVIL'S COURT was YA book of the year in South Carolina; HEART OF A CHAMPION was named book of the year in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee; NIGHT HOOPS won in Nebraska; and HIGH HEAT also won the Golden Sower award in Nebraska. GYM CANDY was book of the year in Iowa.

Carl Deuker welcomes fan letters and will always write back. He prefers e-mail because he replies more quickly. cdeuker@​gmail.com

Adrian Fogelin-- is the daughter of fiction writer, Maria Bontempi Fogelin, and grew up in a house littered with manuscripts. A slow early reader Fogelin took in stories as her mother read aloud, and in the lively exchange of family tales, giving her writing the freshness of the spoken word. She is the author of seven novels for middle-grade and young adult readers, including the hugely popular "Crossing Jordan," and has won numerous awards including two Florida Book Award gold medals. www.adrianfegelin.com

Geoffrey Girard writes thrillers, historicals, and dark speculative fiction. His first book, Tales of the Jersey Devil, thirteen original tales based on American folklore, was published by Middle Atlantic Pressin 2005, followed by Tales of the Atlantic Pirates (2006) and Tales of the Eastern Indians (2007). Simon and Schuster published two Girard novels simultaneously in 2013: CAIN'S BLOOD, a techno thriller, and PROJECT CAIN, a companion novel for teen/YA readers which was nominated for a Bram Stoker award for "Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel."

In 2017, Carolrhoda Books published TRUTHERS, a YA novel about the 9/11 conspiracy, and Adaptive Books published MARY ROSE, a psychological thriller/ghost novel.

Margaret Peterson Haddix— I grew up on a farm outside Washington Court House, Ohio. As a kid, I liked to read a lot, and was also involved in 4-H, various bands and choirs (I played flute and piano), church youth group, the school newspaper, and a quiz-bowl type team. I was pretty disastrous as an athlete, although I did run track one year in high school. After graduating from Miami University (of Ohio), I worked as a newspaper copy editor in Fort Wayne, Indiana; a newspaper reporter in Indianapolis; and a part-time community college instructor and freelance writer in Danville, Illinois, before my first book was published. I've moved around a lot as an adult, having also lived in Luxembourg (during a college semester abroad) and in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. Several years ago, I moved back to Ohio with my husband and kids; we now live in Columbus, Ohio. My husband trains investigative journalists, and my kids are in high school, so there's always a lot going on around our house. She is has written among many other works, the “Among the Hidden” series. http://haddixbooks.com

Rebecca Hahn is the author of the young adult fantasy novels A Creature of Moonlight (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers, 2014) and The Shadow Behind the Stars (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2015). Both books were named Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Books of their years. Rebecca earned her bachelor’s degree in English at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and worked for two years as an editorial assistant at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers in New York City, as she wrote her first novel on the side. She now lives in the sunshine-filled eastern edge of the San Francisco Bay area.

Sara Holbrook-- is a full- time educator, author/poet and consultant who brings practical knowledge to the classroom helping students to develop the complex thinking and literacy skills they will need to succeed in the 21st century workplace. She has been teaching in classrooms around the US and abroad for over 20 years. She is also the author of more than a dozen books for children, adults and teachers as well as an award-winning performance poet. Her compelling YA novel is The Enemy. http://www.saraholbrook.com

Kayla Cagan-- Kayla Cagan is from Houston, Texas. Piper Perish is her debut YA novel, with a second novel on the way from Chronicle Books in 2018. Her short plays and monologues have been published by Applause Books and Smith and Kraus. She has also contributed comics and essays to assorted collections, including Girl Crush Zine, Womanthology, and Unite and Take Over: Stories Inspired by the Smiths. Cagan lives with her husband, screenwriter Josh A. Cagan and their dog, chihuahua Banjo L. Cagan, in Los Angeles. http://kaylacagan.com

Alan Gratz-- Alan was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, home of the 1982 World’s Fair. After a carefree but humid childhood, Alan attended the University of Tennessee, where he earned a College Scholars degree with a specialization in creative writing, and, later, a Master’s degree in English education. He now lives with his wife Wendi and his daughter Jo in the high country of Western North Carolina, where he enjoys playing games, eating pizza, and, perhaps not too surprisingly, reading books.

He is the author of a number of books for young readers, including Refugee, Prisoner B-3087, Code of Honor, Projekt 1065, the League of Seven series, and The Brooklyn Nine. He lives in the mountains of western North Carolina with his family, where he enjoy reading, playing games, and eating pizza. http://www.alangratz.com

Sarah Hans-- Sarah is an author, editor, and educator. About a dozen of her short stories have appeared in print, and she is the editor of the anthologies Sidekicks! and Steampunk World. Her hobbies include crocheting blasphemies and dressing anachronistically. When not writing, blogging, or seeking enlightenment through crafting, she can be found traveling the aether aboard The Airship Archon, which frequently docks at science fiction conventions across the Midwest. Please check the Appearances Page for the Airship’s scheduled stops. You can contact Sarah via email at sarah.hans@gmail.com, or visit her on facebook. https://sarahhans.com

Katherine Higgs-Coulthard is a freelance writer and novelist whose work has appeared in WOW: Women on Writing Ezine and Jack and Jill. As founder and director of Michiana Writers’ Center she leads workshops for writers of all ages, Katherine is a member of the National Writing Project and provides school visits and teacher inservices. Visit her website at www.writewithkathy.com. Her middle school novel is Hanging with My Peeps.

Brendan Kiely is The New York Times best selling author of All American Boys (with Jason Reynolds), The Last True Love Story, and The Gospel of Winter. His work has been published in ten languages, received a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Award, the Walter Dean Myers Award, the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award, and was selected as one of the American Library Association’s Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults. Originally from the Boston area, he now lives with his wife in Greenwich Village. http://www.brendankiely.com

Kristin Lenz-- is a writer and social worker from metro-Detroit who fell in love with the mountains when she moved to Georgia and California. Now she’s back in Detroit where she plots wilderness escapes and manages the Michigan Chapter blog for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Her debut young adult novel, The Art of Holding On and Letting Go, was a Junior Library Guild Fall 2016 Selection and was chosen for the Great Lakes Great Books 2017-2018 state-wide literature program. http://www.kristinbartleylenz.com

J. Patrick Lewis-- After nearly three decades as a professor of economics, J. Patrick Lewis turned to poetry. He is the author of more than 75 children's books including A Hippopotamusn't (1990), BoshBlobberBosh (1998), Please Bury Me in the Library (2004), First Dog (2009), Spot the Plot (2009), and The House (2009).

He has recently been named the third U.S. Children's Poet Laureate (2011-2013) by the Poetry Foundation. http://www.jpatricklewis.com

George Ella Lyon-- has published award-winning books for readers of all ages, and her poem, “Where I’m From,” has been used as a model by teachers around the world. Recent titles include She Let Herself Go (poems) and the following picture books: “Which Side Are You On?” The Story of a Song, and All the Water in the World (both CCBC Choices), The Pirate of Kindergarten (Schneider Award) and You and Me and Home Sweet Home (Jane Addams Honor). Originally from the mountains of Kentucky, Lyon works as a freelance writer and teacher based in Lexington, where she lives with her husband, writer and musician Steve Lyon. They have two grown sons. http://www.georgeellalyon.com

Heather Meloche-- Heather Smith Meloche has had the honor of winning the Katherine Paterson Prize and the Writer's Digest National Competition for her children's/Young Adult writing. She studied video production and poetry at Michigan State University, and then got her Master's in Teaching English as a Second Language at Bowling Green State University. She spends her days in her home in Michigan sampling a wide variety of chocolate, letting her dogs in and out constantly, and writing and reading as much as she can. She is the author of Ripple. (C) http://www.heathersmithmeloche.com

Mindy McGinnis-- Mindy McGinnis is an Edgar Award-winning author and assistant teen librarian who lives in Ohio. She graduated from Otterbein University with a degree in English Literature and Religion, and sees nothing wrong with owning nine cats. Two dogs balance things out nicely. She is the author of A MADNESS SO DISCREET which won the 2016 Edgar Award for Young Adult Fiction, as well as the post-apocalyptic duo NOT A DROP TO DRINK and IN A HANDFUL OF DUST, the first of which has been optioned for film by Fickle Fish Films.

Her first contemporary, THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES releases in September of 2016, followed by the first in a fantasy duology, GIVEN TO THE SEA, releasing on April 11, 2017.

Mindy runs a blog for aspiring writers at Writer, Writer Pants on Fire, which features interviews with agents, established authors, and debut authors. Learn how they landed their agents, what the submission process is really like, and how it feels when you see your cover for the first time. http://www.mindymcginnis.com/index.html

Mike Mullin-- Mike Mullin's first job was scraping the gum off the undersides of desks at his high school. From there, things went steadily downhill. He almost got fired by the owner of a bookstore due to his poor taste in earrings. He worked at a place that showed slides of poopy diapers during lunch (it did cut down on the cafeteria budget). The hazing process at the next company included eating live termites raised by the resident entomologist, so that didn't last long either. For a while Mike juggled bottles at a wine shop, sometimes to disastrous effect. Oh, and then there was the job where swarms of wasps occasionally tried to chase him off ladders. So he's really glad this writing thing seems to be working out. Mike holds a black belt in Songahm Taekwondo. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and her three cats. ASHEN WINTER is his second novel. His debut, ASHFALL, was named one of the top five young adult novels of 2011 by National Public Radio, a Best Teen Book of 2011 by Kirkus Reviews, and a New Voices selection by the American Booksellers Association. www.mikemullinauthor.com

Peadar O'Guilin --- is the author of the YA novel, The Call, inspired by the beautiful northwest of Ireland where he grew up. In September 2007, Peadar published his first novel, The Inferior, which the Times Educational Supplement called "a stark, dark tale, written with great energy and confidence and some arresting reflections on human nature." Foreign editors liked it too, and over the coming year it is to be translated into eight languages, including Japanese and Korean. His fantasy and SF short stories have appeared in numerous venues, including Black Gate magazine and an anthology celebrating the best of the iconic Weird Tales. He is currently working on a sequel to The Call. http://www.peadar.org

Shelley Pearsall-- all grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, where she began writing stories in her bedroom closet as a child. She sent her first story to a New York publishing house at the age of thirteen. Although the manuscript was never published, its themes of survival and freedom ultimately became the inspiration for Pearsall’s first published novel, TROUBLE DON’T LAST, written twenty years later. In 2003, TROUBLE DON’T LAST received the prestigious Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction among other honors. Pearsall’s newest novel THE SEVENTH MOST IMPORTANT THING is a 2016 ALA Notable book, along with ALL OF THE ABOVE (2007). Before becoming a full-time author, Shelley Pearsall taught in public schools and outdoor education programs. Today, she is a frequent guest author in elementary and middle schools where she does presentations and leads writing workshops to inspire a new generation of young writers. Visit her website for more details: www.shelleypearsall.com

Steve Pantazis-- Steve Pantazis knew he wanted to be a writer after purchasing The Hobbit with his allowance money when he was eight. A lover of all things Tolkien, he emulated the author in a number of stories throughout his young adult years. He got the opportunity to pay homage to his hero by penning a spoof on a rejection letter to the author, published in Writer’s Digest November-December 2013 issue.

When he is not dabbling with words, Steve runs a small software firm, set in sunny, warm San Diego. He enjoys exploring the great outdoors, and using his culinary skills to create feasts for his better half, who has affectionately named him “Love Chef.”

Steve has written four novels, the latest set in the same universe as his short story, “Switch,” published in Volume 31 of the Writers of the Future anthology. He believes this is a stepping stone toward getting his Sci-Fi novel, GODNET, published. He hopes to someday entertain the masses with his love of the craft. http://www.stevepantazis.com

Michael Salinger -- has been writing and performing poetry and fiction for over 20 years. In this time he has become a fixture in the performance poetry and education community performing and teaching in over 200 cities in 35 countries. His work has appeared in dozens of literary journals published across the US and Canada, including Poetry Magazine, Sapphire Magazine, Taproot the Detroit Metro Times and the Cleveland Free Times. Eight- time captain and coach of the Cleveland Slam team that represented the city at the National Poetry Slam competition, he has also served as a consultant and board member to Poetry Slam, Inc. http://www.michaelsalinger.com

Patrick Flores Scott-- tt was, until recently, a long-time public school teacher in Seattle, Washington. He’s now a stay-at-home dad and early morning writer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Patrick’s first novel, Jumped In, has been named to the 2014 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults list, an NCSS/CBC Notable Book for the Social Studies, a Bank Street College Best Books of 2014 list and one of five finalists for the National Council for the Teachers of English Walden Award for YA Book of the Year for 2014.He is currently working on his second book, American Road Trip. http://patrickfloresscott.com

Martin Shoemaker-- Martin L. Shoemaker is a programmer who writes on the side… or maybe it’s the other way around. He told stories to imaginary friends and learned to type on his brother's manual typewriter even though he couldn't reach the keys. (He types with the keyboard in his lap still today.) He couldn't imagine any career but writing fiction... until his algebra teacher said, "This is a program. You should write one of these."

Fast forward 30 years of programming, writing, and teaching. He was named an MVP by Microsoft for his work with the developer community. He is an avid role-playing gamemaster, but that didn't satisfy his storytelling urge. He wrote, but he never submitted until his brother-in-law read a chapter and said, "That's not a chapter. That's a story. Send it in." It won second place in the Baen Memorial Writing Contest and earned him lunch with Buzz Aldrin. Programming never did that!

His work has appeared in Analog, Galaxy's Edge, Digital Science Fiction, and select service garages worldwide. His novella "Murder on the Aldrin Express" was reprinted in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection and in Year's Top Short SF Novels 4. Learn more at http://Shoemaker.Space.

Barbara Shoup is the author of eight novels and co-author of two books about the creative process. Her short fiction, poetry, essays, and interviews have appeared in numerous small magazines, as well as in The Writer and the New York Times Travel Section. The recipient of grants from the Indiana Arts Council and the Arts Council of Indianapolis, she also received the 2005 PEN Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Working Writer Fellowship and the 2012 Eugene and Marilyn Glick Regional Indiana Author Award. Her young adult novels, Wish You Were Here and Stranded in Harmony, were selected as American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults. Shoup taught creative writing to high school students for more than twenty years; currently, she is the Executive Director of the Indiana Writers Center.

Maggie Stiefvater-- Hello. After a tumultuous past as a history major, calligraphy instructor, wedding musician, technical editor, and equestrian artist, I'm now a full-time writer living in the middle of nowhere, Virginia, with my charmingly straight-laced husband, two kids, four neurotic dogs who fart recreationally, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.

I'm also an award-winning colored pencil artist, play several musical instruments (most infamously, the bagpipes), and recently acquired a race car. Among many popular and award-winning books, she is the author of the Raven Cycles. (c) https://www.maggiestiefvater.com

Dan Wells-- Dan Wells is the author of the bestselling Partials Sequence as well as the John Cleaver series. He has been nominated for the Campbell Award and has won a Hugo Award and three Parsec Awards for his podcast Writing Excuses. He plays a lot of games, reads a lot of books, and eats a lot of food, which is pretty much the ideal life he imagined for himself as a child. You can find out more online at www.thedanwells.com.

Jay Willis -- is a Fantasy author. He has completed the manuscript for Pendulum Arcanum, a Middle Grade novel, the first book in a series, The Arcana Chronicles. Jay’s current Work in Progress is Bellum Aracnum, a new book in The Arcana Chronicles.

“My goal as an author is to create an engaging and fun body of work to sustain a generation through their life as readers of Fantasy: from intelligent chapter books to sprawling epics.” Jay S. Willis is currently researching Literary Agents and Editors to submit his Pendulum Arcanum manuscript to seek publication in the near future. Jay’s submission The Magic of Justice and Revenge, a fantasy novella, earned Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future writing competition for the second quarter of 2015. http://www.jayswillis.net

Cinda Chima Williams-- New York Times bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima began writing romance novels in middle school, which were often confiscated by her teachers. Her Heir Chronicles young adult contemporary fantasy series includes The Warrior Heir (2006), The Wizard Heir (2007), The Dragon Heir (2008), The Enchanter Heir (2013) and The Sorcerer Heir (2014) all from Hyperion. Chima's YA high fantasy Seven Realms series launched with The Demon King (2009), followed by The Exiled Queen (September, 2010) The Gray Wolf Throne (2011) and The Crimson Crown (2012.) Chima's latest series, The Shattered Realms, (HarperTeen) is set in the Seven Realms world, and features a new generation of characters. It includes Flamecaster and Shadowcaster (April 2017) with two more coming. Chima's books have received starred reviews in Kirkus and VOYA, among others. They have been named Booksense and Indie Next picks, an International Reading Association Young Adult Choice, to the Kirkus Best YA list, and the VOYA Editors' Choice, Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, and Perfect Tens lists.

Chima lives in Ohio with her family, and is always working on her next novel. (c) https://www.cindachima.com

Eugene Yelchin-- is a Russian born author and illustrator of children’s books.

In 2012, Breaking Stalin’s Nose, a middle grade novel that he had written and illustrated received a Newbery Honor award. Horn Book magazine called Breaking Stalin’s Nose one of the Best Books of 2011. In 2010, the picture book Rooster Prince of Breslov that he illustrated received the National Jewish Book Award. In 2006, he received a Tomie de Paola award. His other books received starred reviews, and were on Children’s Choice and the Independent Booksellers lists. http://www.eugeneyelchinbooks.com/index.html

Gabrielle Zevin is the New York Times Best Selling author of eight novels. For adults: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (2014), The Hole We’re In (2010), and Margarettown (2005). For young adults: Elsewhere (2005), Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac (2007), and the three books in the Anya Balanchine series, All These Things I’ve Done (2011), Because It Is My Blood (2012), and In the Age of Love and Chocolate (2013). Her books have been translated into over thirty languages.

Check out her work at www.gabriellezevin.com

More authors may join us and we welcome them. We know this work will enrich your students. But remember, it is TOP SECRET.