The short stories including pictures were retrived from www.teenink.com May 1, 2010. Please follow the links to connect to the stories. Please note that all the stories and poetry are written by teens, for teens.
“Opulence” by, AquaGem, 2010.
I’ve been watching him for days now. When he leaves his house to go to school, I’m the one carefully tailing him, switching cars every day to make myself look less suspicious. If he ever sneaks out of his second-story room, I’ll be the one silently watching from a nearby tree. In class when he turns, feeling eyes on the back of his head, I’m the one who sent the hair on the back of his neck up on end. I am the girl whose shadow is always slightly overlapping his.
Being assigned to watch him almost makes me feel like I’m not a stalker. Though I’m only 17, I’m a full-fledged member of the organization known as O.P.U.L.E.N.C.E. I’ve been with them since the tender age of five. It’s my home. Being an orphan, my office is also my permanent residence, the couch a fold-out bed. There are many others like me: no family. A lot of us are loners and haven’t chosen this route for ourselves.
I’m a tracker. I have been for years and some might say that I am the best at not being the best. In other words, I’m great at being invisible. Or at not being noticed. It’s not as hard as the others in the organization think. Being young and female is good, since most we track are young. Seeing me around younger people – my age, actually – doesn’t raise alarm bells. It helps that I’m cute. With a small frame, light hazel eyes, and short blond hair that curls under my chin, I don’t appear threatening. Of course, my organization-funded training doesn’t back that theory.
Soon I won’t be tracking down others with the power. They are finally going to give me an apprentice. After years of mastering everything I’ve been taught, they see my potential. That’s not to say I know everything. Even with my extended life I won’t be able to learn all the things I want to. If only this annoying boy would show the signs. It’s been almost a week. If he doesn’t show soon, they’ll reassign me. That much longer until I get my apprentice.
So here I am, sipping a latté and waiting for the Target to leave for school. I have been put in all of his classes in case something happens there, though I graduated high school years ago. Private tutors sped things up. With no family or personal ties, I had lots of time to devote to my studies. Martial arts black belts. Twelve languages, not including English. Everything a girl needs for a serious career in the agency. Such positions of power are not handed out easily. You must prove yourself many times over.
The Target and I have never spoken, but I know a lot about him. His file told me some, but after watching him for only a few days, I feel confident in saying that I know things no one else does. Not just the obvious, either. He resents his father and is protective of his mother, which makes me suspect the father is less than faithful. He smiles often but doesn’t make a lot of eye contact. He usually only speaks when spoken to. Although he has many friends, he isn’t close with any of them. The Target is observant, a watcher. This leads me to believe we would get along if he shows any promise.
I look down at my watch, then back at his house a few blocks away. The Target is late, which means I’ll be late too. Today my ride is a shiny black sports car, not out of place in this suburb full of midlife-crisis men. I turn on the engine impatiently. I’m fiddling with the radio when I hear something. I don’t feel any immediate danger, and I know to trust those feelings. But I also know that something is off.
Just as I am about to get out of the car and pretend to look in the trunk, the passenger door opens. I look up in surprise as the Target slides into the seat next to me. I grin, quite pleased by this turn of events. This is definitely a good sign. Perhaps intuition is strong in him. That would be good for my apprentice to have, complementary. I could handle having to deal with that.
“Hello, Lenna. Why have you been following me for a week now?” the Target asks lightly, conversationally, his first words ever said in my direction.
Ah, one of my many aliases. The organization set it up so that whenever I’m on a case, I get a new name, past, and present. It’s very powerful. The organization can basically do anything it needs; it has people everywhere imaginable. I’m just one of many, though there aren’t that many at the top, as I am. They don’t trust many to be trackers. Or to be apprentices. All of the full members have the power, though we control others to get things done.
My smile deepens as I say in my authoritative, professional voice, “My real name is Jade. I am a witch of the moon and a tracker for the organization known as O.P.U.L.E.N.C.E. You are also a witch. We would like to formally welcome you into the organization as my apprentice. Here is my card for verification.”
Jade Wordsworth
Tracker for O.P.U.L.E.N.C.E
Official Political Understanding Lending Everyone Navigation for Co-Existing Ethereals
Office hours: 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon-Sat
Phone: 555-5555
Proud league of witches of the sun and moon.
Worldwide.
“What do you mean ‘moon and sun’? Or ‘tracker’?” he asks, still looking at my card like it’s going to disappear.
“Types of magic. Moon is all about spells, the sun is more potion-based, though each type of witchcraft involves the other somehow. As a tracker, I find people like you and I bring them to O.P.U.L.E.N.C.E. Every witch must register, train, and become a member by law. In fact, the organization is like a government targeted toward witches,” I explain with a smile, loving the fact that this time I get to teach the newbie.
“Magic? Seriously?” he asks, eyes wide, meeting mine. They are large, yellow, and catlike.
I click a button on my left, automatically locking the doors. I put the car into drive, pulling out onto the road. As an afterthought I add as a courtesy, “I think you had better come with me.”
"Opulence" Retrieved on April 30, 2010, from
http://www.teenink.com/fiction/action_adventure/article/46724/Opulence/ Photo credit: Megan C., Nashville, TN
“Juarez at War” by Alada Juarez, 2010.Cars slowly driving on the streets, strays foraging in alleys, and crickets chirping in the night are the only faint noises I hear, but suddenly that calm, still, but normal quietness is interrupted by the sound of gunfire. Oh how I dread that noise, every time I hear it I know that yet another innocent life has been taken. Of course by now that noise and action is quite routine and common around here ever since the drug cartel war began here in Juarez. Many of the members of the drug gangs have been accused and captured but the prime leader known as “J.J.J.” is still nowhere to be found. That is where I step in, my name is Detective Rafael Alvarez I am 26 years old and of Mexican blood. I am in search of “J.J.J.” leader of the main drug cartel here in my hometown Cd. Juarez. So far I have only been able to investigate the murders and the clues left by the drug gang. The gang’s name is “Los Hijos del Rosario” or “The Son’s of the Rosary.” The clue to all the murders is that the killers leave rosaries around their victims’ necks. That might be a vital clue in my quest for the longed leader of the Juarez killers. The reason for the murders is to me the most awful thing about this case. The only reason they kill people is as a warning so the government will not bother them or mess with them in their life career, drug trafficking. The reason I am so involved in this case is because I like so many others have experienced the trauma of the loss and disappearance of a loved one to the drug cartel. That loved one was my brother.
Here I am looking into the eyes of yet another innocent victim of the drug cartel. Every time I see into a pair of dead eyes I know exactly how the family will react because I was in those shoes. I examine the clues, but it is the same as always, a rosary and a body. I always think to myself, will this ever end? Reasons don’t matter they just go around when ever and kill. Numbers don’t matter either, they just kill as much as they feel and don’t care about what will happen. Averages say about 5 a day are taken by the drug cartel. I just want this all to stop and capture every single one of those criminals and the leader. I need to know more to do all of this and only someone who has been there and done that can give that information. Reluctantly, today, I am going to interrogate a suspect that was caught earlier this week. I beg for the sake and salvation of my city, that this suspect can give me the knowledge I need.
Guadalupe Rivera was her name. I can still remember her eyes, big, brown, shiny, and full of fear and sorrow. She said she was one of many women abducted into the gangs. She admitted that she had committed the murders she was accused of, but she also said those murders weren’t on her account she said she was forced to. She said it was their life or hers. Forced, that was what intrigued me so I asked her to explain this, she said that they would take her and make her kill with them, that they would put guns to her head if she even resisted a little. She said that she couldn’t take it any longer so she ran away and was so close to dying it was a miracle she got away. She was on another forced murder attempt but this time she said was different she said she had acted as if she was determined to kill voluntarily. So when she was about to she ran away and dodged the shots of her fellow gang members. She said she could take me to where they hid. She also said she would do anything to help capture “J.J.J.” and stop the outrageous crime of the drug cartel.
Here I am on the path that could lead me to the climax of the case of my life. The only assurance I have of this case is the word of Guadalupe Rivera. Shortly after the interrogation I decided to give her a chance and accompany me and lead me to where J.J.J. and his gang were. Now here we are traveling in the way of justice or doom.
We finally arrived to this one shabby, old warehouse with broken windows, leaky sidewalls, faintly spray-painted walls, and faint light on the inside. The area around was quite remote with no apparent inhabitants within miles. We decided to park a few meters from the warehouse to dissimulate. As we were getting out I heard the loud sound of a gun being fired several times. Guadalupe winced and said that those fires were probably caused because of her. We got out and started approaching the warehouse and examining to see if the coast was clear. At that point I thought to myself that this could be my end or my long awaited triumph. I decided that Guadalupe was probably a trustable person and took the chance of believing in her word. I waited for her to lead us into a safe entry place. We found a small hole in of the back walls. I know that by going into this warehouse I am going into the jaws of the lion.
We got in and hid behind some big piles of something wrapped in plastic. I wasn’t sure what it was, and then I realized it was big quantities of illegal drugs. I looked around the warehouse from where I was hiding and saw that the place was full of drugs everywhere. I also saw men putting them in trucks and other automobiles. Just then I saw many of men were carrying handguns and I fretted about that, then I placed my hand on my gun just to be on the safe side. Suddenly Guadalupe signaled for us to go hide behind another pile of drugs close by. She led and I followed just when we got there a man stood right in front of the drugs signaling the others to come help get these into the trucks, that was when I knew I had to do something or else this whole plan would be completely lost and so would our lives. Then Guadalupe abruptly rose from her hiding place and greeted the men, and they reacted by pointing the guns in her direction. She started telling them to calm down that she was back to reposition herself in her spot as a gang member. Suddenly I knew I was wrong to trust her. She directed the men to where I was hiding and told them that I was a police officer and was about to bust them. I was so surprised she had made it sound as if she was extremely serious about the whole busting plan. One of the men led me across the warehouse with a gun to my head. I knew it was over.
Just then a man irrupted from an office and came out with a mask on. He was a tall man with a well-proportioned body. He looked at Guadalupe in surprised sort of way and she explained the whole thing to him and he gave her a sort of awkward approving nod. Masks covered the faces of the men around the big man. Something about the man made me shiver inside and feel a sudden anger. I could still feel the cold metal of the gun that was up to my head. I knew that if I made one false move I would be among the many victims of this gang. Suddenly after Guadalupe told the man about me he started erupting in laughter. He looked directly at me and asked if I knew who he was. I looked at him dumb stricken and said no. Then he took off his mask and said I, am Juan Jose Jimenez. I could not believe this I was looking at the man who had started the serial killings in my beloved town. I felt outraged and felt like rampaging at him, but I held myself back. He kept laughing and said how stupid I was in thinking that one of his own people could turn against him. Several of his men started laughing including Guadalupe. He also explained how no one would give up the chance of becoming rich because today was the day that all those drugs would be trafficked and they all would be paid millions for them. He said I was so foolish in thinking I could capture him. I felt doomed and stupid. I knew that all hope was lost in this case and I would only sum up to the people killed in Cd. Juarez.
All of a sudden Guadalupe and the majority of the masked men pulled out guns and pointed them to their fellow gang members and to J.J.J. I was surprised and awed suddenly. Apparently the man behind me also pointed to the other members. The men in masks suddenly took them off and I recognized one of them. I couldn’t believe it but one of the men was my brother. I thought he was dead because of precisely these people. All of a sudden Guadalupe went up to J.J.J. and lowered him to the ground with the gun pointed to his head. I could see a raging determination in her eyes to pull the trigger to that gun and end with the life of the person who had caused death of many innocent people. I could also see the hesitation on her face, both she and I knew that she couldn’t do this not after she herself had dread the killing of people. I came up to her and put my hand to take the gun and she gave it up without hesitation. Right then I could see the tears swelling up in her eyes and she dropped to the ground. I had the gun in my hand and the criminal at my feet. What was left to do was up to my heart, soul, and conscience. I turned and looked the beast in the eye and he said to me that he didn’t want anything more than dying right at that second. He told me to hand him the gun so he could do the honors, but I refused and I said your not going to get away so easy and not pay for what you and all your minions caused. As I was telling him this he took a gun from his pocket and pointed it to his head and said that by doing this he would be ending the killings and saving his skin from the charges and years in prison that would come if he remained alive. The gun fired and he fell to the ground. The world had just then been rid of a beast that caused much grief to such an innocent town. We all knew that it was all over and the killings and drug trafficking would be no more. Guadalupe, my brother, and me came up to stand staring at the body of a soulless monster that provoked a whole city to go into agony and fear. The only thing we all regretted was that he couldn’t face the charges and be properly treated for his crime, but still it was now over and people in Juarez could go out without fear of being another victim.
I turned and asked both my brother and Guadalupe what had occurred during the time at the warehouse they both explained that they had joined the gang as undercover agents to foil the crime of J.J.J., my brother had had to fake his death to be able to go under the radar and not arouse suspicions. Guadalupe had met him and planned to help after she had a loved one taken. Both of them planned for months this plan and waited to meet me and bring me to be the last missing link to the chain that would tie up J.J.J. forever. Still we thought it would end differently and J.J.J. would not have died. After the explanation I told my brother that I pardoned him for the grief that he had brought upon me for faking his death, but also thanked him for helping try to end the war. Guadalupe and I looked at each other as if we knew we had done the right thing and ended at last what we always wanted ended. She came at me and hugged me very tightly and I too hugged her back and we looked at each other in the eyes and she kissed me and I kissed her, and we knew that we both needed each other and would be happy for a long time together. Knowing we would live in a world free from the evilness J.J.J.
After the rest of the gang members were properly charged and put into custody all of us decided to settle down and live a normal life that would be free of violence and fear. Guadalupe and I decided to get married and have a family in the new violence free Juarez. My brother decided to regain his spot as police officer in the local police department and he too got married with a woman he had met shortly after the whole warehouse incident. We still don’t know what will come in the future or if any other maniac will come and terrorize our city but until then we will live calmly and happily knowing we did something good and freed Juarez from the clutches of a murderous monster that sought only grief and money.
“Juarez at War” by Alada Juarez, 2010. Retrieved on April 30, 2010, from
http://www.teenink.com/fiction/thriller_mystery/article/193545/Juarez-at-War.
Photo credit: Shira B., Marblehead, MA
Cashore, Kristin. Fire. Penguin Group/Dial Books. 2009. Imagine living in a world where other beings had the ability to control your mind. A world where you could not think for yourself- a world where you and ALL humans were controlled. Fire is a world full of monsters so beautiful they lure people into their doom, how can people protect themselves from human monsters? What would you do? How would you live? For more information please visit Kristin's blog at, http://kristincashore.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-books.html. 
Dowd, Siobhan. Solace of the Road. Random House/David Fickling Books. 2009. Holly Hogan had had enough. She dons a blonde wig, hits the road, and becomes Solace, a street smart, tough teen ready to take on the world. For more information about the novel visit, http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/9780375849718.asp. For more information about Siobhan Dowd please visit her trust fund website at, http://www.siobhandowdtrust.com/about-siobhan-dowd/. 
Herlong, M.H. The Great Wide Sea. Penguin/Viking. 2008. Ben, Dylan, and Gerry are still mourning their mother’s death when their dad decides to buy a boat and take them on a year-long sailing trip. Tensions flare between Ben and his father, but they gradually learn to live together in close quarters. But one morning, the boys wake up to discover their father has disappeared—and they are lost. What happened to him? Where are they? And what will they do when a treacherous storm looms on the horizon? M. H. Herlong spins a gripping tale of adventure, survival, and the bonds of brotherhood in The Great Wide Sea. This novel would perfectly accompany this year's One Book One Region 2010 selection, A Pearl in the Storm by Tori McClure. Visit http://www.thegreatwidesea.com/The%20Author.htm 
Northrop, Michael. Gentlemen. Scholastic. 2009. After one of four rough cut high school guys disappears, his friends become suspicious of their teacher Mr. Haberman, who refers to them as gentlemen while teaching Crime and Punishment. Visit Michael's website http://michaelnorthrop.net/?page_id=3 for more information about his book, Gentlemen. 
Pearson, Mary E. The Miles Between.Henry Holt. 2009. October 19th never turns out well, but this year is different as Destiny takes off on a road trip with three classmates in a convertible left by a mysterious stranger. To watch a book trailer of The Miles Between visit the following link, http://us.macmillan.com/BookCustomPage.aspx?isbn=9780805088281&m_type=2&m_contentid=973907#video. 
Ryan, Carrie. The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Random House/Delacorte. 2009. Mary’s village is protected by a fence keeping out the Unconsecrated-who are undead craving human flesh-until a massive breach launches the teenage girl into a fight for survival. This novel leaves readers wondering how far they would go to leave a loved one behind. Visit Carrie Ryan's website at http://www.carrieryan.com/ for more information. 
Standiford, Natalie. How to Say Goodbye in Robot. Scholastic. 2009. Fringe dwellers Jonas (Ghost Boy) and Beatrice (Robot Girl) use their adopted alter egos to help navigate the difficulties of fractured families and impending adulthood during their senior year. For more information about Natalie or her literature visit, http://www.nataliestandiford.com/how_to_say_goodbye_in_robot_89921.htm.
Westerfeld, Scott. Leviathan. Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse. 2009. Steampunk novel that is a strange mixture of Victorian times with mechanical inventions. Bio-society countries are at war with mechanical countries in this extremely fresh novel.
Yancey, Rick. The Monstrumologist. Simon & Schuster. 2009. Will Henry, orphan and assistant to a monstrumologist, races against time to save his town (and himself) from the anthropophagi, a pod of monstrous creatures who prey on humans. 
Garsee, Jeannine. Say the Word. Bloomsbury. 2009. After her estranged mother dies, Shawna Gallagher refuses to accept her dysfunctional home life and attempts to make peace with her mother’s lesbian lover. For more information visit, http://www.jeanninegarsee.com/.
