Tales from the Lighthouse: An Anthology, Created by the Youth at Lighthouse Island Academy

The following stories are a compilation created by the youth at Lighthouse Island Academy, the educational portion of Taylor Diversion Programs in Tionesta, Pennsylvania. This organization is a residential facility for at-risk youth. During November of 2022, the school took part in National Novel Writing Month, a program which encourages novel writing in which people try to create a 50,000 word novel in one month. Due to restrictions on computer access, our students had no more than nineteen days to complete their novels, with some having quite a bit less. These stories run the gamut from biographies to dystopia, fanfiction to Americana, all written by young men in ninth through twelfth grade, none of which had ever tried to write for such an extended period of time before.

Please take some time and enjoy the creativity of our young men, and take a quick glimpse into how they think. They are the future of our country and I am very proud of them. Thank you, Georgette Frey, their English teacher.