Former 826LA director and current board member Mac Barnett has just released his first picture book, Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem. Congratulations, Mac!

Here's a little about the book:

A blue whale is longer than thirty dogs lined up nose to tail. Its tongue weighs as much as four hundred cats. Blue whales make terrible pets… Just ask Billy Twitters.

The 826LA writing labs are wondrous spaces that leave visitors and regulars alike in awe. But, as impressive as the exposed beams, ceiling-high bookshelves, truly random knick-knacks, and framed student writing are, the best parts are the tables where our students write. Our students can accomplish a lot in a few square feet of space.

Recently, 826LA has been pairing with Tabletop Moviemaking to help students produce even more work in such a small space. With a camera and one of Tabletop's kits, students have all they need to produce movies, despite tight time and space constraints. We've put on a few workshops already, with impressive results.

826LA and Tabletop continue to work together and refine the process. We've recently entered into a friendly competition with 826NYC (follow the link for instructions on voting) and started experimenting on advanced Tabletop techniques. Check the results out below.

At Homeboy Industries on Friday, June 12, the young authors from Garfield High School unveiled their magnum opus, Sheep Can't Fly. The crowd of 100 or so attendees were treated to readings from the book, informal discussions, and those invaluable author autographs.

At this celebration of the writers' work, many had their first glimpse of Sheep Can't Fly, which is ultimately a book about heroes. It's also about breaking free from the crowd and achieving the impossible, as well as sharing the keys to that triumph with the community. It's about the unique dreams that define us and the common stories that unite us. In this collection (826LA's largest and most ambitious yet), these students have shared something very special with us all. Pick up a copy, and draw in the students' "spirit and will to fly."

Many thanks to all of those who helped me Sheep Can't Fly a success: the Goldhirsh Foundation, the teachers and staff at Garfield, all the 826LA volunteers, Father Greg Boyle and the wonderfully generous people at Homeboy Industries. Most of all, thank you to the students, for your captivating words and your call to the dormant heroes with us all.

On Sunday, July 26, 90 paddle-boaters (45 teams) will meet for the second annual 826LA Echo Park Lake Paddle Boat Regatta. These fearless navigators will brave the elements, the geese, and each other as they race through (the possibly monster-infested) Echo Park Lake to earn the title of World's Best Paddle Boat Racers and to raise funds for 826LA.

Teams pre-register online, then solicit donations from friends, family, significant others, passers-by on the street, and large corporations—all to secure a better starting position.

Regardless of any advantages secured through fundraising, regatta participants will still need to rely on nautical know-how, quads of steel, and a heart that yearns for the open water. Sound like you? Register to boat.

Felicia Perez's 11th-graders at Los Angeles High School have partnered with 826LA, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and acclaimed photographer Jo Ann Callis to learn formal art analysis, to shoot their own photographs, and to develop artist statements. The result is Attention to Tension, a photography exhibition open May 31–June 13 at The Golden State Cafe. The gallery captures implied tension in skylines and off-kilter domestic spaces, as well as overt tension in an operating room, a flexed forearm, a cat's eye, and a staged showdown.

You'll have the chance to celebrate with the young photographers at the gallery opening—2:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 31. Please follow this link to RSVP: http://attentiontotension.eventbrite.com/.

826LA would like to thank Focus Features, Dave Eggers, Vendela Vida, Sam Mendes, Maya Rudolph, Jon Krasinski, Catherine O'Hara, and the 400 guests who attended the screening of Away We Go on Thursday, May 7. Thanks to your generous support we were able to raise just over $22,000 in funds that will help us continue providing our free writing services to youth all over Los Angeles. We are also very grateful to the Vista Theatre and Malo for being so helpful and accommodating. 826LA is lucky to have such a great community of supporters.

We would also like to thank the organizers and the 850 attendees of the first LA CABAL Beer Festival on Saturday, May 9! We are continually grateful to the Echoplex and Spaceland staff, and we look forward to next year. Click here to read a review from the LA Times.

Visit the KCET site and let them know what you think about this video.

If you haven't done so yet, please do visit our blog to read the latest accounts of what our students have been working on. Here's a quick summary:

Yoga poses inspire students' writing

Students at 826LA West got their Zen on this Sunday, creating a unique yoga sequence that told the story of The Laziest Warrior.

They also learned about meditation and used classical (and some not-so classical) techniques to get into their creative zones and come up with story ideas, which they used to write yoga-inspired stories.

The stories ranged from ethereal descriptions of wispy summer meadows, to point form summaries of the 10 best video games of all time, but all of the students agreed that sitting in silence was a great way to channel their ideas and create a little inner calm before going into the writing process.

Students practice the triangle pose

High School Students Learn Screenwriting Tips From the Pros

Eleventh-grade students from Crenshaw High School's BME Academy filed into 826LA's Venice location on Friday for consultation on their drafts of a 4-act play.

The class, who is currently reading and studying Miller's "The Crucible," were able to restructure and form their stories into screenplays with the help of screenwriting and creative professionals in the industry.

BELOW: Marie, a regular volunteer at 826LA and a screenwriter, helps students transfer their work into Final Draft.