One day when Earth was very young, the sun was bored of looking at the ocean.

Then the sun saw a sea turtle. He asked the sea turtle if he had any brothers and sisters. The sea turtle said yes. “Bring them here,” said the sun. It took a couple of days because they were so slow. But finally they came back. The sun told them to stay still. So the sun started to build trees and mountains on the sea turtles’ backs. The sea turtles got bored so they started to move all around. The sun said, “Stop and go back to your places.” The turtles had nothing to do when the sun was happy looking at the land on the sea turtles’ backs. So the sea turtles started to move again. The sun said to go back to their places. So that’s how earthquakes happen.

This summer the students from 826LA’s English Language Learner Camp in Echo Park developed and refined their English language skills through creative writing. Each week covered a different theme: Food, World Arts & Culture, Nature, STEM, and Future Adult. The chapbook represents the excitement, hard work, and creativity of students as they explore and express themselves through writing. 

Interested in helping students write stories like these? Become a volunteer.