Student Showcase
Here we proudly feature students of all ages and in various genres. Many are the product of Susan Hodara‘s memoir class; some are also featured in the coinciding Student Showcase published monthly in the Hudson Independent newspaper serving our neighboring Rivertowns. Enjoy!
Thanksgiving Dinner by Brooke McKamy Beebe
I think of Thanksgiving dinner as a military campaign, with a successful outcome requiring planning, execution, monitoring and the final mopping up. Unfortunately, I am the general in charge, and I am ill suited to the task. I don’t like to plan the menu, I don’t...
Confessions of a Firebug by Russ Harris
I was 10 years old when I started making fires in my house. I'd grab a book of matches from the old man's night table drawer, where he kept them alongside packs of cigarettes, nail files, clippers, and such. For a kid growing up in the ‘50s and ‘60s, getting matches...
Fall 1966: The Cool and Groovy Look by Bonni Brodnick
When I was growing up, my mother sewed everything my sister and I wore. Dresses. Skirts. Blouses. Bathing suits. Coats. Everything but our underwear. By early August, my mother was already planning what we would wear on the first day of school. It was time to...
Mila is Coming Home by Lynne Reitman
After my daughter, Eliana, gave birth to a healthy baby girl who instantly latched on to her breast, I was assigned to housesit the dog. Mom and Dad and baby Mila were healthy, happy and exhausted, and would be staying in the hospital for the night. Minnie, their...
The Date by Eric Odynocki
Robert’s stomach growled. He realized he hadn’t eaten since eleven o’clock. The idea of heating up some instant noodles for dinner for the fifth time that week was less than appealing. Washing dishes even less so. Then it dawned on Robert that he could eat out,...
Silence by Victoria Drozdov
Lucy felt the chill and thought to dress warmer for her next walk. She entered the last street before the river and stood on the leaf-piled ledge overlooking the city. She’d already started to expect the perpetual overcast clouds that bathed everything in a monotonous...
Maui by Karen Zlotnick
Once Giselle had a chance to reflect on this moment, she realized that seventh period prep wasn’t an ideal time to see something upsetting, as she had two more classes to teach afterwards. When she’d spotted her retired ex-husband in his Pepto-pink swimming trunks and...
I Got Nothing! by Susan Barocas
Distractions. Momentary no longer. The strains of late-breaking events – which break all day – beckon, absorb, hijack my attention and time. Checking Twitter, acknowledging frequent news bulletin beeping on my phone, refreshing the Times and Washington Post for...
Christmas Miracle at a Kiosk by Nathalie “Nan” Ernst
I was tired and needed to muster up some energy to do my Christmas shopping. My husband, Steve, and I had just spent nine days visiting my family in Maine, which left us very little time before the holiday. We had to plan a Christmas dinner for our immediate family...
At the Airport by Madeleine Jacobson
My husband, Alan, and I were at the Atlanta airport waiting for our sandwiches at a restaurant when I was startled by an intrusive sound: a loud forceful woman's voice counting, “20, 21, 22, 23... 30.” I tried to place this in some meaningful context. I could not....