The Best Teen Writing of 2011 is a collection of short stories written by teen authors. The literary pieces in this book can cater to anybody's tastes. The different types of writing included in this book are: poetry, personal essay/memoir, science fiction/fantasy, dramatic script, journalism, persuasive writing, humor, and short and normal length short story. These pieces cover a wide range of topics, including love, friendship, family, divorce, death, eating disorders, and anxiety, and vary in length from one page to forty pages.
Faye Longchamp-Mantooth and her husband Joe just consider themselves normal archaeologists until, on a research mission to find sites soon to be wrecked by oil at the mouth of the Mississippi in Louisiana, their voodoo mambo babysitter becomes unable to work due a major injury. Babysitterless with a toddler that can potentially slow their plans of getting any work done, they hire treasure-hunting, school-loving Amande.
Anna Kalinczyk is not your average arson investigator. Ever since she was a child, paranormal Lantern Anya and her salamander familiar Sparky have been followed by spirits and other beings. She has the power in inhale ghosts like a giant vacuum, but refrains from doing so unless it is absolutely necessary to revive a human being. Being a Lantern has never really affected their lifestyles-- until now. An arsonist is on the loose, dropping cryptic clues and devouring spirits, leaving the city of Detroit in flames. His motive? To awaken a fiery entity that will destroy the city and Anya.
Rhet, a dockworker in the land of Seatra, and his friend Peteal are mysteriously taken away from their home one day by nine magical strangers called Y'dah with the ability to weave and control the wind. According to prophecy, Rhet possesses an unimaginable power strong enough to destroy the world. Locked up and treated as a prisoner, he does not understand where he is or why he was taken from Seatra. When one young Y'dah named Soralin discovers a hidden passage of the prophecy that explained Rhet's capture, she learns that his powers will save the world, not destroy it.
