Before the Pirates

by Students of 826 Valencia, Angel Chang (Illustrations), Dave Eggers (Afterword)

Imagine if a writing center for kids wasn’t just a writing center for kids? What if it was also a pirate store, selling peg legs and eye patches to the neighborhood’s buccaneers? To mark the 20th anniversary of groundbreaking nonprofit 826 Valencia, its founders asked the organization’s youngest students to help write real and imagined origin stories for the famed storefront in San Francisco’s Mission District. Award-winning illustrator Angel Chang provides lush, color-soaked images of the students’ unexpected theories to accompany the wry, warm-hearted text.
This is a benefit for 826 Valencia, and proceeds support its free writing and tutoring programs for school-aged students.

Hardcover

Published August 26, 2023