I HAVE A STORY Anthology Turns Collection of Kids' Pandemic Stories Into Plays

I Have A Story, an anthology organized by Childsplay and published by Dramatic Publishing, offers a remarkable collection of 31 stories from young people across the country reflecting their life experiences during the pandemic that were turned into short plays in collaboration with professional playwrights nationwide.

"In all the news stories about young people in the pandemic, very few stopped and talked to young people about their perspective," said Childsplay Associate Artistic Director Jenny Millinger who developed the concept, collected the stories and edited the book with her collaborator Julia Hogan Laurenson. "Our goal was to gather stories from across the country about what it was like to be a young person in the pandemic and memorialize them through theatre."

The result is a 229-page collection of emotional, searing, eye-opening plays from young people in 19 states and Washington, D.C., aged seven to 18, including eight from Arizona, whose personal stories have come to life in diverse and creative fashion.

"Discovery of personal strength is a resounding theme throughout our stories," Millinger and Laurenson wrote in the anthology's introduction. "There are many reflections about the profound impact of being 'socially distanced'... unpacking what that truly means on friendships, on learning, on human interactions at every level."