Breakfast on Mars and 37 Other Delectable Essays will inspire students to think differently about the much-feared assignment in elementary and middle schools around the country: essay writing.

Rebecca Stern's fifth-grade students were bored to death with essay writing, and the one thing Rebecca needed to inspire them--great examples appropriate for kids--was nowhere to be found. Inspired by a challenge, Rebecca joined forces with her friend, social entrepreneur Brad Wolfe, and the two came up with a terrific proposal--to gather together a collection of unconventional essays by...