Book excerpt: Identifying writing as central to what makes us human, editor and teacher educator Shelbie Witte has gathered a diverse group of middle school teacher-writers who open widely the doors of their classrooms to share their approaches to mentoring, modeling, and facilitating middle level writers as they explore their places within our world. Early adolescents might be physically and emotionally in flux, but they are also multidimensional, multitalented creatures of curiosity, always pushing the boundaries of discovery and possibility. The seven educators whose classrooms are showcased in this book know that being a writer is being part of the world, and they lead their students toward the understanding that writing makes a difference, both in their own lives and in the broader world. Writing Can Change Everything invites all of us to consider how the principles outlined in NCTE's Professional Knowledge for the Teaching of Writing position statement weave throughout the best practices on display as students write through creative self-expression, narrative, inquiry, and project-based learning.