Mark Dostert was an undergraduate student in Chicago and volunteer counselor at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center where he later became a full-time Children’s Attendant. “Shorties” is adapted from a 284-page manuscript that was one of eight finalists for the 2011 Bakeless Literary Prize for Creative Nonfiction. He holds a Master of Arts in History soma online us pharmacy from the University of North Texas and currently takes graduate English classes part-time at the University of Houston. His writing has appeared in Cimarron Review, Houston Chronicle, Southern Indiana Review, and The Summerset Review, and been cited as Notable in The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011 and The Best American Essays 2011.