michael
Saenz

The Thousand Natural Shocks

Charles Siskin isn’t like other boys. He doesn’t play sports; he doesn’t walk like a man and his nose is always in a book. And he tells all about his life and dreams in a journal he writes to his future adult self. To escape the torments and mediocrity of his public-school experience, he enrolls in St. Ignatius Loyola…an all-boys, Catholic, military high school. While the torments don’t get any better, he finds success through his Creative Writing class. But when he auditions for the school’s production of Hamlet, things begin to come to a head. Guided by the voice of his adult self, he navigates social and emotional challenges to greater and lesser degrees. But even the comfort of his journal can’t prepare or protect him from what happens to him at the last performance of the show…and everything that happens as a result of that terrible night.

Tell the truth and Shame the Devil

In this as-yet-unpublished sequel to “The Thousand Natural Shocks,” Charles is in his sophomore year at St. Loyola and confronts new struggles with racism and his own change from sweet boy to obnoxious teen.

The Thousand Natural Shocks(play)

St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, New Works Program in St Louis, MO commissioned Michael to adapt his novel, “The Thousand Natural Shocks” into a play for their new works development program. He worked in St. Louis with the artistic director to edit and develop the script further and then worked on a staged reading for the public. The play was slated for full production, but then the SLSF changed artistic directors, and the New Works program was abandoned.

Mobius

This play was written while Michael was doing his master's at NYU and was selected for the New York International Fringe Festival. He produced the play himself but that is the only production that it has had.

Mackenzie and Montgomery Santiago are fraternal twins, age 15. Mackenzie introduces us to the story, which takes place over a spring break weekend, 1984. As Mackenzie introduces us to his brother, he compares his brother’s mind, as well as the events in question to the twisting of a Möbius strip. As the story unfolds, we jump back and forth across the days of this spring break. We meet Montgomery and find him to be a young man struggling with his sexuality, his relationship with his parents and the isolating effect of his own genius. As the story twists and turns, Montgomery comes out to his parents, confronts his obsession with a boy from school and struggles to be understood by his family. It is only as the events further unravel that we discover that Montgomery’s accelerated intellect has not only isolated him from his parents and his peers, but that a deeper problem, namely the loss of his brother, has combined with his genius to shatter his fragile mind into insanity.

Alicia en wonderland

This play was written for Michael’s students and has Spanish speaking characters. It's not a retelling of the "Alice in Wonderland" story but rather a new story inspired by the old. A middle school Latina girl struggles with her desire to explore her creative side in the face of family pressures to excel in academics. This play was selected by the NYU program Seeing Ourselves on Stage: Amplifying Global Majority Voices in TYA last yearfor development and was given a staged reading at NYU that was also broadcast via the web. The play exists in a shorter version used for the school and the longer version developed through NYU.

Poe

This was adapted from Poe's works and was produced in a long version for the main stage of the high school where Michael was teaching and a shorter version for the METG statewide drama festival. The longer work includes adaptations of "The Mask of the Red Death," "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Raven," "The Pit and the Pendulum," "Annabel Lee," and "The Tell-Tale Heart."

Spanish Harlem, Seventh Grade

This was adapted from a story on The Moth told by author Ernesto Quinones and adapted with his permission. Michael originally wrote it for a colleague, but she never used it, so he used it with his kids for a drama festival. In it, Ernesto tells the story of how he decided to retaliate against a school bully and how his method of retaliation had unexpected consequences.

Coconut

Adapted from his children’s book of the same title, see below.

The following are all manuscripts to children’s books that Michael has in development…waiting for his husband to illustrate so they can be published.

Coconut

Teddy, his mother and his grandmother have just moved to a new town. Teddy struggles with his Mexican roots and his inability to fit in to either white or brown cultures, until the house demon, El Duende, sets him straight on a few things.

Hazel

Inspired by the dog Michael’s husband owned when they met, “Hazel” is the story of a very timid beagle who is afraid of everything. Everywhere she looks she sees scary dangers in the ordinary objects around her. It is only when the lives of her boys (the boy with the glasses and the boy without the glasses) are threatened does she find the courage that was in her all along.

The Boy with the Glasses and the Boy Without the Glasses

(A possible introduction to “Hazel” or the beginning of a series in which “Hazel” is one installment)

Two boys live together in their house with their three dogs. They are very different from one another and sometimes they have disagreements. But somehow, they manage to work through their disagreements and get along, despite their differences. With love and laughter, they build their home together.

The Grouchy Elf

Michael wrote this story and made it into a construction paper book that he illustrated himself and gave to his husband as a Christmas gift.

Marvin the Elf is grouchy and ill-tempered and spends most of his time alone...until a new elf named Thaddeus takes the workspace next to Marvin. Thaddeus talks non-stop and is endlessly cheerful and gregarious. After a week Marvin finally has enough and yells for Thaddeus to shut up! But Marvin discovers that the silence is worse than the talking, and that maybe a chatterbox like Thaddeus isn’t so bad after all.

I Will Never Be a Princess

A little girl of color compares herself to the blond princess in her storybook, noting how her life doesn’t compare to the rich and glamorous life of a princess. But as she looks closer at her life, she slowly begins to realize that she has treasures and beauty all around her. And that maybe being a princess isn’t so great after all.

Steve Raccoon

Steve Raccoon is new to the neighborhood and doesn’t know anyone. When his mother sends him out to play, he discovers that the other animals are scared of him because of his mask. And when he tries to join a soccer game, the animals let the pack rat play but make Steve sit in the stands. And when the pack rat eventually steals the ball and gets away, Steve proves to them that you can’t judge a book by its cover.

Skylar’s Nose

Skylar has a huge nose. And he knows it. He’s very proud of his nose and it’s a big part of his identity. But when Bordelon calls him out on his enormous nose, Skylar and the other kids in the class convince Bordelon to embrace the unique qualities that make each one of us special.

Beware the Croak Monster

This began as a standalone story but then inspired other stories with the same characters that could become a chapter book with illustrations instead of a picture book. Theodore is a Walter Mitty-type character, with an active imagination that sometimes gets him in trouble.

Theodore, his older brother Rollo and his mother are having a long and tiring day shopping. When they stop at a French Café for lunch, Theodore misreads the croque monsieur on the menu as croak monster. Teased by his brother, the boy conjures the croak monster in his imagination, who wreaks a satisfying vengeance on the mean Rollo.

Other Chapters:

Untitled First Chapter

Theodore, Rollo and their au pair go on a day of errands to the hardware store and to the doctor's office, where we see Theodore’s propensity to get lost in his imaginary scenarios, where the mean Rollo is often the stooge.

In a Dungeon, Dark and Deep

Theodore is executing a daring escape from the dungeon where the evil Penderella has imprisoned him. But just as he is about to get away, his teacher Mrs. Pender catches Teddy trying to leave the classroom without permission and sends him back to his seat.

Mrs. Pender the Great

In the throes of one of his fantasies, Teddy erases all the math problems that his teacher Mrs. Pender has written on the board. She keeps Teddy after class and, thinking he is in trouble, she takes him to the school’s auditorium where she introduces Teddy to the drama teacher. On her way home, we see Mrs. Pender engage in a little Teddy-like fantasy of her own as the world-famous explorer, Eleanor Pendergast.