All Ages, No Prescribed Beginning

Winner: EXIT EXAM by Amrita Bhasin

2nd Place: THE CHINA DOLL by Therese Gonzales

3rd Place: MORNING MOURNING by Allison Liu

Ages 8 and Under

Winner: A SWEET STORY by Kathleen Durand

2nd Place: GALAXY CAKE by Jacob Burns

3rd Place: HANNAH’S COOL CONTRAPTION by Hannah Lee

Ages 9 – 10 Years Old

Winner: CURRENT by Vanessa Garcia

2nd Place: IN THE TIME OF WAR by David Jen

3rd Place: SLAPPY’S ORIGIN by Sebastian Parra

Ages 11 – 12 Years Old

Winner: A MAN IN THE SHADOWS by Madison Flanagan

2nd Place: THE COVER OF EVIL by Hannah Albano

3rd Place: FREEDOM by Anna Yang

Ages 13 – 18 Years Old

Winner: TWISTED TAIL by Adaline Griffiths

2nd Place: INNOCENT BLOOD by Anna Durand

3rd Palce: FOUND by Sarah Heckmann

A Note of Gratitude and Congratulations

A great big CONGRATULATIONS to our winners and to all of our finalists, who made our judge’s job EXTRA difficult this year. Thank you so much for sharing your stories with us!

Our winners can expect their packages in the mail about a week after they confirm their mailing address (look in your email for a note from Adventure Write).

Ladies and gentlemen…

Boys and girls…

May I present…

our 2017 writing contest FINALISTS!

All Ages, No Prescribed Beginning

FALL by Taylor Hu

MORNING MOURNING by Allison Liu

EXIT EXAM by Amrita Bhasin

A CHANGE by Therese Gonzales

THE CHINA DOLL by Therese Gonzales

Ages 8 and Under

GALAXY CAKE by Jacob Burns

HANNAH’S COOL CONTRAPTION by Hannah Lee

A SWEET STORY by Kathleen Durand

JOURNEY FOR THE RAINBOW DIAMOND by Audrey Kim

MY HORRIBLE LIFE by Matthew Doughty

Ages 9 – 10 Years Old

CURRENT by Vanessa Garcia

THE WINTER MOVE by Ellie Chiliberti

SLAPPY’S ORIGIN by Sebastian Parra

THE SEA AQUARIUM by Ava Holdtberg

IN THE TIME OF WAR by David Jen

Ages 11 – 12 Years Old

A MAN IN THE SHADOWS by Madison Flanagan

THE FORGOTTEN WILL by Hannah Albano

THE COVER OF EVIL by Hannah Albano

THE BAD BABYSIT by Gabriel McClanahan

FREEDOM by Anna Yang

Ages 13 – 18 Years Old

TWISTED TAIL by Adaline Griffiths

INNOCENT BLOOD by Anna Durand

DRIVER’S REVENGE by Landri Johnson

FOUND by Sarah Heckmann

THE CELL OF THE BRAIN by Evan Orozco

What next?

These finalists now go to our FINAL ROUND JUDGES, who will choose one winner in each category!

Stay tuned!

We now have finalists in the 9-10 year-old category and the All Ages category! Stay tuned!

All entries are in and judges are making their first round eliminations.

Only 5 finalists in each category will move on to our guest judges, who will choose winners in each category. Stay tuned for an update announcing this year’s guest judges!

And the winners… of the 2016 Totem Head Contest are…

…..pause for effect….

All Ages, No Prescribed Beginning

Winner: ONLY STORMS by Miranda Sun

2nd Place: INTREPID by Anna Durand

3rd Place: SLOPPY’S WILE ADVENTURE by Seoyoung Kim

Ages 8 and Under

Winner: THE SURPRISE COOKIE POTION by Hannah Lee

2nd Place: RAINA THE RAIN DROP by Joanna Kim

3rd Place: AN AWESOME ADVENTURE by Olivia Handzel

Ages 9 – 10 Years Old

Winner: REFLECTIONS OF THE FUTURE by Azlyn Raja

2nd Place: THE SLEEPING STORY by Ben Handzel

3rd Place: THE CAVE OF EVER-REST by Connor Straub

Ages 11 – 12 Years Old

2016 Grand Champion: NAPOLEON AND JOSEPHINE by Maria Therese Qualkinbush

2nd Place: A THISTLE BEDTIME by Maria Therese Qualkinbush

3rd Place: THE KATCHETHORDAN DIAMOND by Karen Wang

Ages 13 – 18 Years Old

Winner: WHEN THERE WERE FOUR OF US by Ella Osborn

2nd Place: FELINE FLUMMOX by Isabella Astuto

3rd Palce: FIGHTING THE FLAMES by Adaline Griffiths

A Note of Gratitude and Congratulations

A great big CONGRATULATIONS to our category winners and to all our finalists, who made our JUDGES’ job SUPER tough this year. I lost track of how many judges wanted to declare a tie, but there can be only one winner 🙂

We hope you’ll all enter a story in our 2017 contest. All the details are here:  2017 Contest Details

Once again, congratulations to our 2016 entrants!

Look for the winning stories online in the next couple weeks. And our winners can expect their packages in the mail about a week after they confirm their mailing address (look in your email for a note from Adventure Write).

Ladies and gentlemen…

Our 2016 Totem Head Contest finalists!

All Ages, No Prescribed Beginning

TUNNEL SECRETS by Suhyeon Emelie Kim

ONLY STORMS by Miranda Sun

INTREPID by Anna Durand

THERE IS A FAN AROUND EVERY CORNER by Josiah Durand

SLOPPY’S WILE ADVENTURE by Seoyoung Kim

Ages 8 and Under

MOUNT EVEREST by Amelia DiValerio

ROCKY THE SUPER DOG by Olivia DePrince

AN AWESOME ADVENTURE by Olivia Handzel

RAINA THE RAIN DROP by Joanna Kim

THE SURPRISE COOKIE POTION by Hannah Lee

Ages 9 – 10 Years Old

THE SLEEPING STORY by Ben Handzel

THE ADVENTURES OF ME, A HOPELESS KID by Lila Shelton

REFLECTIONS OF THE FUTURE by Azlyn Raja

THE CAVE OF EVER-REST by Connor Straub

AN ADVENTURE FOR LUCIA COIN by Eliana Du

Ages 11 – 12 Years Old

THE MYSTERIOUS BOOK by Rama Khabbaz

THE MIRACLE OF TIME by Savannah Weaver

NAPOLEON AND JOSEPHINE by Maria Therese Qualkinbush

A THISTLE BEDTIME by Maria Therese Qualkinbush

THE KATCHETHORDAN DIAMOND by Karen Wang

Ages 13 – 18 Years Old

MONKEYING AROUND by Monica Inda

THE BIRD AND THE ANCHOR by Ella Osborn

WHEN THERE WERE FOUR OF US by Ella Osborn

FELINE FLUMMOX by Isabella Astuto

FIGHTING THE FLAMES by Adaline Griffiths

What next?

These finalists now go to our FINAL ROUND JUDGES, who will choose one winner in each category! Click here to meet our judges.

Stay tuned!

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Well it wasn’t easy, but with the help of our awesome preliminary judges, we selected our semi-finalists in each category. They are the top 5 (or more) from our mailed-in entries and the top 5 (or more) from our emailed entries. Next, our judges will select the top FIVE semi-finalists in each category. Those will be our contest finalists, and those finalists will go to our guest judges who will choose one winner in each category.

Let’s give a HUGE congratulations to our 2016 Semi-Finalists!

All Ages, No Prescribed Beginning

AWAY by Durva Kamdar

THERE IS A FAN AROUND EVERY CORNER by Josiah Durand

INTREPID by Anna Durand

SLEEP SWIMMING OR MIDNIGHT MEMORIES by Anna Durand

ONLY STORMS by Miranda Sun

TUNNEL SECRETS by Suhyeon Emelie Kim

THE DREAM by Yuli Choi

SLOPPY’S WILE ADVENTURE by Seoyoung Kim

THE HIDDEN WORLD by Kayd Bell

Ages 8 and Under

THE AMAZING ADVENTURE LANDS by Sai Dheeraj K

UNICORN HOLLOW by Claire Timperley

MY ADVENTURE WITH THE PINK UNICORN by Jaliyah Johnson

SPARKLING SNOW by Kathleen Durand

TELEPORTATION by Hayden Miller

SUNNY’S ADVENTURE by Katie Nam

MOUNT EVEREST by Amelia DiValerio

ROCKY THE SUPER DOG by Olivia DePrince

THE SURPRISE COOKIE POTION by Hannah Lee

AN AWESOME ADVENTURE by Olivia Handzel

RAINA THE RAIN DROP by Joanna Kim

Ages 9 – 10 Years Old

AN ADVENTURE FOR LUCIA COIN by Eliana Du

AS A DRAGON by Katherine Min

REFLECTIONS OF THE FUTURE by Azlyn Raja

THE MAGICAL PEPPERMINT by Ayza Siddiqi

REMEMBER ADELINE by Allegra Gray

GONE by Evan Hansen

BIRD OF PREY by Penny Dugan

THE SLEEPING STORY by Ben Handzel

THE CAVE OF EVER-REST by Connor Straub

THE ADVENTURES OF ME, A HOPELESS KID by Lila Shelton

ARCTIC CHILL by Lizzy Higgins

THE ALIENS OF ZYBORG by Lauren Waldstein

TRAPPED by Hemali Patil

Ages 11 – 12 Years Old

THE KATCHETHORDAN DIAMOND by Karen Wang

LETTING GO – by Caroline Zhao

IN THE WOODS by Katie Schornhorst

THE LOVE DESTROYERS by Macy K. Li

THE ATTACK IN ST. AUGUSTINE by Eli Hagelberg

HOW I GOT ACCEPTED INTO FT. HAMER MILITARY ACADEMY by Kyle C. Rickly

THE SEARCH FO THE LOST CITY OF SUBMERGED by Andrew B. Brannon

NAPOLEON AND JOSEPHINE by Maria Therese Qualkinbush

A THISTLE BEDTIME by Maria Therese Qualkinbush

SOMETHING IN THE WOODS by Emma Wisecarver

THE MYSTERIOUS BOOK by Rama Khabbaz

VANISHED by Bolanle Ayangade

CALL OF DESTRUCTION: SURVIVAL OPS IV by Ajitesh Kundeti

LIGHT IT UP by Nicolas Potts

THE MIRACLE OF TIME by Savannah Weaver

Ages 13 – 18 Years Old

THE SIGNAL by Saddat Nazir

PANACEA by Annika Russell

WOODEN SECRETS by Hae-in Joann Ryu

DMT by Laura S. Moser

THE MOUND OF BASKERVILLE by Seth Roetenberger

FIGHTING THE FLAMES by Adaline Griffiths

FELINE FLUMMOX by Isabella Astuto

SNOW DOG by Sylvia Nica

A WORTHY RISK by Matthew Inda

MONKEYING AROUND by Monica Inda

A FRESHMAN’S WORST NIGHTMARE by Evan Orozco

THE BIRD AND THE ANCHOR by Ella Osborn

WHEN THERE WERE FOUR OF US by Ella Osborn

What next?

Now our judges will select their top FIVE from each category. Those will be our contest finalists. Those entries will go to our guest judges who will select one winner from each category 🙂

Stay tuned!

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THE SCHOOL IS ALIVE! (Eerie Elementary #1)
by Jack Chabert
Genre: Children’s Chapter Book, Scary Stories
Publisher: Scholastic (June 2014)
Format: Paperback, SALE $2.97 on Amazon

Summary
Eerie Elementary is one scary school!

This series is part of Scholastic’s early chapter book line called Branches, which is aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!

In this first book in the series, Sam Graves discovers that his elementary school is ALIVE! Sam finds this out on his first day as the school hall monitor. Sam must defend himself and his fellow students against the evil school! Is Sam up to the challenge? He’ll find out soon enough: the class play is just around the corner. Sam teams up with friends Lucy and Antonio to stop this scary school before it’s too late!

Author Jack Chabert is a pen name for Max Brallier. Max is the author of more than twenty books for children, including the Galactic Hot Dogs and The Last Kids on Earth middle-grade series. He lives in New York City with his wife, Alyse.

WEBSITE | TWITTER

Colleen’s Review

Fun, picture-filled pages, perfect to read to pre-schoolers/Kindergarteners/First Graders.

THE SCHOOL IS ALIVE (Eerie Elementary #1) by Jack Chabert, is an early reader with black and white illustrations throughout. My 5-year-old loves illustrated books about kids, and the quirky title/cover of this book caught his eye and the creepy story line held his attention.

Sam Graves and his two friends, Lucy & Antonio, are students at Eerie Elementary School, where Sam discovers the school is trying to eat the students. As Hall Monitor, it’s up to Sam to fight the school and save the students. In this installment, during the class play, the stage and props come to life and try to swallow the students.

I read this book to my 5-year-old son, who thoroughly enjoyed Sam’s exciting adventure and looking at the pictures as I read. Though this is marketed as a book for newly independent young readers, I saw more than a few large words that might be too advanced for a newly independent reader. However, there may be enough repetition to help in comprehension. As a book read out loud to a pre-schooler, it was perfect. The chapters are numbered with digits, which made my son happy that he could “read” which chapter we were about to start. The print is large enough to point out sight words for him too. He’s excited to read the rest of the books in the Eerie Elementary series.

I’d recommend this book for parents who like to read to their pre-schoolers/kindergardeners/1st graders, and to 2nd-3rd graders who read independently, especially for kids who like adventure and won’t be scared by a dark tale with a student-eating villain.

4.5 Stars

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