The Kids’ Choice Kid Lit Writing Contest
When Kailei Pew announced her contest The Kids’ Choice Kid Lit Writing Contest (try to say that three times fast), my first thought was “doh! why didn’t I think of that??” Such a great idea! We are a group of people who write for children, yet children seem to be the last ones who have a say in what they consider to be “good” writing.
I immediately signed my 8yo daughter, Ruby, up to be a judge for the picture book category and since I did that, I wasn’t able to enter a picture book submission. I decided to re-vamp a young adult entry from #FallFrenzy and submit that instead.
During the submission window, I read all the entries as they trickled in. Believe me when I say the competition was FIERCE. I wrote down all my favorite YA entries to see where they ended up as the contest winners were announced (4 of my favorite entries went on to be finalists and then winners).
I loved seeing the inner-workings of the contest with my daughter and listening to her reasonings as to why she picked the entries that she did. A lot of her choices surprised me but once she explained why, I started to understand. When “they” say breaking into writing is so hard because everything is subjective, they aren’t wrong.
In the next few weeks Kailei is going to be sharing feedback from the kid judges and her own opinions of the winning entries so I’ll come back to update.
In the meantime, here is my winning second place entry:
SCREAM QUEEN
By Jessica Haster
I stand here, looking down...and I can hear it.
Over the wind. Over the waves.
The scream.
It’s just an urban legend.
Yet I’m drawn here, year after year.
To stand at the edge. To look down and wonder.
An accident? An escape? A betrayal?
The wind whips as I try to anchor myself on the slippery cliff.
Despite the tragedy, I’m enchanted.
I open my arms and embrace the moon.
Did she feel it, too? The darkness? The allure?
Barely seventeen. Her whole future before her.
Like the violent sea below me.
What did she feel on the way down?
Fear? Peace? Rage?
Her dress that night was pink taffeta and tulle.
A perfect smile. A sash. A tiara.
My eyes catch a piece of tattered pink fabric on the cliffside.
Can it be? I lean closer and squint.
But it was so long ago.
I steady myself on a jagged boulder, leaning out a bit farther.
And that’s when I feel it...
Not the gentle caress of an accident.
Or the relief of an escape.
But the quick, hard truth of betrayal.
I know what she felt on the way down.
***
Thanks for stopping by and reading!