The results are in! Jefferson County Public Library received 49 entries from youth around the county for our third annual Teen Writing Contest. We have many talented up-and-coming authors in our community with settings ranging from a fairy realm and the wild west to a colony of rabbits living in the woods. After submitting their short stories based on the quote from author Rick Riordan: "A kind act can sometimes be as powerful as a sword," participants received feedback from two JCPL staff and a qualified volunteer judge. After determining five finalists for both the middle school and high school categories, these final 10 submissions were passed along to our panel of celebrity judges who provided feedback to help determine the winners.
Middle School
Winners
- 1st Place: Leia – D’Evelyn Jr. / Sr. High School
- 2nd Place: Ryan – Evergreen Middle School
Finalists
- Seren – Evergreen Middle School
- Ayalah – Free Horizon Montessori
- Morgan – Manning Middle School
High School
Winners
- 1st Place: Anna – Golden View Classical Academy
- 2nd Place: Leah – Golden High School
Finalists
- Kira – Bear Creek High School
- Laszlo – Wheat Ridge High School
- Audra – Bear Creek High School
Congratulations to this year's winners and finalists! Read their short story submissions with this online list.
2023 Author Panel
Thank you to our celebrity judges who helped determine the 2023 finalists and winners!
Writing Tips and Tricks
We love fostering creativity for our writing community just as much as we love supporting our readers! Our Writing Guide is blooming with plenty of online resources to help you develop your craft. Check out this list of writing resources specially made for teens.
We appreciate the support of this year's Summer Challenge sponsors:
