Public Event
NaNoWriMo "I Wrote a Novel, Now What?" with Natalie Bakopoulos
Saturday December 2, 2017: 1:00pm to
2:30pm
Westgate Branch: West Side Room
Grade 9 - Adult
Writing & Publishing
NaNoWriMo Kick Off Party!
Saturday October 28, 2017: 1:00pm to
2:00pm
Westgate Branch: West Side Room
Grade 6 - Adult
Blog Post
YA Authors to Visit Teen Writing Festival 6/4!
by krayla
We have a fantastic group of published authors ready to give their best advice on writing at the upcoming Teen Writing Festival on Sunday, June 4! All attendees are welcome to bring questions to the Writers' Workshop in the Secret Lab, hosted by former "It's All Write!" Winner Mary Gallagher, and the Q&A Author Panel in the Multi-Purpose Room. Read on to find out about our fantastic guest authors!
Leah Vernon hails from Detroit, MI and specializes in multicultural dystopian and science fiction writing. Check out her book Impure or her body-positive style blog.
David James wrote the Legend of the Dreamer series, is a former high school teacher, and lives in Michigan. He is a fan of gummy candy and likes traveling to the Upper Peninsula.
Patrick Flores-Scott, writer of the award-winning book Jumped In, taught high school in Seattle before moving to Ann Arbor. He's currently working on a second book, "American Road Trip."
Courtney Allison Moulton originally lived in Texas before moving to a farm in Michigan. Her first experience participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) actually led to her first published book, Angelfire.
K.A. Barson hails from Jackson, MI and has written 45 Pounds (More or Less) and Charlotte Cuts it Out. She often sports purple hair.
The Teen Writing Festival will also feature contestants of the "It's All Write!" Teen Writing Contest reading their work and the "It's All Write!" awards ceremony. See you there!
Lectures & Panel Discussions
Lights, Camera, Austen: the screen adaptations of Jane Austen
Wednesday December 13, 2017: 7:00pm to
8:30pm
Westgate Branch: West Side Room
Blog Post
2017 "It's All Write!" Contest Finalists!
by krayla
The finalists of the 2017 “It’s All Write!” Teen Writing Contest are officially published! Check out the list of finalists to see who will move on to the next round. A panel of published Young Adult authors will read the finalist stories over the next several weeks to choose the contest winners. Congratulations to everyone who chose to participate this year!
All writers and aspiring writers are welcome to attend the "It's All Write!" Awards as part of AADL's first Teen Writing Festival on June 4!
"Write On!" Short Story Contest for Grades 3-5: All Submissions 2017
Thank you to all of the writers who sent their stories to the 2017 "Write On!" Short Story Contest! All of the submitted stories are linked below. Please contact Kayla at youngwrite@aadl.org with contest questions.
Third Grade
|
Livnat Brody, "White and Lilac" Text-only Maeve Coffman, "My Homemade Well" Ashley Han, "The Rise of Banana Cream Pie" Emily Hu, "Sophie, Kevin, and the Banana God of the Future" |
Colin B. Milligan, "The Adventure that Could Have been Easier" Text-only Emma Mortensen, "Great-Grandma's Last Goodbye" Clara Paulson, "My Pencil Is In Orbit" Lauren Rich, "Horseback Riding in the Mountains" |
Giselle Sendra, "My Upsidedown World" Text-only Josephine (Josie) Simpson, "The Lost Puppy" Zohabe Uzzaman, "Life in Kingly Middle School" Rykken Vivekanand, "The Mysterious Wolf" |
Fourth Grade
|
Tommy Allmand, "You thought you knew why the Moon changes shape" Text-only Lina Bailey, "The Girl Trapped in the High Castle" Charlie Basar, "No Friends" Rhea Bhattacharya, "Deserted" Kate Castrogiovanni, "Traplandia" Nico Dunbar, "Saving Christmas" Madeline Finocchiaro, "If You Don’t Play, You’ll Never Win" Avanti Ganesan, "The Legend of the Noamo Necklace" Kesang Gawa, "1...2...3...Purge" Maia Genisio , "The Dog and the Woods" Christopher Gregg, "The Math Genius" |
Julie Huang, "The Best Dream" Text-only Myra Jamin, "Whoosh!" Stella Karbo, "The Sickness of Ojibwe" Jeannie Kim, "The Skies" Arathi Kolangarth, "The Gold Waterfall" Helen Kolias, "The Night Boy" Ananya Leahy, "The Adventures of Kabir" Sophia Lee, "The Ways of Love" Hailey Martins, "The Secret" Meera Pandey, "Billy's Trip to Seattle" Justice Peete, "The Woods" |
Annaliese Rowe, "A Picnic with Beam" Emanuella Rusch-Daley, "The Astronaut" Saabirah Simwenyi, "My Worst Vacation" Samir Amani Simwenyi, "Stranded in an Island" Ella Smith, "Pencils That Partied Past Midnight" Sua Steiger, "A Diary of The Magical Mysteries In Life" Meera Tewari, "Democracy in Action" Catherine van Lent, "Onion Witches" Tove Vivekanand, "Nia’s Pride" Adit Vuppala, "A Surprise in India" Ivy M. Wilhelm, "The Recipe" Shangyang Xia, "The Water Fountain" Michael Zielinski, "Tommy and Joe Save the Day" |
Fifth Grade
|
Arianna Batzer, "Waiting for Fireworks" Text-only Anne-Marie Begola, "Jaffles in the Dark" Nikash Bhagat, "Blackmail 1967" Amy Boeving, "Crazy Photo with Nancy Kerrigan" Liam Bredeweg, "The Locked Car" Rosemary Buchtel, "Creature Academy" Olivia Callanan, "Charlotte's Dream" Lincoln Cha, "I wish…" Julisa Chen, "The Day I Went Up North" Rachel A. Coffman, "The Day My Dad Fell Off the Roof" Cassie Eleanor Kumagai Couch, "Broken Timeline" Fiona Dority, "Child Delinquent Reform School" Stella Dority, "Evertionalaet" Foster Dugan, "The Day My Mom Locked the Keys in the Car" Noah Forbes, "The Lucky Penny" |
Charlotte S. Goetsch, "What My Sister Said" Text-only John Gronewold, "The Passie Fairy" Allanah Harris, "The Dog Problem" Charles Hazzi, "No Title- San Diego" Audrey Hill, "Peter's Dream" Jessica Iekel-Johnson, "The Cold Night" Lily Lynn Jones, "The Day of the Dead Mouse" Tai Karir, "The Robot Arm" Jonah Klein, "All Because of a Flower" Samuel Koliner, "The Rusty old Car that was Stolen Twice" Kate Krugh, "The Starters" Ewan Lemens, "The No Hitter" Dorothy Li, "The Unlucky Number" Evan Marsee, "Bike School" Avery McEwen, "The Long Journey" |
ZaNE Mustapha-Bonem, "Wisconsin Dells" Text-only Mariam Nassuna, "A Dog's Adventure" Rachel E. Perlman, "Tickets" Vincent Peterson-Sand, "The Day at the Pool" Isabel Pilar Pohrt, "Taco Doomsday" Avni Rao, "The Oak Tree" Grace-Miriam Ratliff, "The Dragon Story" Zooey Raux, "The Finding Adventure" Maya Rollins, "The Envelope" Alder Saran, "Lessons" Lana Smith, "The King and the Lady" Claire Steigelman, "The Time Onyx Fell Out the Window" Sitara Ann Subramanian, "Leaves of Pure Gold" Addy June Szpiech, "The Coincidence in Portugal" Jameson Szumko, "Camping at Camp Munhockey" |
Blog Post
Meet “It’s All Write!” 2017 Judge #9: Brooks Benjamin!
by BugsAndSlugs
The ninth judge for this year's “It’s All Write!” Teen Writing Contest and author of the 2016 YA novel My Seventh-Grade Life in Tights is Brooks Benjamin.
Brooks Benjamin describes himself as a reader, writer, teacher, and eater of pizza. He is also a fan of choreographed dance, which lead him to form a New Kids on the Block tribute dance crew in sixth grade. Perhaps this is why his debut novel My Seventh Grade Life in Tights is about Dillon, who wants nothing more than to be a real dancer.
Dillon's Dad wants him to play football, his friends and co-founding members of his freestyle crew think dance studios are for sell-outs, and Dillon just wants to follow his heart. "This first novel is a fun exploration of middle-school friendships and the stigmas that come with certain hobbies...a fresh and winning debut about the power of self-expression." (Booklist)
Stay tuned for more information about “It’s All Write!” Teen Writing Contest 2017 Judges!
Blog Post
Meet “It’s All Write!” 2017 Judge #8: Christian McKay Heidicker!
by BugsAndSlugs
The eighth judge for this year's “It’s All Write!” Teen Writing Contest and author of the 2016 debut novel Cure for the Common Universe is Christian McKay Heidicker. In this novel recommended for teen gamers and readers of Jesse Andrews and John Green, high school senior Jaxon is sent to rehab for his video game addiction on the eve of his first real date. Jaxon must earn enough points to graduate from the program in 4 days to preserve his date with Serena, or else be forced to recognize that his inability to connect with people can’t be blamed on video games, after all.
Learn more about Christian McKay Heidicker on his website and stay tuned for more information about “It’s All Write!” Teen Writing Contest 2017 Judges!
Blog Post
2017 “Write On!” Short Story Contest Winners!
by krayla
Congratulations to all of the writers in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade who participated in this year’s “Write On!” Contest. The judges enjoyed reading all of your stories- here are some of their comments:
“Color me impressed!”
“This has been so fun!! I loved reading all of them.”
“It was a pleasure to read these stories!”
This year’s contest results were announced today at the Final Celebration event featuring guest author Mark Crilley. Winners accepted their prizes and everyone received a certificate of participation. If you are a writer who couldn’t join us today, AADL will send your prize/certificate in the mail.
Thank you to all of this year’s writers, friends, family, and educators! Please email Kayla at youngwrite@aadl.org with any contest questions. Keep an eye out for next year’s writing contest, and as always, happy writing!
Blog Post
Meet “It’s All Write!” 2017 Judge #6: Paula Garner!
by BugsAndSlugs
The sixth judge for this year's “It’s All Write!” Teen Writing Contest is Paula Garner. In Paula’s debut YA novel, Phantom Limbs, readers are introduced to Otis, a 16 year old introverted swimmer dealing with loss and the pressure of competitive sport. Otis must come to terms with the tragedy in his past in order to move forward and tackle the new dreams he has for his future. Phantom Limbs is a 2017 Illinois Reads Selection for grades 9-12!
Paula Garner's next novel, scheduled for publication in Spring 2018, Relative Strangers, follows a teen who just discovered she spent part of her youth in foster care. She is determined to find the family who cared for her, but the romantic feelings she develops for her foster brother threaten her new found happiness.
Paula Garner spends most of her time writing, reading, or making good things to eat. Currently, she lives in the Chicago area with her family and a very bad cat. To learn more about Paula check out her website and stay tuned for more information about “It’s All Write!” Teen Writing Contest 2017 Judges!