Write-A-Book Contest returns for new school year

Maimuna Kura, Reporter|December 2, 2021

Parkdale freshman Nessa Garnier entered and placed in the Write-A-Book Contest as a middle school student last school year. The cover of her book "Family Vendetta" is pictured above. (Photo courtesy of Nessa Garnier)

Parkdale freshman Nessa Garnier entered and placed in the Write-A-Book Contest as a middle school student last school year. The cover of her book “Family Vendetta” is pictured above. (Photo courtesy of Nessa Garnier)

The PGCPS Write-a-Book contest has returned for the 2021-2022 school year, so student writers, get ready!

The competition is sponsored by the Office Library Media Service and directly supports the current Common Core AASL standards. The contest encourages students to write to inform, persuade, and express personal ideas through a number of different writing formats.  According to the Write-a-Book Literary Competition Guide, high school students have the option of writing:

  • Picture Story Book
  • Illustrated Fiction (Text with limited illustrations)
  • Graphic Fiction (Comic Book Style)
  • Poetry
  • Non-fiction
  • Short story
  • Plays (text written in script-writing format)

Parkdale Freshman Nessa Garnier is the previous winner of the Contest for her book “Family Vendetta.”  Garnier dabbled with creative writing often and when she heard about the contest, she jumped at the opportunity to compete.

“I decided to enter the contest because I really enjoyed writing and I always have new ideas so I just thought it would be fun,” she said. Garnier believes that although it is a contest, it’s still meant to be fun and is a good way for students to challenge themselves and improve as writers.

The contest is open to elementary, middle and high school students who are all ranked by different requirements.  According to the competition guide, for high school entries, some rules that are required for submission are:

  • Only books produced by students in Prince George’s County Public Schools are eligible for entry in the competition.
  • Books must be written during the current school year; sequels are permitted.
  • Any book produced by a group will be judged in the division to which the student in the highest grade-level belongs. A group consists of no fewer than two and no more than five students.
  • All stories, photographs and illustrations must be the original work of the student(s).
  • There can be no profanity, sexually explicit situations or excessive violence.

The Judges award the prizes at the county-level for each book for first place, second place, third place, and the honorable mentions.

Write-A-Book entries are due in completion by December 18, and the books must be formatted using the app Book Creator, which can be found through students Clever accounts.