Well, I was doing SO GOOD for a while there — being on top of contest winners regularly each month. Then we started planning a move, and that all went away … alas. ANYWAY, I’m here now with a catch-up on contest winners from March & April. Thanks for your patience, and now … the winners!
One winner receives a LIES I TOLD prize pack. Another winner receives a Harper Teen ARC prize pack.
The winner of the LIES I TOLD prize pack is: Kimberly V.
The winner of the Harper Teen ARC prize pack is: Cindy K.
The winner of this contest receives a copy of ZEROBOXER by Fonda Lee, plus two fight posters inspired by the book.
The winner is: Shannon Quinn Nicole
The winner of this contest receives a Philosophy Purity facial cleanser set and a copy of The Remedy.
The winner is: Autumn Wrought
FINDING MR. BRIGHTSIDE Contest
The winner of this contest receives a copy of Finding Mr. Brightside by Jay Clark.
The winner is: Tayte
We asked you, what would you pay too much for? The winner of this contest receives a copy of The Winner’s Crime.
The winner is: Rachelle Hayes
Two winners will each receive a copy of The Tightrope Walkers by David Almond.
The winners are: Danielle Degis and bn100
THE WALLS AROUND US Writing Contest
The winner of this contest will receive a finished copy of The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma. We asked you to submit a 250-500 word piece, describing a teen penitentiary in some way.
The winner is Stephanie Parke and here is their entry:
The cold gray light of dawn filters slowly through my bars. They are spaced wide enough that my skeletal body might fit through, too bad they re electrified. One touch and I would be cooked like bacon. I search blindly with my hands wincing at the blunted bloody tips. Scrabbling on the hard scratchy surface of the cement blocks of my cell stripped the skin right off but I had to find a way to mark the time. I find what i am looking for scratched deep into the unforgiving surface, and I begin to count them, just as I do every morning.
The numbers roll around in my head like bees buzzy angrily and I try to catch them but they flitter away into the darkness. I shiver as I scratch the stubble on my shaved head and wonder how much longer they will really keep me here. My crime was a joke, a made up distraction to force me here because I am one of the Gifted.
The government started rounding us up a year ago, identifying us as”Gifted”. Those of us who are able to control nature or others were quickly labeled. Those labels quickly became our inmate numbers as Gifted crime sprees began popping up overnight. We were imprisoned, reconditioned.
The coughing starts again and I wonder if it will kill me this time. Ever since the day they dragged us in here the cough has been coming more and more frequently . I don’t know if it’s the damp of the cells or something more sinister, but I cannot breathe as my lungs begin to close over once more. I gasp and reach for my twin sister’s still form under the blanket, hoping she can help. I pull her blanket as I hit my knees and pull it off her.
The shock is so sudden as I stare into her sightless eyes that my coughing actually stops. I stare at her,, my mirror image and shake harder. I know Tali a didn’t want to die any more than I do, but here she is, cold and dead before her time . I feel the tears on my cheeks as i reach to close her eyes. .
I study the marks scratched above her bed, identical ]to mine and count them. She had seventy five. We had lived through it, just for her to die like this. Tali a and I have the same gift, the ability to control the weather,. Not that I can use it thanks to the inhibitor collars we are forced to wear. I feel desolation sink in and try to fight it as I pull myself up on the cot with her and cry harder. Her skin is cold and her body thin beneath it. I know I look just as bad. I wonder if I will die too, I wonder if anyone will care.
Congrats again to all our winners! See our latest contests HERE!
Novel Novice 
wow I am so honored to have won the walls around us writing contest!! I am so excited !! I can’t wait to read this book!