Congratulations to the Turning Point Story Contest Winners!

The winners of the Turning Point Short Story Contest have been decided and the results are in!

Two months ago, many young writers sent words to paper on a mission. They would write a short story about a difficult choice.

Decisions are all around us, they come in many shapes and sizes, and they have the power to leave an impact.

All the writers set forth on their quests with the same prompt, but each had a unique tale to tell. Whether it was a story about a princess or puppy, baby or broccoli, puppy, rat, or jerboa, whether it was set in Egypt, or World War 2, or the future, each was a story of its own.

As they wrote their stories and sent them in, each had a hope of winning a signed series of Green Ember books. But the true victory was found in finishing stories they could be proud of, and perhaps having a bit of fun along the way. A smile playing on a writer’s lips as he or she thinks of an exciting plot twist or a fun word to use. Learning something new about storytelling. Finding a new friend in a cool character.

I know the disappointment of working hard and not winning a contest, but I hope all the young adventurers who took on this great task came away with something more than a shiny trophy. Whether you’ve won or lost, I hope you enjoyed your Turning Point quest, learned something new, and continue to write many short stories.

But without further ado, congratulations to those who wrote short stories that stuck out from the crowd. Here are our Turning Point Short Story Contest winners.

The Winners of the Turning Point Short Story Contest

Third place: “Unwanted, Wanted” by Katelynn Rogerson (age 13)

Second place: “The Secret of the Butterfly” by Natalia Allen (age 11)

First Place: “Free Bird” by Gracelyn Sparks (age 13)

All these short stories demonstrated powerful truths and deep themes, and I am so excited to share them with you. The first-place story is published for you to read today, and the second- and third-place stories will be published in the next week.

Turning Point was so much fun, and it is bittersweet to see it come to an end. Thank you again to everyone who made this contest possible. Thank you to S.D. Smith, Duran Kinst Strategies, and Hannah Grace for providing the prizes, and to Cara Devereux, Chelsea Pennington, and Faith Blum for writing their excellent guest posts. (You can find the guest posts and prizes here.) And thank you to all who followed along, shared the contest, and read the guest posts.

Last but not least, thank you to all the young adventurers for taking on this quest and writing your stories. Write on, writers.