2013 Young Writers Contest

Writers, ages 13-19, are welcome to submit once in each category, but must complete a separate form for each entry.  Deadline for submission is March 1st, 2013. All submissions must be written in English and submitted with the completed form (below).  There is no fee for participation.  All participants will receive a certificate of participation.

In all divisions your work should attempt to:

• Show day to day life.
• Show family relations and friendships.
• Show outside forces at work (ie. weather, government/politics, social pressures, etc.)
• Avoid stereotypes and generalizations.  Dig beneath the surface to explore common humanity and universal themes.

All submissions (even fiction) should be about a real country, although it could be a country that no longer exists. For example, you could choose to write a period piece that takes place between 1918 and 1992 about Czechoslovakia, or a fiction piece about Anatolia that takes place during the 13th century. The challenge is to research the pressures faced by your characters so that you are able to convey their point of view convincingly.

Directions how to submit are on this page. It is a form. If you have any questions or need help submitting let your teacher know.

Limericks

Here are some funny poems in the form of a limerick from various students (ages 10-12):

 Dora Su

There once was a boy named Bob

who looked more like a fat blob

he got f's in school

cause he was a fool

and he really liked to sob

Erin Song

There once was a nice, young poodle

who always loved to doodle

she always cried

and also sighed

perhaps because of noddles

Jennifer Ruan

There was a lady with a cane

who took a walk in the rain

she spotted her father

who'd been slaughtered

Perhaps she was no longer sane

Kassie Rong

There once was a woman who knew

that her husband's love was untrue

so she cut off his thumb

and roasted his bum

and boiled his bones into stew

Kelly Yuan

There was a mother called earth

who was about to give birth

she bumped her head

and fell off the bed

and that was the end of baby earth

Kevin Hu

I was going on a flight

and got into a nasty fight

they started engaging

I started raging

so I crazily started to bite

And one more we did in class together:

There was a dumb guy named Lee

who thought his elbow was his knee

He looked in the mirror

and realized with terror

That he was actually a she!

Look at me

By Linda Wang (age 12)

You had always liked to be alone, but now, as you walked through the restricted floor of the art gallery, you wonder if it would have been better with someone. You’re not scared, that’s for sure, you’re never scared, it’s just the paintings in here, how interesting they look. 

The floor was nothing like the others that you’ve seen, it’s not something that you like to admit, but you spend more time than the regular person in the art gallery. Sure, once in a blue moon you will find a piece that you don’t find flavourless, but most of what you are most attracted to is the gallery itself. It’s like a giant piece, with its windows that bend the light, and how it’s so easy to get lost in the places. It makes up for a lot of how boring the actual art is.

This floor though, is not much maze-like, without the signature forks and extra stairs that lead to nowhere, it’s more like the place is directing you where to go. But of course, that’s not what you do.

For once, you want to see the paintings.

Since you were small, your eccentric sister had drilled the whole ‘artsy’ image into you. Her creations were something that you would pause and look at, if anyone was ever enough of a sadist to show little kids the kind of things she did. Her paintings for one, told her idea of the apocalypse. She made sure that her canvas was cut into ribbons and always had people who had eyes that would follow you around. They weren’t even that dark, with bright warm colors and vibrant neon, yet that somehow made the whole deal worse.

These paintings would make your sister’s look like preschool finger-paintings.

Currently, the one you have your gaze on, is a girl. She’s pretty, in a plain way; she wouldn’t stand out much if you saw her in real life, so you decide to move on. But, something tugs at you, a feeling that says, ‘Look at me,’ something only great artists can accomplish. So you do take a closer analysis of her. Her expression has a look of urgency; her eyes show such deep anxiety and something that makes you want to know more about what she feels. Taking quiet steps towards the painting, you suddenly notice that you can’t seem to take your eyes off of her face. The eyes you think. Her eyes: plain, no special qualities, were staring straight at you, glazing and holding. You swear she wasn’t before.

Come to think of it, the eyes look similar, possibly the most familiar pair of eyes to you. And then the realization hits you, they should be similar to you. After all, they’re your eyes.

Your hear speeds up, Where did that thought come from, you think. But as your heart calms down, you can see that those eyes aren’t yours. They’re just a reflection of yours. With a sigh of relief, you sneak one last glance at those eyes. Her face is contorted in victory.

You turn back to the other paintings, and you gasp as they change. The strange scenes from before melt into kids, kids that have a look of triumph and twisted happiness, almost as if the paintings they share have melted into their eyes. The girl you turn back to look at - her eyes are no longer ones that mirror yours. They’re completely different, and just like all the other kids, her real eyes are stormy.

You freeze, not in surprise, or like how stupid people in movies stop even though they have to run, you literally cannot move. You can’t blink, yet the children in the pictures are moving, the walls closing on you. Their eyes focused on you, as yours on them.

You’ll never be alone, after all, we are one.

Nothing matters anymore, you’re empty and you’re hollow, and you know you want one sole thing.

A new kid wanders into the gallery, and their eyes just barely graze you.

Putting all of your might into a command, you think. Look at me. As their eyes connect with yours, you know you’ve won.

Going Down

Crazy old ladies babbling about haunted elevators sometimes aren't so crazy...

by: Kassie Rong (age 12)

Manny really should have listened to that old lady in Room 11-56 and just taken the stairs.

If she had, she probably wouldn’t be standing inside an old rickety elevator cart with a man that had just stepped in and looking like he had just escaped while on the way to a psychiatric hospital. The man’s face was horribly deformed, scars marring his hollow cheeks and dark eyes. His greasy hair was matted down on his pale face and his lips were a blood red. 

   

“Going down,” he rasps.

The light flickers above their heads and the elevator gives a loud moan. They start speeding up.

Manny is backed up against the door. She needed to get out of there. She looks up at the floor number—7. She scrambles to press the 6. She would just walk the rest of the way down. 

The elevator passes the 6^th floor and does not stop. 

“Going down,” the man says again. 

The lights are flashing on and off above them and the elevator speeds up. 5, 4, 3, 2, they pass the ground floor and do not stop. There is no floor below the basement and the cart was going too fast; they were going to crash. 

Manny huddles into the corner and squeezes her eyes shut. She really should have believed what the old lady had said about the elevator being cursed. The lights go out completely. They pass the basement. The man stands completely straight in the darkness, staring at the doors.  

“Going down.”

Deception

By: Rachel Wang (age 12)

Chapter 1

            

I awoke to the sound of a knock on the door and then a thump. I lay there for a split second and quickly descended the stairs. I looked around to see if the owner of the house was around, and when I made sure she wasn’t around, I opened the door.

           

Nothing. Nobody.

             

I walked out and realized that there was a real estate magazine on the ground. It was flipped to the middle of the magazine, right on the page that advertised a mansion.

            

I picked it up and quickly closed the front door, and went back to my bedroom of the house I had rented.

            

I settled down into my bed and skimmed over the page. The mansion was set in the middle of nowhere, on a twenty acre chunk of land. It was old with the paint peeling off, and a rusty old gate that I didn’t even need to see to know that it was old and probably creaked. A cracked road with a few trees along it led to the front door of the mansion. I could just identify a swamp in the backyard, and a couple of gargoyle sculptures.

            

I laid down the magazine and closed my eyes. Who had brought this magazine to me? And how come it was flipped to this page? Was I meant to receive it or was it for the house owner?

The Doll on the Shelf

What would happen if you bought a doll that was cursed and misread the "instructions" of how to take care of it?

By Albert Liu (age 13)

On the shelves in the toy store there lay many dolls, but there was on special doll that caught Emma's eye. It was Emma's tenth birthday, but she never knew it would be her last. She picked up the doll; she looked at its face. She loved the cute blue eyes and the pretty dress, but what she loved the most was the way the doll was holding up two fingers like it was making the "peace" sign. She asked her mom if she could buy it and her mother said yes.

When they went to pay for the doll, the cashier looked surprised and told them never to leave the doll outside, not under any circumstances. Even though the cashier spoke seriously, Emma and her mom didn't care. When they arrived home, it started to rain really hard so they rushed into the house, leaving the groceries and the doll in the trunk of the car. Since it was late, Emma brushed her teeth, took a shower and went to bed.

Later in the night, Emma was awoken when she heard three knocks and a small girl's voice: "Emma, I'm coming through the door."

Emma thought it was just in her head so she went back to bed and fell asleep, until she was awoken a couple hours later with three more knocks and the same voice of a little girl: "Emma, I'm on the stairs."

Emma was getting scared, though she still thought she was just imagining things so went back to sleep -- until she was awoken once more. Three knocks and the exact same voice said, "Emma, I'm halfway up the stairs."

Now she started thinking this wasn't in her head, but she stayed in bed and fell asleep until she was awoken again by three knocks and the creepy voice, "Emma, I'm at your door."

Emma was really scared now. She saw her bedroom door was opened just a crack.She pulled the covers over her head and shut her eyes. A couple minutes passed until she felt something pointy touching her neck. Suddenly she heard the creepy voice very close whisper, "Emma, open your eyes."

When Emma opened them and pulled back the covers, what she saw was the last thing she saw.

In the morning Emma's parents jumped into her room to surprise her and wish her a happy birthday only to find their precious daughter in bed, white as a sheet with blood all over her bed and face. Beside Emma was the doll, which had been left in the car trunk. Its dress was covered in blood. Emma's mother sensed, though she couldn't prove it, that the doll had done something horrible, that it was cursed. She returned it to the toy store.

The toy store changed the bloodied clothes and re-shelved it. It looked exactly the same as when Emma had first seen it, except that now the cursed doll was holding up three fingers.

The Sound of the Dead

Can a person really go insane from boredom and loneliness?

by Sophia Huang  (age 12)

So the night had somehow come down to this, with Molly pacing around the barren room waiting for him to return after his night’s work in the office. She had called him over and over again with no answer and had grown increasingly agitated. She knew that this was not good for her because when her temper went up, her sense of reality plummeted, and she couldn’t tell what was happening.

Instead the house was filled with only the sound of her feverish footsteps pacing on the worn out floors and of her calling her sister after he did not answer. She was once again met with silence “I guess silence really is the sound of the dead; one has already gone but the other will be joining them.” She said when she slammed down the phone.

She heard the clunk of footsteps and her heart suddenly stopped when she thought about who might be there, but it was only him. She called the man “him” because she found his name to be irrelevant and he would not be staying with her long anyways; not after what he had just done.

“Where have you been so late at night?” she said. She knew where he had just been and it was certainly not at work; she also knew what he had been doing.

“Just working in the forest; I buried something there that was bothering me.”

She knew he had killed her sister; she knew that he was not the person her mother thought he was when she told him to keep her ill daughter safe.

“You didn’t have to wait for me you know?” he said, but she knew he was just trying to make small talk. He normally never spoke to her and when he did, he only spoke formally, as if he was talking to a child.                         

“Of course I waited for you; in fact, I haven’t even made dinner yet,” she said as she slowly made her way to the kitchen.

This was met with an agitated reply, “Well, then what have you been doing at home if you haven’t been cooking?”

“I’ve been calling you and when I couldn’t reach you I called my sister…” She let the words hang in the air hoping to get some sort of reply that let her know for sure what had happened.

He stepped into the kitchen with a sunny smile, but she was too fast for him. In a swift motion she slit his arm and ran up the creaking stairs, trying to run away from the terror she felt. He swore loudly but did not pursue her, leaving her to lock herself in the moldy closet muttering into the silence.

Steve Jobs: The Super Salesman

by Richard Liu (age 12)

Inspirational Working Days

How has the world changed these days? Who affected it? Well, there are and were many people who have improved how we live today, but there is one individual that has marked an important milestone in the universe and that is Steve Jobs. Jobs was able to create a revolution in the technology industry because he created outstanding products and was able to present them in an excellent manner. In this article, Jobs’ strategies of how to present well and some of the ways he was able to become successful will be explained.

                

Steve Jobs was a very interesting person. His personality was not a very positive one and the way he cared for his family was not very great. However, his ability to progress in his companies was extraordinary. Jobs had many arguments with his employees because since he was CEO he wanted everything to go his way. Sometimes he would consider their ideas, come back later and say that it was his own. In addition, he did not have time to be with his family all the time since he had two companies to work at, Pixar and Apple. His inventions at Apple are the best that he did because they were the ones that revolutionized the world.

               

When Steve Jobs went to university, he became less interested and decided to drop out. This turned out to be a good thing for him because he could pursue things that he was actually interested in. He invited his friend Wozniak so that they could start to build computers in his garage. By starting at that age, he was able to improve more on working. Moreover, in the future, when he started Apple, he was a great motivation because he was able to talk in a way so that people would believe him. This allowed him to tell people to do the “impossible” such as finish the Macbook prototype in 1 month. Doing this made progress move along quickly and was one way in which Steve Jobs became successful.

Presentations? No Problem

                

Some ways that Jobs makes his presentations inspirational are that he follows a number of interesting steps that make his presentations eye-catching and not boring to the listener.

During his presentations, Steve Jobs specified the theme for the audience and followed it throughout. Outlining his entire presentation was important too because it gave the listener the main idea of the whole thing.   

In any presentation, having clear transitions allows the audience to have an easier time following so you don't lose them. Using enthusiasm in a presentation allows the audience to feel it as well as making them more interested because you are passionate about it. When using statistics and facts in a presentation, make them meaningful by using them in context. Don’t use too many words on a presentation program; use pictures instead so that the audience focuses on you more.  Remember to practice before you present so you know your content well.  When you present, add a special bonus at the end so that the audience will think they got more than they came for. That’s the kind of presentation skill Jobs used to catch more customers.

         

 Jobs was able to turn out very successful and create a company that has made several dents in the universe. He was a great salesperson because of all the strategies he used. In the future, since he started Apple, his legacy will be continued and the company will follow him.

Air ball, Travel, Foul, Double-dribble! What should I do?

By: Kelly Yuan (age 12)

                                                 

              

History of Basketball

Basketball was invented by an American professor, Dr James Naismith, in 1891. Dr Naismith was Canadian born in Almont, Ontario. He was asked to invent a game to occupy a class of incorrigibles. He had the idea of placing two baskets, each 10 feet high, on each side of the hall and throwing a soccer ball into the basket. He divided the class into two teams (9 on each side because they had 18 people in that class) and made up 13 rules for the game. There was no dribbling allowed. Every time someone scored they would stop the game to let the janitor get the ball with a ladder. After a while, they took the bottom of the basket off.  It was in 1893 that Iron hoops and a hammock-style basket were introduced. The first international game was in 1909. The NBA was founded in 1949.

Now the game is played full court with players dribbling the ball and shooting. The court is made up of one base line on each side, one foul line on each side, a three point line on each side, a backboard and net on each side, a middle line that cuts the court in half and a center circle on the middle line (half court line).  A throw from the three point line gets three points. A foul shot from the foul line gets one point. And a throw outside the three point line gets four points. A lay-up gets two points and everything shot elsewhere gets two points. Get more points than the other team and you win.

Shooting

You should be shooting  the ball with two hands, one directing the ball where to go and the other pushing the ball and shooting. Half bend your knees for more power. Fingers spread on the ball for a dominant hand. You should grip with only fingertips. The non-dominant hand stabilizes the ball. Shoot at an arc. Arm bends at 90 degree (elbow, wrists etc.). Extend knees while extending your arm and snapping the wrist. Follow the movement through with your wrist.  This requires practice.

Lay-ups are easier. What you do, as you approach the basket, is carry the ball and take one and a half steps. Then leap towards the basketball hoop with your left foot and bring your right knee up.

A hook shot is the hardest one. First, dribble until you have stabilized in a favourable position. Then, toe-pivot and make a drop step for foot room. Next, heel-pivot and turn your whole body 90 degrees to the left. After, hold the basketball straight up in a way that makes it farthest from your defender. Then, look at the rim and elevate with both legs. Finally, shoot the basketball by swinging the entire arm and snapping the wrist with a follow through. (Reverse everything if you are left-handed)

You should practice all of them a lot. Have you heard of the saying “practice makes perfect”? Well, that reflects on basketball and shooting. Practice at different spots in case one is not open. Practice by yourself or with one friend to prevent too much distraction. Once you feel you’re ready, test it out in a real game. Stand at a spot you practiced in and wait for a pass. See how you did? You scored!

What to eat? Here is the Advice!

 By: Cindy Li (age 12)                          

Pancakes or Bagels - Breakfast Series

“Pancakes are like cookies and bagels are like donuts!” Are you still eating the two most common breakfast dishes- Pancakes and Bagels- and for a long time? You might have to change your daily routine and your shopping list after you read this.

Pancakes - Plain, prepared with syrup

It’s raining pancakes, yummy! Try frying up 3 pancakes, and serving with maple syrup; you've just cooked a meal worthy of 255 calories, half the amount of your daily breakfast calories intake.  You ate a perfect amount of grain product in the morning. There will be space in you tummy and taking in some dairy products - yogurt with some fruits would be good!- and there will be your sunny breakfast.

 

Bagels with cream cheese

Can you fit through a hula hoop bagel eating bagels spread with layers of cream cheese? No, is the answer. Plain bagels (some with sesames) were meant to be healthy, but cream cheese bagels? Each one is about 490 calories, more than the calories in a Filet-O-Fish Sandwich from MacDonald’s, and every meal per day is suppose to be between 500~650  calories. You just ate everything you should eat in the morning - drinking NO liquid. In a bagel with cream cheese, it contains 50% grain product, 37% fat and 13% protein. It’s an example of an unhealthy breakfast.

Which One is Better, for YOU?

Before today, were you deciding on which to eat, pancakes or bagels? Now you have the answer, pancakes. No more bagels? Well, it doesn’t mean that you can’t eat them, just not too often; maybe one per week is a good amount. Follow a healthy breakfast routine with lesser fat and calories! Have a sunny day! Bye!

The Electronic Generation of Tomorrow - Today

By: David Ding (age 12)

The Eye of the Apple, the IPhone 5

Apple has done it again with the IPhone 5. This phenomenon has brought change to all other IPhones. First, this IPhone has a 4 inch Retina display. It’s bigger but still fits just right in your hand. It also has the powerful A6 chip with performance speed up to twice as fast as the A5 chip. Not to mention the IOS 6, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system. It is 7.6 mm thick and weighs 112 grams making it 18% thinner and 20% lighter and 100% better than the IPhone 4S.

The camera is now an 8 mega pixel wonder with panorama mode and dynamic low light mode. Now Siri works even better; it can now place reservations at your favorite restaurants. Because of the smaller screen, Apple shrank all the chips inside, but it works just as well, if not even better. The A6 chip is 22% smaller than the A5 chip, the Nano-SIM card is 44% smaller than the Micro-SIM card. One catch frequent users of Apple may dislike about the IPhone 5 is the new charger, Apple got rid of the old 30 pin charger and replaced it with the 8pin reversible “lightning” charger. Apple says that there is an adapter priced around 29$ US to link lightning to the old 30 pin charger. The new IPhone has so much more, yet so much less.

 

The Windows Next Generation

 

Windows 8 is a major improvement over Windows 7, and much more efficient as well. One of the most important differences between 7 and 8 is that there is no start/home button on the taskbar in 8. It has been replaced by an empty space, and when clicking on it, it activates the metro tab. The metro tab is basically what used to be the home menu. Windows 8 also has a much better startup, shutdown and awaking from sleep speed than Windows 7. Windows 8 is the Superman of the universe of technology.

The High Light in Your Days

By: June Li (age 13)

Everyone needs friends. You need friends to brighten your day and cheer you on. You need friends to share your happiness and your worries with. A true friend is like your own sister or brother sometimes. A person or group to laugh with and play with always makes you happy. You won’t be alone at school.

Blend in with a Crowd

The first thing you need to do is blend in with a group of people that you think suits you the best. Like a group with students who think like you and share the same interests. Listen to what they are saying and join in on the topic, act friendly towards them and get to know them, and their interests. Pick up on an interesting topic and be funny and outgoing. Don’t make it look like you are nervous. When I was new at school, I had no one to play with. During the school year, I was playing a string game and some girls came and joined in. We talked about the strings and ways you could make it and that’s how we became friends like we are now.

Find a Group with the same Persona as You

Try finding friends that you think will actually suit your tastes and a group that you will have a good shot at joining. One of my friends tried going for the popular group when she herself wasn’t one of them, so they didn’t accept her. She later joined the ESL group with people who like to speak Chinese and are a bit wild. She fit in that group perfectly. Friends need to suit you in the long run, go for the trustworthy people and a persona that fits you the best. By looking around your school you can see that groups are made by similar interest. So your goal for finding a friend is their personality traits, they must suit you.

Tip: Don’t always give your attention only to one or two friends; try playing with all of them, that way more and more people will want to be your friend. 

So friends are school days happiness; don’t be sad if they aren’t your friends right away, friendship develops in time. And I wish you the best of luck with your friends!