jocowrites

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Claire McMurray has won our essay writing contest on the theme of The Unknown with her piece "Who Is She?" 

Claire McMurray has a doctorate in French from Yale University and runs a blog about special needs parenting at: www.idontknowhowyoudoit.org.

Who Is She?

Most parents of a four-year-old know a good deal about their child—everything from favorite colors and television characters to deep-seated fears and hopes for the future. Yet I know none of these things about my four-year-old. She is our family’s mystery.

When JJ was two, the few

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Cameron V. has won second place in the 8 and under age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with his piece "A Happy Jackalope, a Sneaky Werewolf, and the Scary Nightmare Moon." 

Cameron (Cam) V. is a newly six-year old boy from Olathe, KS where he lives with his parents and their dog named Remus. At just two-years of age, Cam had memorized word-for-word over twenty of his favorite story books- all of which he can recite on demand to this day. His favorite author is Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo, The Snail and the Whale

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Julieta V. has won first place in the 9-12 age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "Alicorn"

Julieta Vera has unruly hair and is well known for her phrase, “We’re alive and good! We’re FINE!” Her favorite book series is ‘Keeper of the Lost Cities,’ which she highly recommends!

While a book lover, she climbs trees uses nothing on her feet, and tends to nag everyone (especially her little sister) into doing fun and adventurous stuff on a daily basis—which lead to multiple injuries. Ever since she heard the words,

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Madeline W. has won third place in the 9-12 age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "Eyes in the Sky." 

I started writing for school, and decided to start putting the many stories I had into the physical world. I don’t have a lot of favorites, but I like Spider-Man, and really hate spoilers for things I want to watch, read, or participate in in any way. 

 

 As I focused on my connection, my mind spread its boundaries, forming a link― a bridge, if you will―to the spirit realm. My consciousness compressed itself

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Derek W. has won second place in the 13-19 age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with his piece "I've Been Haunted Lately"

Derek W. is proud to be a lifelong student of the art of writing, a previous winner of a Young Arts Merit Award for writing and several Scholastic Arts and Writing awards. He is nineteen years old, and is currently studying at the University of Michigan. His story "I've Been Haunted Lately" speaks to the painful process of connecting with someone, and the fears that accompany opening up to that person, who

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Nayla S. has won second place in the 9-12 age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "Me & Yule"

Nayla S. is an amateur writer who enjoys spinning tales with enchantingly scenic settings, (hopefully) endearing characters, and lots and lots of magic. When she isn't writing, she enjoys detective and classic novels, chocolate, and working on her little sapling of a blog which you can find at www.witchywordcraft.com

The train screeched to a stop, and I woke up with a gasp. Sheila shrieked and Mom let her head loll

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Sangshita P.. has won third place in the 8 and under age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "The Lost Princess." 

Hi I'm Sangshita. Well, everyone calls me Moonmoon. I'm seven and this fall I will be in second grade. 

I have a duck puppet and I created a story about it. I used to tell stories to my best friend and she said I could write them. 

Then I started to write. The first story I wrote was a fantasy one. 

I love reading books by Dr Seuss. 

A fun fact about me is I'm really really scared of bugs but I'm not

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Ava S. has won third place in the 13-19 age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest.

Ava S. is a homeschooled junior that recently traded her Ohio buckeye trees in for the wild sunflowers of Kansas. Ava has been writing for most of her life and has worked on multiple novels, poems, songs, and short stories. Her inspirations are the books she grew up reading in her elementary and preteen years. This particular short story was loosely inspired by the classic Thumbelina. Some of her author influences are Lucy Maud Montgomery, Leigh

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Sylvie G.. has won first place in the 8 and under age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "The Tree Unicorn."

First thank you so much for choosing me as a winner. I am so happy right now. I've been writing since about halfway into 1st grade and I'm currently writing a book called Animal City. I want to say if I did not watch My Little Pony I wouldn’t have written this story because that is my inspiration. I have always liked mythical things like unicorns and alicorns. Just ponies are amazing too. My author

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that James P. has won first place in the 13-19 age group for the Summer 2021 Youth Writing Contest with his piece "When the Caged Zebra Falls."

My name is James P. and I’m a senior at Blue Valley High School. I’ve been writing for about a year; I began last summer as a means of expressing my thoughts during quarantine. Some of my biggest influences are George Orwell, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Joe Strummer. My other passions are soccer, history, and playing the guitar. My story was inspired by the human desire to be led, and our willingness to

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Mariam S. has won first place in the third age group for the Sci-Fi Spring 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "Interplanetaries."

Mariam will be a freshman at Shawnee Mission East next year. She is a lover of books, cats, art, and dark chocolate. Though her life goals have changed since dreaming of becoming an author at six years old, she nevertheless enjoys writing a short story from time to time. Her sci-fi story was inspired by a video her class watched in social studies class.

The sound of claws on pavement startled Pauol

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Mariam K. has won third place in the middle age group for the Sci-Fi Spring 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "10021."

BIO: Mariam is a 12-year-old New Yorker. She describes herself as an aspiring author who finds that the best part of writing is writing through one’s imagination and heart. Mariam has been writing from a very early age. She won prizes at several city-wide and nation-wide essay and poetry contests. Her winning entries have been published in newspapers, magazines, and very recently in a poetry book. But still, she

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Reba S. has won third place in the third age group for the Sci-Fi Spring 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "Drifting Memory."

Though now wasn’t a great time for it, Jim Harrison could only think about how gorgeous the view was. A once in a lifetime image to be sure. He could see everything from up here - the clouds, the continents, the ocean - but, poetically, no one could see him up there. Jim looked to his right. Stars like bright holes poked through a jar lid as far as the human eye could see. He looked to his left. Planets

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Georgia M.. has won second place in the early age group for the Sci-Fi Spring 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "Not So Boring."

Not So Boring 

Of course we get stuck on the worst planet, Aerial. Out of the 116 planets my family discovered in the past year, we had to get stranded on the most boring and cold one.

I spend most of my time on the ship playing with our munden, Tuerto. He’s a mix between a dog, a cat, an elephant, and a tiger. White with black stripes, he has pointy ears, a short, stubby trunk, and a dog-like tail. I’m

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Arden P. has won second place in the third age group for the Sci-Fi Spring 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "Puppeteer." 

The waves dashed themselves hard against the ultra-strong, reinforced Plexiglas of the tunnel, beating relentlessly in a mad, mindless effort to sweep the alien structure away. The surface of the water was sharp and choppy. Had the knife-points of the hills and valleys been frozen at that exact moment, any unfortunate passerby would have been cut quite badly. Driving rain beat down on the unforgiving surface of

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Parsons H. has won first place in the early age group for the Sci-Fi Spring 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "The Bad."

I love writing and sharing stories. I love to let my creativity show! In my free time I love to read, write, listen to Christian and 80's music, and play dolls. 

The Bad

There are a group of kids, the lonely, the bad, the forgotten, the hidden, the sad, and the blamed. These are not a normal group of kids, they wanted and did get revenge. The lonely wanted revenge on whoever had the chance to become friends with

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Anna Grace V. has won third place in the early age group for the Sci-Fi Spring 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "Turkey and Della"

My name is Anna Grace.  I am 10 years old and I live with my 2 brothers, my 2 dogs, and my mom and dad.  I like reading, especially Greek Mythology and fantasy books.  I also like drawing and creating fantasy stories. I hope you like “Turkey and Della.” 

The Spectacular Journey of Turkey and Della

This book is dedicated to my teacher; Ms.Westerman, for being an awesome teacher and on awesome scientist

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Hunter G. has won second place in the second age group for the Sci-Fi Spring 2021 Youth Writing Contest with his piece "The Time She Had Returned."

María sat quietly and carefully outside in the front area of a bar. The area was quite overgrown with a variety of green. What the bar lacked was people. This little town she had once remembered was teeming with solemness. María wondered why the plants continued to grow with little water. They climbed up in search of something. These desperate plants continued no  matter what.  It was

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Julieta V. has won first place in the middle age group for the Sci-Fi Spring 2021 Youth Writing Contest with her piece "What Was Forgotten."

Julieta A. Vera has unruly hair and is well known for her phrase, “We’re alive and good! We’re FINE!” Her favorite book series is ‘Keeper of the Lost Cities,’ which she highly recommends!

While a book lover, she climbs trees uses nothing on her feet, and tends to nag everyone (especially her little sister) into doing fun and adventurous stuff on a daily basis—which lead to multiple injuries. Ever since

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Lauren Loya has won our essay writing contest on the theme of Tails and Tales with her piece "Call Me Cuttlefish." 

Lauren Loya is a graduate of the Literature, Language, and Writing program at the University of Kansas. Her work has been featured in Coal City Review. A Kansas City native, her favorite local haunts include the Green Lady Lounge, Stroud’s, Antioch Park, and many of the shops and eateries along 39th Street West.

You can read more of her work at https://draculauren.wordpress.com/.

Call Me Cuttlefish

She pressed the packet of

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Nadine Shookman has won our open writing contest on the theme of Bodies with her piece "Oma." 

Born in Germany, Nadine Shookman lives in Overland Park with her husband Jesse and a goldendoodle named Oatmeal. She works as a catastrophe modeler and spends her free time writing, drawing, and volunteering in the community.

Oma

I remember brushing my fingertips along the inside of my great-grandmother’s wrist, struck by how different her skin felt from mine. I was around eight years old, she in her eighties. I called her “Oma,” the German word

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Kaylin Salmen has won our open writing contest on the theme of Bodies with her piece "Self-worth." 

Kaylin is a college senior at Kansas State University studying food science. She enjoys being outside, playing dungeons and dragons with friends, and art.

Self-worth

She remarks on the scars on my body

As if they were dents left in discarded

College apartment furniture,

But these marks

can be interpreted like runes

on cuneiform tablets.

These marks are not a curse,

But a prayer.

I know because I put them there,

Along with the tattooed

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Virginia Brackett has won our poetry contest on the theme of Imagine Your Story with "Six".

Virginia Brackett’s 16 books have been cited by the New York Public Library; the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association; Tristate Books of Note; the American Library Association, Amelia Bloomer Project; and Booklist (Editor’s Choice, Reference Sources, 2008). She has published many articles, stories, and blog entries for readers of all ages and her short story “Mrs. Cross” won in the fall 2018 Johnson County Library creative writing competition

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Joel Holland has won our writing contest in the open category on the theme of Connection with "Contemplating Connection as Zimmer’s “Chasing Cornfields” Plays in my Bedroom."

Award-winning poet Joel Holland graduated from Union University in the spring of 2019. The oldest of four siblings, Joel was born in Salisbury, Maryland, spent a portion of his youth living in Tianjin, China, lived out much of his teenage years in Springfield, Tennessee, and is currently serving a church in Kansas City. Joel has been writing since he can remember and

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Martha Gershun has won our Essay writing contest on the theme of Connection with "Emma Goldman's Amber Necklace."

Martha Gershun is a writer living in Fairway, KS. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, the New Yorker, Kveller, SELF magazine, and The Kansas City Star. She is currently working on her second book, with co-author John Lantos, MD, based on her experience donating a kidney at the Mayo Clinic to a woman she read about in the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle. It will be published by Cornell University Press later this year

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that LeAnne Hansen has won our Essay writing contest on the theme of Unlocking the Mind with "Thoughts of Grief and Healing."

LeAnne Hansen is a mother, community volunteer, speaker, and world traveler. Her time in India, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Thailand, Vietnam, and numerous other countries have taught her to look for and value those experiences that are common to the human condition, especially as we seek to heal the divisions in our own families, communities and country. A lifelong writer, reader, and lover of libraries

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Kent Moore has won our Short Story writing contest on the theme of Unlocking the Mind with "The Corbomite Maneuver".

Kent Moore is a Senior Strategist for Physician Payment at the American Academy of Family Physicians, where he also serves as a contributing editor to one of its journals, FPM. He's also written for Humanities, the magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities. An earlier short story, "Rooted and Grounded in Love," won the Open Category of the Johnson County Library's Many in One writing contest and is available on the

Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that David Lee Garrison has won the open category of our writing contest on the theme of BREAKING FREE with "Putting Killers Away".

Dr. David Lee Garrison (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University) taught Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Kansas in 1978-79, and then at Wright State University until his retirement in 2009. He and his wife, Suzanne Kelly-Garrison, have residences in Oakwood, Ohio, and in Prairie Village, dividing their time between the two cities. Almost all of Suzanne’s family lives in Kansas; David has a cousin in Grandview, MO