Don't let the sun set on FUN!While we're looking forward to the last week of summer reading, and our end-of-the-year Celebration and Ice Cream Social, there is still more to come!
If you've never participated in one of our literary contests, they're a fun and easy way to flex those creative muscles—with no writing experience necessary.
October's Two-Sentence Horror Story literary contest challenges you to write a super-short horror story in only two sentences. January's Six Word Memoir literary contest invites you to tell the story of your life, or an experience, in just six words. It's all the fun of writing a memoir, with none of that pesky writing a whole book business. February's First Line literary contest asks you to imagine the first line to a novel that doesn't actually exist. Go wild! Last year's winner was "The whole town agreed: the best thing about the Lebowitz triplets was that there weren’t more of them." April's Poetry literary contest welcomes you to explore the power of words and emotions by through a poem—no writing experience needed!
Every participant receives a custom laminated bookmark with their story, memoir, first line, or poem, set in fancy font and illustrated with a photo. I can vouch for the quality of the bookmarks—I've got about six of them, and they're all I use anymore!
This December marks our 14th Annual Gingerbread House Contest. You might think the contest is only for kids, but we encourage adults to participate! If you're worried you'll show up the younger competitors, don't be—there's a separate category for young children, and the high schoolers can definitely hold their own.
And of course, don't miss out on our All-Year Reading Challenge! This program encourages you to read outside your norm (at least a little) with prompts like "read a modern retelling of a classic" and "read a book by a first-time author." Best of all, you earn a fun reading-themed pin for every five books you read! | 
