Young authors move from draft to finished book in four-month effort.

AUBURN – Auburn students from Webster, Walton, Sherwood Heights and Fairview schools have been working on original books for the past four months to submit for publication through the Auburn Book Project.

The project was designed to promote student writing by implementing “writing strategies and effective writing tools” as outlined in Maine’s Learning Results and was funded through the LA Fund.

Student authors incorporated the writing process, computer technology, art instruction and an awareness of the marketplace as they prepared an original edited piece of writing with illustrations, in accordance with publication guidelines. Beyond that, all participants had a chance to exercise their creativity in the development of an original story and artwork, which was then bound into book form.

Students have worked on books, from draft to final product from February through May, with weekly input from peers, parents and Auburn enrichment teachers, Carrie Beaulieu and Joanie Simard.

The completed books were submitted for review at the Writer’s Celebration at Webster Intermediate School on May 21. Participating students and their parents gathered for a Writers’ Celebration to share finished work and to celebrate their accomplishment.

Books are being judged by a panel of teachers, community members and local business representatives to establish the winning entry. The recipient of the Auburn Book Award will have the opportunity to prepare the winning entry for professional production.

The published book will be shared at local school libraries, in addition to the Auburn Public Library. The winning author will participate in publicity opportunities such as book signings at the Auburn Public Library and at the local Waldenbooks. The nine finalist books (selected from the original 63 entries) that moved on to the final stage of judging are:

“A Hunt for Treasure” by Neil Pomerleau of Fairview School, “Awakened” by Ian Mulligan of Webster School, “Outlaw” by Leah Costlow of Walton School, “Christmas Disaster” by Colleen Rideout of Fairview School, “Snowy Day” by Jaime Russell of Webster School, “Wormy’s Journey” by Karen Leary of Webster School, “My Shadow and Me” by Kirsten Lamiette of Fairview School, “Magical Leprechaun” by Angela Simpson of Sherwood Heights School, “To Bed in Five Minutes” by Bethany Potter of Sherwood Heights School.

Two non-finalist honorable mention awards were also given: one to Brandon Gruver of Walton School for his nonfiction piece, “A Window on a Life,” and Alicia Large of Fairview School received recognition for the outstanding artwork used to illustrate her book, “My Worst Nightmare.”

Other participants included Sydney Browne, Adam Lozis, Damien Gwardys, Colby Morin, Carmen Lasagna, Helen O’Neill, Katelyn Williamson, Ashley Gallagher, Mikael Heikkinen, Aidan Boardman, Danielle Dubois, Tyler Babb, Diana Kruszewski, Mackenzie Souders, Jessica Nyholm, Jaime Sevit, Chelsea Hayes, Allison Emond, Natalie Bornstein, Elsa Brown, Kayla Cummings, Ashley Winn, Meagan Brushwein, Sarah Carbonneau, Lindsay Carbonneau, Alisha Banville, Jessica Davis, Hilary Tate, Hillary Turcotte, Yusuf Inman, Kim Tremblay, Taylor Nicholas, Gregory Judd, Katie Arnoldy, Katherine Harmon, Andrea Jenney, Sarah Olstein, Felicia Stewart, Sarah Thompson, Alexia Adams, James Hardiment, Rebecca Dubois, Erin Aitken, Dawn Sylvester, Erin Soule, Matt Blanchard, Steven Giorgetti, Breanna Lemieux, Kirsten Pure, Karen Johnson, Sean Austin, Shelby Chouinard, Danielle Paul and Chloe Lapointe.