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

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 market place as they prepared an original edited piece of writing with original 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 bound in book form.

Students 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 held at Webster Intermediate School on May 26. Participating students and their parents gathered for a Writers’ Celebration to share the finished work and to celebrate accomplishments.

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 Walden Books store. The eight finalist books, selected from the original 71 entries, move on to the final stage of judging.

They are: “A Friend for Lily,” Jessica Nyholm, Sherwood Heights; “A Tale of a Travel Tale,” Emily Deveau, Webster; “Bump in the Night,” Sydney Browne, Webster; “The Bundle of Trouble that Fell from the Sky,” Marie Dufresne-Dixon, Fairview; “Jenavee’s Treasure,” Katie Fraser, Fairview; “Normal Girl,” Helen O’Neill, Webster; “Ten Top Ways to Annoy your Sibling,” Chloe Lapointe, Fairview; and “Victor’s Tour de Force,” Mikael Heikkinen, Fairview.

Other participants included from Webster School: Hannah Martin, Kirstyn Birbeck, Caroline Dunn, Haley McConnell, Emily Ranucci, Kelsey Philbrick, Ashley Gallagher, Gloria Arita, Carmen Lasagne, Katie Williamson, Stacie Gooldrup, Krystle Edmands, Jon Ford and Bowen Leary.

Fairview School: Caroline Klonoski, Zoe Theriault, Nathan Fairchild, Lauren Ratsep, Charlotte Gaylord, Jessica Lau, Sam Cullen, Alexia Adams, Mike DeVoe, Marlee Collins, Shelby Chouinard, Felicia Stewart, James Hardiment, Matt Blanchard Dawn Sylvester, Rebecca Dubois, Hope Mowry, Taylor Tarr, Kimberly Clark, Emily Grund, Kates Fraser, Miranda Martin, Cody Leavitt, Robert Miller, Mitch Adams, Chris Camire, Megan Hussar, Andrea Jenny, Jacob Hawley, Katherine Harmon, Sarah Olstein and Lauren Brown.

Walton School: Catherine Bauer, Jennifer Rioux, Nick Bourget and Ashley Giguere.

Sherwood Heights School: Alisha Banville, Ashley Winn, Kayla Cummings, Natalie Bornstein, Elsa Brown, Amanda Bellefleur, Kristen Pinard, Eric Davison, Samantha Lamson, Amanda Dubois, Kim Guyatinea, Eileen McKinley and Christian Tucker.