By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

AUBURN – In Emily Knox’s imagination, there’s a grandmother who wears red sneakers and a purple hat. She holds garden tea parties, complete with fresh cookies. She reads aloud, assigning funny voices to each character.

Emily’s 19-page tale about the active old woman and her doting granddaughter has won this year’s Auburn Book Award.

“I tried to base it on my grandma, but it didn’t really work out because we don’t do that much fun stuff,” said Emily, 11. “I picked random things I thought would be cool.”

Eighty fifth- and sixth-graders took part in the annual writing competition. They wrote, illustrated and edited their stories, which gave them a look at the writing process. A tight schedule for their drawings and stories taught them about deadlines.

As in the publishing world, the books were submitted for review. The winner would be published.

Emily, a shy Fairview Elementary School student who loves reading, came up with a story about an eccentric grandmother who lives in a brick house surrounded by “every flower you can imagine.” She and her granddaughter play dress-up, feed the birds and pick flowers. On Sunday, they look at the stars.

Emily liked the story, but nearly gave up on “My Grandma and Me” when she had trouble with the complex drawings. She went through eight colored-pencil sketches of the grandmother’s cottage.

A visiting illustrator at the school helped her, but when Emily handed in the book – stapled, sticky and smelling of rubber cement – she didn’t think she had a chance.

“There were so many other books that were so good. But they didn’t make it into the top 12,” she said.

The judges – librarians and teachers – fell in love with Emily’s colorful drawings and upbeat story.

Her book was printed over the summer. At Fairview’s open house in September, she signed copies of her story, just like a real author.

“That was cool,” she said. She will also sign copies at the Auburn Public Library and Waldenbooks on Oct. 29.

Emily, who dreams of becoming a Broadway actress or a writer, is already planning her next book. This one will be called “My Grandpa and Me.”

She’ll enter next year’s Auburn Book Award contest. But after that, her stories probably won’t come with so many illustrations. “I think I write better than I draw,” she said.