The winners of the Tucson Festival of Books Young Artists and Young Authors awards will be recognized at a ceremony March 14 as part of the festival that weekend at the University of Arizona. Congratulations to all.
For this year's Altrusa Tucson Festival of Books Young Authors Contest, Altrusa Tucson volunteers spent hours judging more than 130 entries. They named 26 winning entries in the poetry and story contest from 20 young authors:
1st grader Ariel Singerman from Ventana Vista won for her story "Adventure of the Chickens".
1st grader Emmeline Knapp from Fruchthendler Elementary won for her story "Bobcat Lives in Arizona".
4th grader Ezra Raney, also from Fruchthendler, won for his story "Wild Roller Coaster Ride".
5th grader Tomi Marcus from Legacy NW was a double winner, with the story "Jason Bounces Back" and the poem "Class Clown".
5th grader Maven Keele from Academy of Tucson won for her story "Little Sea Slug".
Homeschooled 5th grader Lily Polk was a double winner with the story "Willow’s Wisdom" and the sweet poem "Contrasting Beauty".
6th grader Elizabeth Gonzales from Ironwood Elementary was another double winner with the story "Wolves" and the poem "In This Softball Story".
7th grader Declan Riches from Emily Gray Junior High won with his story "A Lesson from Walt Disney".
7th grader Yunming Ray Chan from Dodge Traditional Magnet won for his story "Cubeland".
Basis Oro Valley 7th grader Aaron Li won for his story "Dragon’s Call".
Raina Pike, an 8th grader at Cross Middle School, was a double winner for her story "Bittersweet" and her poem "A Sickness of Black," cleverly written about the Black Plague.
8th grader Aliana Vargas, a summer Young Authors Contest winner from Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. Library, charmed everyone again with her story "The Yellow Box".
9th grader Jenisha Timsina from Basis Tucson North made judges think with her story "Crossroad".
Ysrael Hernandez, a 10th grader at ASU Digital Prep, was a double winner with the story "905" and the poem "The Armchair Critic in my Head".
Alyssa Lemire, a junior at Andrade Polytech, was a repeat double winner again this year with the story "Scratching" and the clever vampire poem "My Strange Date".
Brielle J. Hass, a senior from Ironwood Ridge High School, won with her distressing story "I’m Scared".
4th grader Ariza Leon from Safford K-8 won for the poem "Loteria".
Tobi Marcus, a 7th grader from Legacy Traditional NW, had a winning poem called "Eyes on the Prize".
Junior Kenya Patino from University High School won for her poem "First Generation".
Emma Kokes, a junior at Tanque Verde High School, won for the poem "Hivemind".
Young Artists contest
The Young Artists contest is sponsored by Friends of Western Art. This year's honorees are:
1. Daniela Ahumada, 2nd grade, Fruchthendler Elementary TUSD
Drawing by Paige Dyer, a kindergartener at Huachuca City Elementary.
2. Piper Bryant, 5th grade, Borton Magnet TUSD
3. Josephine Burnside, 11th grade, Pusch Ridge Christian Academy
4. Ephram Chang, 6th grade, St Michael’s
5. Everly Chan, 3rd grade, St Michael’s
6. Ezra Chang, 7th grade, St Michael’s
7. Julia Kathleen Davis, 1st grade, Huachuca City Elementary
8. Paige Dyer, kindergarten, Huachuca City Elementary
9. Ava Grace Erlacher, 5th grade, Canyon View Elementary
Drawing by Katherine Kim, a 6th grader at Basis Oro Valley.
10. Jaqueline Estrada, kindergarten, Huachuca City Elementary
11. Romelia Estrada, 2nd grade, Huachuca City Elementary
12. David Gil, 5th grade, White Elementary TUSD
13. Kiley Hannah, 11th grade, Tanque Verde High School
14. Ellen Kim, 11th grade, Catalina Foothills High School
15. Katherine Kim, 6th grade, Basis Oro Valley
16. Emma Kokes, 11th grade, Tanque Verde High School
17. Jaden Li, 4th grade, Basis Oro Valley
Drawing by Josephine Burnside, an 11th grader at Pusch Ridge Christian Academy.
18. Victoria Marti, 1st grade, Borton Magnet TUSD
19. Ranjit Nair, 12 grade, Basis Oro Valley
20. Janice Noh, 5th grade, Basis Tucson North
21. Aleena Rafiyat, 12th grade, Basis Oro Valley
22. Keisha Rojas, 6th grade, Desert Sky Middle School
23. Caia Thompson, 4th grade, homeschool
24. Katherine Wang, 8th grade, Orange Grove Middle School
