Today, the San Antonio Book Festival is happy to announce the finalists in the three divisions for the second annual Fiction Contest.
Twenty-five judges with varied backgrounds as writers and professional educators went through more than 600 entries to narrow it down to these finalists. Quite a job! Due to more than double the entries for the 7th and 8th grade division than any other division, there are 15 finalists for 7th-8th and 12 finalists for 9th-10th, and 10 finalists for the 11th-12th division. Congratulations to all of our finalists for their great work! The top three winners in each division will be announced on Tuesday, February 24th.
7th-8th Grade Finalists:
Jacinta Murillo, Stevenson Middle School, “The Broken Doll’s Nightmare Called Life”
Sarah Arias, “Savannah and Jason Forever … Well That’s What I Once Thought”
Tommy Cavazos, Our Lady of Perceptual Help Catholic School, “A Chest in the Attic”
Brendan Bond, Wood Middle School, “A Chest in the Attic.”
Alaska Salazar, Whittier Middle School, “Tears Still Fall”
Zachariah Aliniz, St. Gregory the Great Catholic School, “A Chest, a Pirate, and a…Kraken?”
Kristen Figueroa, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran School, “Once Lost, Never Found”
Olivia Bohne, BASIS San Antonio, “Mother Dearest”
Kevin Cardoza, Whittier Middle School, “Wish I Had Him Here”
Athalia Peralta, Our Lady of Perceptual Help Catholic School, “Luke and the Pilot’s Chest”
Lauren Myska, Twain Middle School, “My Father’s Secret”
Heather Truong, Wood Middle School, “The Magical Time Machine”
Hannah Clark, St. Matthews Middle School, “History Holds Secrets”
Lexi Athina Salazar, Twain Middle School, “Blue Butterfly”
Angelica Guerrero, Whittier Middle School, “The Chest in the Attic”
9th-10th Grade Finalists:
Andrea Rivas, Lee High School, “Amanda and the Chest in the Attic”
Makayla Bonhomme, Johnson High School, “It’s Not Just a Chest It’s a Lifesaver”
Fiona Watts, Steele High School, “Treasure Hunter”
Cameron de Arkos, Clark High School, “Her Night Before Christmas”
Scott Semian, Lutheran High School of San Antonio, “The Warmth of the Sun”
Coggin Galbreath, Geneva School of Boerne, “The Patient”
Denise Emerson, North East School of the Arts, “We All Have Different Satellites”
George Rodriguez, Jr., Edison High School, “Travelers from the Final Frontier”
Lilah Qubrosi, Providence Catholic School, “Memories: Open Sesame”
Dominique Coleman, North East School of the Arts, “Yellow and Red Corduroy Pants”
Sara Coats, North East School of the Arts, “Trust Me”
Elizabeth Misnick, Johnson High School, “Price for Your Freedom”
11th-12th Grade Finalists:
Jamira Richardson, Communication Arts High School, “In Loving Memory”
Katherine Mansfield, Keystone School, “When the Dust Settles”
Marisa Pena-Alfaro, Johnson High School, “Mi Cultura”
Jennyfer Miron, Jefferson High School, “Chest of Memories”
Alisaa Chavarria, Lanier High School, “Untold”
Zoey Heckman, East Central High School, “Safety Chest”
Marissa Castillo, Steele High School, “Queer Things Happen Here”
Dalia Guerrero, Travis Early College High School, “A Chest in the Attic”
Janelle Martinez, Providence Catholic School, “My Marriage to a Dapper Death”
Kiana Johnson, Memorial High School, “Laurel”
All judging was conducted anonymously. Students’ names and schools were removed from all documents prior to distribution for judging.
