You Write as You Read
It is often said that good reading and writing skills go hand-in-hand. For my daughter, a budding, young writer, this is definitely the case. My blog title is a bit plagiaristic as it comes from my her prize-winning story, “You are As You Act”. Julia Pearson, a Rancho San Justo 7th Grader, placed first in the 10-13 year-old age division in Book Shop Santa Cruz’s Young Writer’s Contest. The contest overall had nine winners out of over 300 entries. Julia has been an avid reader from a very young age, and I believe her writing is a direct result of that.
In November, Julia’s prize also earned her the opportunity to read a portion of it on UC Santa Cruz’s local KZSC radio station. In October, Julia wrote the fictional narrative for her Language arts class, and as I read the story, I thought to myself “This is pretty good writing; we need to enter it in a contest.” The deadline for Bookshop Santa Cruz’s contest was only ten days away, so we sent it in quickly. Imagine our surprise when we received a call that, indeed, she had won first place in her age division! The most exciting part for her was going to read it on the radio for Bruce Bratton’s weekly “Grapevine” shows. Friends and family from Portland, Oregon, to Orono, Maine tuned in on the Internet via live streaming to hear Julia read it. Her grandmother in Tennessee invited friends to come over to “listen around the computer”, just like the radio days of old.
In addition to writing stories, reading and singing, her greatest passion is banding birds, especially raptors. She plays soccer, tennis, and enjoys running as well. She plans to be a wildlife rehabilitation expert, falconer and, of course, a writer.
Next year’s contest will be launched on May 19, 2014 and entries will be accepted until September 20, 2014. More information on the contest and entry forms can be found at www.bookshopsantacruz.com/young-writers-contest. I’m sure there are other excellent writers in San Benito County who would like to enter.
Submitted by: Rebecca Pearson, December 20, 2013