About the Inklings Book Contest
Each year, the Inklings Book Contest celebrates youth writers in grades 3–12. Winners revise their stories with a professional mentor and are published in our annual anthology. Finalists receive editorial letters with revision guidance and are featured on our Inkwell platform.
This post offers a sneak peek at several finalist pieces. Click through to read each story on the Inkwell, where young writers are encouraged to share their voices and connect through storytelling.
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Inklings Book 2025 Finalist Spotlight
Chapter Four: Facing Fears
The stories in this fourth chapter of our Inklings Book 2025 Finalist Spotlight highlight the internal struggle of characters when it comes to facing their fears. These youth writers brilliantly explore the emotions of their characters as they navigate through challenging and scary moments and come out the other side.
Monsters in My Head
by Olivia Lagos
(7th grade)
The demon hasn’t come for a week. It’s come three times before. I can’t live with the idea that it will come back and try to hurt me again. I try to convince my mom and my friends that it’s real, but they just say that monsters aren’t real; it’s just a dream. When it happens, I’m asleep and suddenly wake up, feeling paralyzed. I see the dark figure by my door. Its claws reach for me. It’s real––so real. But when I close my eyes, it’s gone.
Now I lay here again. I fear the same monster will come back to try and take me. My chest moves slowly up and down, but my heart feels like it’s going to explode. I hope that it’s just stress or anxiety because I don’t want to relive what has happened for the past two weeks.
I tell myself, It’s ok. Demons aren’t real; they’re just dreams.
Vote for Selene
by Julia Choi
(3rd grade)
“Class, please take out your writing notebooks and your blue writing pencils, but before we start the lesson, I would like to talk about the grade-wide presidential election,” Ms. Liana announced.
Room 342 of Growing Place Elementary went silent and everyone’s ears perked up.
Ms. Liana continued, “A student from our class will be elected as president for the 3rd grade. The chosen president will then appoint a Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary of their choosing. We will have tomorrow and the day after to make posters and prepare our speeches.”
The class erupted in cheers. Ms. Liana signaled the class to calm down with the quiet llama gesture.
Selene squealed as she knew she was going to be the next 3rd grade president. On the other hand, Jean also squealed in excitement, but she thought differently.
Ocean Dreaming
by Heron Hecht
(6th grade)
The wind whipped Charlotte’s brown hair into her face, her cheeks flushed. She slowed to a stop on her swing, looking at the beach laid out in front of her. The blue-green waves hissed up, reaching onto the sand, before slowly retracting, like they were being pulled by a magnet. It was a movie-worthy scene. Or it would be if Charlotte could appreciate it. If her vision wasn’t blurred by tears and the ocean’s music wasn’t drowned out by her sobs. The small white tassels of her teal dress waved cheerfully back and forth in the same motion as the swing she was sitting on.
Her eyes should be stinging, but her tears protected her. Her tears protected her. Like the solemn bubble that had descended on her family. She scoffed aloud. It had been almost a year and a half, and she still couldn’t wrap her head around it. Layla was gone.
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