Reading Adventures for Youth and Adults

July 1-31, 2025

Fairfax County Public Library and the Fairfax Library Foundation invited school-age youth (grades 3-6), teens (grades 7-12) and adults (18+) to participate in our third annual "The World We Write" short story writing contest. Participants were asked to use one of the following writing prompts to write a 250-word story:

1. It all started when he regifted his great-aunt's fruit cake.
2. The kingdom was like a quilt.
3. A singer finds inspiration in a surprising place.
4. Green is the scariest color.
5. She stepped into the ballot box for the first time, and saw...

Three stories were chosen from each age group:

3rd-6th Grade:

• I Hate the Greeks. They Are the Ones Who Invented Pineapple on Pizza. Right? by Erin Kwon
• The Vote That Traveled Through Time by Ella DeTrani
• What Lurks in Green by Anirudh Rudharraju

7th-12th Grade:

• Drainpipe by Sahari Reddy Soma  
• A Quilt of Time and Space by Anthony Yu
• The Shade of After by Nina Singh 

Adults:

• Baby Blanket by Christie Chapman 
• Democracy's Faithful by Bridget Rose Reineking
• A Patchwork Rebellion by Jeslyn Vo 

Winning writers receive a $25 gift card and a certificate signed by Eric Carzon, our Library Director, and Lisa Bryant, the Executive Director of the Fairfax Library Foundation. 

Cosponsored by the Fairfax Library Foundation