Area Students Celebrated in Junior Author Contest

The Gladwyne Library League's 39th Annual competition saw 818 entries, which were judged by teachers at the Wetherill School in Gladwyne, from 13 local schools.

There are three categories: fiction, non-fiction and poetry, with first through fourth place and honorable mention awards for students in grades first through fifth.

"Many of our winners are repeat winners from last year," said presenter Anne Fossum during the awards ceremony. "There is no name or school on any of the entries, so it's a pretty great accomplishment to have repeat winners."

Parvin Fardipour's daughter Pardis Dianatnejad, who attends the Baldwin School, won first prize in the poetry category for first graders. Pardis's poem was called "Rain, Rain, Come Along with Me," about rain, and Fardinpour said her daughter wrote it after hearing stories in school.

"It was very good," Fardinpour said. "I was so excited, I was jumping up and down -- I was more excited than her."

Kyle Tassone, a fourth grader at Gladwyne Elementary School, won honorable mention for his fictional story called "Doodle King."

Kyle said his story is about a boy in detention who begins drawing to pass the time and then gets sucked into his drawing. He makes a friend, and then they encounter an evil guy who tries to erase everybody, he said.

"Their weapons are basically erasers," said Kyle, adding he would like to be a cartoonist or an author/illustrator when he grows up.

The participating schools included Agnes Irwin, American Academy, Baldwin, Episcopal Academy, Friends' Central, Gladwyne Elementary, Gladwyne Montessori, Haverford Friends School, the Haverford School, Merion Elementary, Penn Valley and Rosemont School of the Holy Child.

Ellen DeMarinis of the Gladwyne Library League said her favorite part of the competition is the awards ceremony and seeing how excited the kids get. She also enjoys calling the kids ahead of time to tell them they've won awards.

"The kids do an amazing job," DeMarinis said. "It's a fun thing, and they're so cute."