Calling all young writers ages 8-12. What better way to celebrate October than a mystery writing contest based on Long Lost, a middle-grade novel by Minnesota Book Award Winner, Jacqueline West! Watch Jacqueline's invitation to the writing contest here!

Choose one of Jacqueline’s writing prompts from below, write a short story, and submit it to us. Stories should be original work by the writer and should be no more than 2000 words. You can submit your story to us by filling out this form with all your contact info and uploading your work, or you can drop it off at the library.  Stories can be uploaded as Word documents, PDFs, or photos of hand-written work (as long as we can read it!). All stories must be submitted to the library by the twelfth stroke of midnight on Friday, October 13.

The author and our youth services librarian will choose a grand prize winner to receive their own personalized, autographed copy of Long Lost, and their story published on the library’s webpage. Runner-ups will receive signed copies of The Collectors, the first of a duology written by Jacqueline, and their stories published on the library’s webpage.

Winners will be contacted the week of October 23 – just in time for Jacqueline West's author visit on October 26! You DO NOT have to submit a story to attend the author's visit and you are not required to attend if you submit a story (but we hope you will).

Writing Prompt #1
Begin with the first sentence of the book-within-a-book in Long Lost – “Once there were two sisters who did everything together.  But only one of them disappeared.” Imagine a story of your own featuring a mysterious disappearance. Feel free to change sisters to brothers or siblings.

Writing Prompt #2
Imagine that you're in the library of your dreams – maybe it's grand and beautiful, or shadowy and mysterious, or cozy and filled with cats. Maybe it's a library for books, or maybe it's a library for another type of collection: music, toys, clothes, artifacts. While wandering through its rooms, you find a strange object on one of the shelves. What is it, and where does it lead you?