Finalists Selected for 2012 Gaithersburg Book Festival High School Student Short Story Contest

Judges have selected 13 finalists from a pool of 141 entries for the Gaithersburg Book Festival’s second annual high school student short story contest.

The first-, second-, and third-place winners will be announced at the festival on May 19, after which they will read their winning stories. Winners will receive $100, $50, and $25 gift certificates, respectively.

The winning stories will be selected by award-winning mystery author Brad Parks (“The Girl Next Door: A Mystery,” “Eyes of the Innocent” and “Faces of the Gone”) and novelist Jennifer Miller (“The Year of the Gadfly”), both of whom are among the more than 100 featured authors who will be at the Gaithersburg Book Festival. Parks also provided the three opening lines from which students had to choose when writing their stories.

“To see our entry pool grow by more than 20 percent is exciting,” said Jud Ashman, festival chair and City of Gaithersburg councilmember. “Even better, our Round One judges, two of whom are repeats from last year’s contest, said this year’s judging was even more challenging.”

The 13 finalists, in alphabetical order, are:

• Jennifer Baik – Ellicott City, Md. (Centennial High School, Howard County)
• Amanda Cerva – Herndon, Va. (Oakton High School, Fairfax County)
• Alice Yanhong Lu – North Potomac, Md. (Thomas S. Wootton High School, Montgomery County)
• R. E. Potter – Delaplane, Va. (homeschooled, Fauquier County)
• Andrew Qian – Boyds, Md. (Clarksburg High School, Montgomery County)
• Halcyon Ruskin – Kensington, Md. (Albert Einstein High School, Montgomery County)
• Jasmine Smith – Rockville, Md. (Richard Montgomery High School, Montgomery County)
• Cary Spector – Chevy Chase, Md. (Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, Montgomery County)
• Phoebe Temkin – Rockville, Md. (Richard Montgomery High School, Montgomery County)
• Jing Wang – Ellicott City, Md. (Centennial High School, Howard County)
• Katie Way – Arlington, Va. (Yorktown High School, Arlington County)
• Rachel Wong – Alexandria, Va. (Mount Vernon High School, Fairfax County)
• Lily Xu – Germantown, Md. (Richard Montgomery High School, Montgomery County)

This year’s list of finalists include two students who were recognized last year: Alice Yanhong Lu, last year’s third place winner, and Andrew Qian, who earned an honorable mention.

This year, contest entrants hailed from 14 jurisdictions throughout D.C., Maryland and Virginia, up from 10 last year. Jurisdictions included the Maryland counties of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George’s; and the Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Gloucester, Loudoun and Prince William.

The prizes for the contest are provided by the Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus.

The finalist stories will be published on the Gaithersburg Book Festival web site this week and visitors will be able to give a “thumbs up” to those stories they like best. Festival organizers hope to use the thumb votes to name a “Fan Favorite” story at the festival.

About the Gaithersburg Book Festival

The Gaithersburg Book Festival is an annual all-day celebration of books, writers, and literary excellence. Now in its third year, the Festival has become one of the premier literary events in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The Festival will be held on May 19, 2012, on the grounds of Gaithersburg City Hall, with shuttle buses running from Lakeforest Mall.  Activities include author appearances, discussions and book signings; writing workshops; a Children’s Village; a Coffee House with poets and singers/songwriters; onsite book sales, both new and used; exhibitors and, of course, food, drink, ice cream and more. Admission is free. For more information please visit www.gaithersburgbookfestival.org.