Write like Sonya Sones Contest

For those of you who work with young people, I have news about an exciting opportunity. Poet Sonya Sones wrote me about a new contest for kids 13-18 that the publishers are running to promote the publication of her novel in verse, What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know, just out in paperback.

Here’s the lowdown.

The winner of the What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know (WMGDK, love that abbreviation!) writing contest will win a free six-week online writing class from Gotham Writers' Workshop. And the winning entry will be posted on Sonya’s Web site. Also, 10 runners-up will receive a year's subscription to Teen Ink and an autographed copy of Sones’ book, WMGDK .

To enter the contest all they have to do is read What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know, and when they get to the very last poem, write a continuation of the story. Keep it short but sweet - ten pages or less. And, of course, write it in the same style as What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know - in a series of poems. Read more about how to submit entries right here.

Cool!

I reviewed WMGDK when it first came out (May 18, 2007 More about Verse Novels: Sonya Sones) and loved the fresh voice, fast pace, and “sharp humor" and "honest anguish.” It was since selected for YALSA’s 2008 list of Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Here’s another nugget from the book:

Sophie Takes Hold of My Hands

Right
in front
of everyone--
sending supersonic shockwaves all through me.

And we just sit here,
grinning at each other like Muppets,
knees pressed together under the table,
eyes locked...

Until the bell rings.
"Check, please," I call,
snapping my fingers at an imaginary waiter.
This makes Sophie laugh.

And the sound of that laugh,
and knowing that I'm the one who made it happen,
makes me feel sort of all-powerful,
indestructible,

immortal, even.

This is one of a sequence of six poems from the book (WMGDK) that Sonya has posted on her Web site. Check 'em out because you’ll really get a better sense of the verve of her oeuvre! :-)

Join the rest of the Poetry Friday gang at Anastasia Suen's Picture Book of the Day site.

Image credit: sonyasones.com