2008-2009 Poetry and Essay Contest: Sponsored by Creative Communication

Become Published, Win Cash Prizes!

Enter our Contests to honor student writiers from you region.

• Top Entries publised in an anthology
• Over $80,000 in cash and prizes awarded nationwide.
• Teachers with five or more students published will receive a FREE anthology.
• Schools with 15 or more students published will receive a Writing Achievement Award and qualifiy to apply for one of fifty $250 language arts grants.
• Poetry and essay divisions: Grades K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12.
• For every region, ther will be 10 winners in each division for each contest.
• Poem and essay must be original and in English.
• Poems must be no longer than 21 lines.
• Essay s mus t be no longer than 250 words.  the Number of words must be printed at the bottom of the essay.

Please submit each pome and essay with a title, the writer's name (clearly printed), current grade, home address (optional), school name, school address, and teacher's name.  For complete contest rules go to www.poeticpower.com

Mail Entries to:

Creative Communication

1488 North 200 West

Logan, Utah 84341

OR

Enter online:

www.poeticpower.com

Poetry Deadlines

Fall Contest - Postmarked by December 11, 2008

Spring Contest - Postmarked by April 15, 2009

Summer Contest - Postmarked by August 18, 2009

Essay Deadlines

Fall Contest - Postmarked by October 15, 2008

Spring Contest - Postmarked by February 17, 2009

Summer Contest - Postmarked by July 15, 2009

Dear Jean Craighead George:

Thanks to your book, My Side of the Mountain my life was changed, it made a big impact on my life, and I want to tell you why.

When I was about eight or nine years old, I always dreamt about running away from my house to the Rocky Mountains, so my brother couldn’t pick on me any more. He always would throw me around for no reason or tell me I was worthless to this world. He would say I was a waste of flesh. When I read your book it inspired me and taught me many things. After reading your book and trying to run away, I realized that my family would miss me, I would probably die of starvation, and at the time I didn’t know much about survival, so I would be homesick and have no one to protect me.

I would read your book for hours at a time; I have never read a book besides yours that I read for more than an hour on end. Your book was also helpful to me when my parents were divorcing. It would make me so I didn’t think about the divorce

It inspired me, by teaching me about the outdoors. Because I found myself outdoors more often, I got into hunting and fishing, because when he is shooting grouse and rabbits for food I thought it would be fun. Hunting is my favorite outdoor activity. It got me outdoors more, and because my brother doesn’t take me hunting very often. I didn’t get picked on by my brother anymore because he is inside all the time or with friends. I am so glad I found your book.

Thanks to your book I do not want to run away anymore. It taught me I don’t have to run away to get away from being picked on. If you would not have written this book, I would hate life because I would not hunt or fish. If I did not hunt, I don’t know what I would do. There are a lot of books that inspired me but, My Side of the Mountain was the only book that taught me the biggest lesson of my life. I used to think that I was going to buy some land in the middle of nowhere so no one would find me to bully me. Thanks!!

Sincerely,

Tucker A. Rogers

Dear Thomas Dygard:

You have changed my life a lot on how I look at things. My older brother was one of the kids who always got into a lot of trouble. One time they took him to a Juvenile detention center because he had snuck out of the house. It had been about the tenth time he did it so he had to go to get help. One time my brother got into so much trouble that my mom kicked him out of the house. I don’t really know why because I was at a Baseball tournament in Conrad.

My brother went to live with one of his buddies, and he changed. His buddy kicked him out of the house for not helping pay the rent. A little while later he was sent to a judge for a curfew violation and she sent him to live with us, she said that if he messed up again he would go to boot camp. Well about three months later he messed up. He had tried to run away after my mom yelled at him. My mom took him to the judge that said that he would go to boot camp if he messed up again. The judge said that she never said anything and that she wouldn’t send him.

Your book Halfback Tough showed me that it wasn’t good to follow in your brothers or even parent’s footsteps. Like in the book they where friends but not really, they just hung out because they did the same kind of thing.

Joe found out that without Richard and Marty he was better off. That if you follow your friends you could still get into trouble like when Joe started to hang out with Richard and Marty. He found his self right back in a place he was before the Principle’s office with all the detectives.

Your book was a big change in my life. Now I worry about my school work and all of that kind of stuff. I don’t get into trouble anymore. Your book also showed me that reading is fun to do if the book isn’t in the bottom of your locker.

Sincerely,

Ron Daley

Dear Mike Thaler:

I am writing to you about your book, The Teacher of the Black Lagoon. I like the book because it shows how scared you can be, but still have a positive attitude.  The character in this book was scared of his grade school teacher because of the rumors he had heard.  Your character was scared to go to school with the mean teacher he had heard all about.  I also was scared to go to school when I was going into Junior High.

I heard the rumors about the teachers in the Junior High and High school. One rumor was how Mr. Christiens is mean to all the new students. A second rumor spreading through the halls was that Mr. Barcus’s football practice was harder than the high school football practice. This scared me because I am not the most athletic person.  I worked hard through the football season to become a better player.  I also wanted to be healthier in my life. Now I’m one of the best on our team. Now I’m more involved in sports, like football and track because I don’t listen to the rumors.  This book helped me dedicate myself to be a better person and a better football player for our team, Choteau Bulldogs located in Teton County, Montana.   

This book made me realize that things are not as bad as they seem.  Like the character in the book I was scared to go into Junior High.  I was also scared of the teachers and the work.  Like the kid in the book I faced my fears and am ready to move on in my life.  I have learned to ignore all of the rumors and instead work hard to accomplish my goals. Thank you for writing this book to help me face my fears and to understand the importance of setting goals.      

Sincerely,

Marquis W. Walker        

Dear Ben Mikaelsen:

I have never read any of your books till I got into my English teachers class, and the first book she told us to read was your book Touching Spirit Bear.  I have never met a kid that had as many problems as Cole Matthews. He seemed to be doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. When reading your book, Touching Spirit Bear, I realized that you can make one big mistake, and you could be on an island, in the middle of no where, wishing you were somewhere else. When reading your book, it made me stop and think how much my life would be different from now if something would happen with one of my friends or me.

In the beginning of the book, you didn’t know what to think of Cole Matthews. You didn’t know whether he was a kid that just had anger problems or if he might have had a bad childhood experience. As I got further in the book, I found out that he had both and then was sent to an island off the coast of Alaska.

I liked how you mentioned a group of people called Circle Justice and how they helped Cole out by sending him to the island with the Spirit Bear but I would like to know, why did you chose Circle Justice out of all the groups that help teens in trouble? I think that the Spirit Bear helped him by making him feel inferior, just like Peter felt inferior around Cole after Cole beat him up. But there was one person that was there to help Cole through the hard times, and that was Garvey. In my life there has been a person like Garvey to me. He has always been a part of my life. He was there when I needed a shoulder to cry on.

This book has changed my life by making me think about my actions. In the past I have hurt people by not being a crying shoulder. People thought I was insensitive and I didn’t give sympathy. Even if I tried to be a listener it didn’t come out the way that they thought I wasn’t sensitive enough. Reading this book made me stop and think. It made me think about what would happen to me if I committed a crime and my friends and family didn’t have that many memories of me being with them.

This book has taught me that I can be a crying shoulder and listener to people also. And I can relate to him when you have no one to tell your feelings to. So thank you for writing a great book and teaching me so much about my actions.

Sincerely,

Whitney Sherrard

Montana Third Place Finisher

Dear Gary Paulsen,

When my teacher first opened up an old tattered copy of Harris and Me for read aloud, I never thought I would come to enjoy this book for years to come. You see, at the time I was going to the fourth grade in a small two-room schoolhouse out in the country. My mom was actually my teacher, and the one who brought Harris, “Gooner”, Newt, and the rest of the gang into my life.

There was only one other boy my age in my class. We had our differences, but we really had no one else to play or talk with. For the first year and a half we had sort of an awkward friendship. As soon as we both began reading your books, and found out about our enjoyment for the outdoors, that all changed. He started inviting me over and we would fish or hunt gophers and, sometimes work on the farm. Just like the city kid messing around with Harris, but learning at the same time.

As soon as the seventh grade was over, we both had plans of heading to new schools. He went to the town closest to him, and my family moved and went to school in that town. We keep in touch, but not very often face to face. Occasionally we’ll go out hunting or something like that, but it isn’t the same as it used to be.  Like the end of the book when Harris sends his letter and they remember the times they shared.

My mom still teaches at that little old schoolhouse, even though no one is sure whether or not it will keep running much longer. That worn out book has been read out loud every year in my mother’s class. Only a couple kids are there who have heard it before, so it never gets old. I too try to read it at least once every year. Often, I finish it in a single day. I always laugh hardest when Harris’s pants go flying off while soaring on his makeshift motorbike.

Writing this letter brings back memories and feelings like when the city kid finds the farm diorama. Your book has helped me in many ways. First as a helpful tool for making friends, and secondly as a way to remind me of the great times I’ve had in the country.  I have you to thank, Gary Paulsen, for helping create a friendship, and making those summer days with nothing to do but read perfect.

Sincerely,

Henry Jorden

Montana First Place Winner

Dear: J.K. Rowling

My name is Mariah Wearley. I’m an eighth grader in a small town in Montana, called Choteau. I first started reading the Harry Potter books when I was in about the third grade. My grandma thought I would enjoy your books because I was so drawn to fiction. The cover of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone caught my eye as I opened the book and began an adventure that changed my life.

When I was five years old, my parents got divorced. Even though I didn’t completely understand what was going on, it was still a heavy weight to bear at the time. I always thought I had done something wrong. Maybe I had thrown one too many temper tantrums, or fought with my cousin one too many times. It took me about two or three years before I realized it was my parents fighting, not mine, that caused the split. Even then it still hurt and the fights over custody were stressful. I needed an escape from my life. That was when I found your books and was led into a world better than the one I was in.

I have always loved reading, even before I used it to escape the pain of life. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was one of the first chapter books I ever read. I had no clue that it would be my drug, or that I would get addicted to the magical lives in your books. I’ve always wished I had a magic wand. I used to pretend that I was at Hogwarts with Harry, Hermione and Ron. I would stay up until two o’ clock in the morning reading sometimes because I couldn’t stand to come back to the reality of life.

I realized later in life just how much I related to Harry. Feeling lost and not knowing what to do, getting into trouble around every corner, dealing with teachers that seemed not to have a heart, and having my two best friends by my side. All these things I dealt with every day, I realized Harry did too. “If only I had magic like Harry!” I always thought. As my world became more and more obsolete, I got more and more wrapped up in Harry’s world. Three-headed dogs, dragons, unicorns and other mystical creatures danced through my mind every day and inhabited my dreams at night. Some days I even fought Lord Voldemort with Harry, and needless to say, good always triumphed in my fantasies.

The Harry Potter series has given me a lifelong friend. When I had no-one else to turn to in my life, I always had my books. Thank you for giving me a much needed escape. I now know that my world is okay, but I’ll always love my Hogwarts fantasy life.

Sincerely,

Mariah N. Wearley

8th Grade Student