Author Alex Flinn judged the YA Category of the 2006 W.I.N. Competition. Alex is the award-winning author of Breathing Underwater, Breaking Point, Nothing to Lose, Fade to Black, and Diva, new this Fall from HarperTempest. Visit her Website at AlexFlinn.com

YOUNG ADULT
Judged by Alex Flinn

	Cynthia Leitich Smith

MIDGRADE
Judged by Cynthia Leitich Smith

	Chapter Book Judge Dori Chaconas, author of the Cork and Fuzz early reader series, and one of Roxyanne Young's personal favorite holiday books, When Cows Come Home for Christmas.

CHAPTER BOOKS
Judged by Dori Chaconas

1st Place: From the Diary of Jarrod Crisp, Environmental Journalist by Ann Harth
2nd Place: The Boy Who Liked Girls by Sarah Harwell
3rd Place: Diagnosis Monsteritis by Thad Tichenor

Honorable Mentions:
The Tail of Daniel the Knight: Daniel's Dream by Brianna Sayres
Lexi McNair: Bubble Gum Detective by Gwendolyn Hooks
Kissy Frog by Deborah Faulkner

From the Diary of Jarrod Crisp: I was immediately drawn into this story by the fresh, professional, and imaginative writing style.  The premise of the story also hooked me in.  A sprinkling of humor kept things lively, and the sensory detail used by the author made the story sparkle.  The author expertly wove in interesting factual information, blending it well with the action. The protagonist was likeable from the beginning, and truly credible in voice.  After a few short pages, I felt complete trust in him – that he was telling his story and that he would be honest with me.  I wanted to read more, but will have to wait until this excellent manuscript is published.

The Boy Who Liked Girls: It was the main character, Clyzon, who sold me on this piece of writing.  As unusual as his name, Clyzon is a totally unpredictable, non-stereotypical character, as refreshing as an icy lemonade on a hot August day. The premise of the story is unusual as well, but Clyzon handles it all with the right amount of quiet self-assurance rarely seen in book characters, but one that demands attention and admiration.  The understated humor constantly caught me by surprise, which made the humor all the more enjoyable. But it was mostly the character that stayed with me long after I read the first pages.  Another manuscript waiting to be published.

Diagnosis Monsteritis: I couldn't help liking the character, Owen, who loved his morning bed so much that it might take an occasional bugle blast to roust him out.  I slipped into the author's writing style with ease and was soon pulled into Owen's dilemma of a bump on his head growing into a horn… along with more monstrous things.  Owen's problem presents all sorts of promising scenarios, starting with the classroom and ending who knows where.  Lots of suspense growing out of these first pages!

Dori Chaconas is the author of nine books for children and has nine more under contract to be published in the next several years.  Her Cork and Fuzz easy readers have drawn starred reviews and have been compared favorably to Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad books.  Her picture books have also received high praise, from the soft and gentle Christmas Mouseling, to the raucous and rowdy When Cows Come Home for Christmas.  Visit her website, www.dorichaconas.com, for more information about Dori and her books.

	Franceska Rusackas

PICTURE BOOKS
Judged by Francesca Rusackas

1st Place: C. R. Mudgeon's Cure by Leslie Muir
"This one is ready to send out. Every page is visual. I could see the art in this one."

2nd Place: Emma and Tricky (or How to Eat a Bird in Five Easy Steps) by Carol Grannick
"This dog is alive and it's in my house. It's very, very cute. People love dog books, and this one is funny, fresh, and adorable. The author needs to put it in a dummy format to make sure she has enough material to fill the book."

Third Place (Tie): Don't Read This Book by Cindy Brunelle
"Cute and quirky.  Kids will certainly giggle when they read this one and will race to challenge the ending."

Third Place (Tie): Holding Up Half the Sky by Christine Howorth
"Precious story with a lot of heart.  Unique voice. Mei Ling jumped off the page and became a real little girl with a big problem."

Honorable Mentions
The Three Sunlights by Holly Thompson- "Long, but beautifully written."
Moving Day for Maggie by Lisl Detlefsen - "Sweet and tender story."
Mama's Wedding Dress by Susan Taylor Brown - "This one made me weep. It's beautifully written. Rich language and perfect pacing." - Roxyanne Young

More notes from Francesca Rusackas:

I had a blast judging the contest.  First, I read each manuscript pulling out the ones that popped out from the rest (fresh voices etc.).  The next day I read through my second stack and plucked out the ones that demanded more than a second reading (such pushy manuscripts).  I pulled out my favs from the last stack and then I read each one again selecting my top three.

It may seem that the funny, clever and wacky books are getting more of the attention from the publisher these days but the serious, quiet books still have a place.  These books need to have a hook, packaging that makes them stand out, a place, a subject matter that’s timely. A built in audience. An example is Fancy Nancy (HarperCollins 2005)  Fancy Nancy has something about her that resonates with every little girl.  It has a Universal message.  I ran across of few of these wonderful quiet books in my group of manuscripts like C.R. Mudgeion’s Cure, The Three Sunlights, Mama’s Wedding Dress, and Holding Up Half The Sky. These books have a heart and a place in today’s funny, wacky market place.

I must admit, even though I love the quiet stories, the quirky and funny manuscripts jumped out from the pack. They demanded my attention, making me giggle and laugh out loud.  Emma and Tricky and Don’t Read This Book led the pack. But, before sending these two manuscripts off to a publisher for consideration, I would suggest to the authors that they first put their manuscript into a dummy format to verify that they have enough page turns and material for a 32-page picture book. Good luck!

Francesca Rusackas is an award winning author of both fiction and non-fiction books.  Her picture books are: I Love You All Day Long and Daddy All Day Long, (HarperCollins) a Children's Book-of-the Month Club Selection. Her friendship craft book "Girls just Wanna Have Fun!" was selected as Outstanding by Parent Counsel 2000.  Francesca is a Regional Advisor for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.  She is the co-founder of an annual children's writing contest as well as the founder of "Teen Writers of America," a weekly program that mentors teens with a focus on writing.  Francesca is an educational contributor to the Los Angeles County Fair, a member of Cal State Fullerton Advisory Board and a frequent guest of southland schools, libraries, bookstores and author's festivals, as well.  She lives in Southern California with her husband, twin teenage sons and a menagerie of pets, including one runaway hamster. 

	Sonya Sones

POETRY
Judged by Sonya Sones

"Whoa! There was a shocking amount of good work submitted. I picked a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place winner, plus four honorable mentions!" - Sonya Sones (Editor's Note: Sonya also wrote notes on these manuscripts and many besides, which will be returned to the authors shortly. Thank you, Sonya!)

First Place: Places and Spaces: Poems of the 50 States by Laura Salas
"This is an excellent idea for a collection - and the poems are terrific!...Lovely!"

Second Place: Mad Tastes Like Broccoli by Susan Taylor Brown
"These poems are so strong, yet simple. Keep up the great work!...Powerful!"

Third Place: Poetry Sweats by Kay Pluta
"This is a terrific collection!...Lovely! Nice rhythm and images

Fourth Place: Exposed by Kimberly Marcus
"These poems are really excellent - this will be a moving novel-in-verse."

Honorable Mentions:
I Put Each Carrot in a Suit (Five Poems from collection) by Gregory Pincus
Earth Verse by Eileen R. Meyer
Kendra, Outside In (The Story of a Kid Like You) by Laura Salas
Nibbles: A Tasting of Poems by Leslie Muir

Sonya's three novels-in-verse have won numerous awards, including a Christopher Award, the Claudia Lewis Award for Poetry, the Myra Cohn Livingston Poetry Award, and a nomination for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize. The ALA has named all three of her novels-in-verse Best Books for Young Adults, and Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. But in Sonya's not-so-humble opinion, the two coolest honors that her books have won are as follows: the ALA included What My Mother Doesn't Know on their list of the Top Ten Most Banned Books of 2005 (to find out why, please see page 46). And One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies received a Cuffie Award from Publisher's Weekly for the Best Book Title of 2004. Though Sonya says she would have vastly preferred a Newbery. Her next book, What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know, will be published by Simon and Schuster in May 2007. It's the sequel to What My Mother Doesn't Know, and picks up right where the other story leaves off, only it's told from Robin's point of view. Sonya lives near the beach with her family, not far from Hollywood, where she longs for snow in winter and fireflies in summer. Visit her on the Web at www.SonyaSones.com.

	Kelly Milner Halls

NON-FICTION
Judged by Kelly Milner Halls

ILLUSTRATION

More notes from Tim Gillner, Art Director of Boyds Mills Press:
After much deliberation, I have made my decisions. I must say that this was one of the toughest shows that I have ever judged. I mean that sincerely. This is a very talented group of artists. Overall I judged them on one, was it a cover and two, do I see their work as being published in books or magazines. There were a few that the artwork was very good ("Two Birds, One Stone" and "Cover Illustration") but I didnt think it was a cover. i.e. no room for the type. 

If it is possible I would REALLY like to see more samples from every one of the artists here. I think it is a very talented group and it is hard just seeing one sample. I think many of these artists are publishable right now.

DUMMY PICTURE BOOKS
Judged by Scott Piehl, Art Director, Harcourt Children's Books Division
with some help from Book Designer Lauren Rille

Hooray! Scott and I finally got our act together and I got the dummy book W.I.N.NERS from him this afternoon. He enlisted the help of Book Designer Lauren Rille to create the following notes for the entrants.

Overall Notes/Advice to Entrants:  When submitting your work, turn in a clean, typed manuscript of the book without art. It is much easier to read, and an editor can better judge the story without being distracted by illustrations. Submitting the text and art separately can also work to your advantage if an editor likes one but not the other; they are less likely to discard a good story because they don't like the art and vice-versa.

It is very hard to get a manuscript looked at by an editor and darn near impossible when it is attached to art. If you want to submit both, editors much prefer to look at a good, clean, cut-down manuscript with just one or two samples of finished art as opposed to numerous rushed pieces. If you're going to create a dummy, it needs to have great, tight, well-thought out sketches. A disadvantage to submitting a dummy is that complete layouts are very distracting to look at and detract from the art.

Illustrators: Go to a bookstore and look at the competition. Find a published illustrator that uses the same or a comparable medium to your own and judge your work against theirs - you have to able to reach that caliber of work if you expect to be published.

Writers: Go to a bookstore and read what's out there. Count the number of words in a children's book that is comparable to your own.

Now, the W.I.N.NERS in the Dummy Book Category, with notes from Scott, Lauren, and Iris, combined, specific to those entries:

1st Place: Claude Claude, The Vampire Moth by John Aardema
"Inclusion of the title, copyright, and dedication page show that artist understands the structure of a book. Art and story are really funny and cute. The finished pieces are great, nice attention to details. Claude is a cute character, even with the hollow eyes. Story has a great beginning, especially the line about liking to "chew holes in the necks of sweaters," but it falls apart in the middle after the bats enter the story. Bats are much to scary looking. The story comes to a resolution way too quickly. Overall, this story has total potential."

2nd Place: Animal Band by Christopher Jennings
"Beautiful illustrations, great style. The dog is great. Sketches as well as finished art are fun and exciting. Nice touch with teh whit sketched background on page 4. Great use of color. Good use of space, filling up the entire page and making use of full spreads. Cute shadows on page 22. Potential to have some fun backmatter at the end describing the different instruments. Story is fun, but needs to be refined - currently it's two stories: 1) the Atterazoo and its wackiness, 2) the little dog trying to find his own voice. Overall, pretty darn great."

I have comments for several other finalists, but I have to clarify a couple of notes with Scott, and then those will be shared via email.