Now in its 21st year, the annual Palo Alto Weekly Short Story Contest is again celebrating and recognizing the best fiction penned by our readers. This year, as in years past, the Palo Alto Weekly Short Story Contest welcomed hundreds of manuscripts from local authors of all ages. Set in locales ranging from the grittily real to the delightfully imagined, contestants offered up tales bubbling with humor, weighted with tragedy, and edged in irony. This year's winning authors created compelling characters whose journeys have led them to take a stand for what is right, to pursue what one hopes to be true, and to discover parts of themselves they never knew existed. We extend our thanks to the co-sponsors of this competition: Bell's Books, Kepler's, Linden Tree and Palo Alto Online. We would also like to thank all the contestants who entered this year's contest and invite community members to submit their works next year.

First Place
Shelly King,
The Sweetgum Tree

Second Place
Ly Chheng,
A House That Glows

Third Place
Joanna Holmes,
Scrap and Salvage

Children 9-11

First Place
Anna Caltabiano
The Gift

Second Place
Tony Jin
Yoda's Twin Brother

Third Place
Joanna Tang
Sunny

Teen 12-14

Third Place
Lynnelle Ye
Experiment of Life

Young Adult 15-17

First Place
Hilary Brennan-Marquez
In which Elena breaks Utah state law in a stolen car

Second Place
Larisse-Ann Ortiz-Luis
The Price of Admission

Third Place
Alexei Koseff
The Candy