From an epic adventure in the Arctic to the mean streets of Dublin to the world of competitive piano-playing and a classroom spelling bee, the winning entries in the Palo Alto Weekly 24th Annual Short Story Contest are tales of young men and women struggling with issues both familiar and exotic, and learning lessons for life.

Though the experiences and backgrounds of the four winning writers -- and their characters -- vary greatly, each story features compelling and poignant voices of youth.

The Palo Alto Weekly thanks each of the writers who entered this year's contest as well as writers Ann Hillesland and Judy Clement Wall, who chose the top entries in each category to send on to the judges. Thanks also to our judges, and to contest co-sponsors Bell's Books of Palo Alto, Kepler's of Menlo Park and Linden Tree of Los Altos.

First Place
Kevin Sharp
Pomegranate

Second Place
Emily Jiang
One Small Step

Third Place
Mike Fallon
After the War

Children 9-11

First Place
Maritha Wang
Adrift

Second Place
Phoebe Borthwick
Life with Thomas

Third Place
Grace L. Park
Alone

Teen 12-14

First Place
Sabrina Lui
Encore

Second Place
Millicent Golding
The Chosen One

Third Place
Thibault Serlet
The Man in Sleeves Case

Young Adult 15-17

First Place
Catherine Rosch
White as Snow

Second Place
Julia Reichelstein
Ribbons of Linda

Third Place
Rachel Skokowski
Around the Bend