22 students from across Canada shortlisted for The First Page student writing challenge

Twenty-two young writers from across Canada have been chosen as finalists for The First Page student writing challenge, which asked Grades 7 to 12 students to write the first page of a novel set 150 years in the future.

Students imagined how current events and trends from the ethics of artificial intelligence to climate change haveplayed out in the year 2174.

• Read aboutthe 2024The First Page student writing challenge

The 22 finalists were chosen from over 1,500entries submittedin2024.The winners will be selected by middle-grade writer Basil Sylvester and be announced on June 12.

You can read the shortlisted entries below.

Grades 7 to 9 category finalists

• 182 Days by Andrea Dobson, 15, from Acton, Ont.
• Tree Huggerby Anna George, 13, from Vaughan, Ont.
• How We Strived by Suhaira Haq, 12, from Saskatoon
• The World Outside byIsla Harrison, 14, from Winnipeg
• Lousy Poet by Marek Hetlinger, 14, from Calgary
• 95.2% Human byGunjan Parmar, 14, from Edmonton
• Here Under the Yellow Sky byAmalie Schwarz, 14, from Winnipeg
• The Golden Rule byDrake Shoulak, 13, from Regina
• Fixed byAnya Thadani, 14, from Toronto
• Smoke Signals by Robert Wells, 14, from Toronto
• Respawn Button byBarnaby Yu, 14, from Vancouver

Grades 10 to 12 category finalists

• Rouge Wave: A Written History of The Rediscovery byOluwatise Adeni, 17, from Ottawa
• A Culture Taken By The Stars byJacqueline Ann Rosario, 15, from Edmonton
• Upgrade byErin Bergman, 17, from Edmonton
• Unartificial Intelligence byKamryn Binns, 17, from Sydney, N.S.
• There Are No Fires by Basil Carter, 16, from Toronto
• Drifting Away by Atlas Chow, 17, from North Vancouver, B.C.
• Offline Echoes byStella McAloon, 16, from Lakefield, Ont.
• Pandora by Sophie McGowan, 15, from Burnaby, B.C.
• Forbidden Realities byHayley Peters, 17, from Kleefeld, Man.
• Processing byHannah Schoonderwoerd, 17, from Baden Ont.
• Ad Infinitum byTarika Stitt, 16, from Nanaimo, B.C.

Basil Sylvesterwill select two winners, one from each category, from the shortlists.Alongside their father, Kevin Sylvester, they are the co-author of the middle-grade novelThe Fabulous Zed Watsonand the recently published second book in the series,Night of the Living Zed.

• Read an excerpt and see the cover of Basil and Kevin Sylvester's middle-grade novel,The Fabulous Zed Watson!

Both winners will receive a one-year subscription toOwlCrate, which sends fresh boxes of books to young readers across Canada on a monthly basis.

In addition, each winners' school libraries will receive 50 free YA books.

You can read the complete rules and regulations here.

Last year's winners were Christian A. Yiouroukis for his storyWhere the Maple Leaf Growsand Bee Lang for their storyOne Question.