Teenager writes novel, wins award
It's that awards time of year.
Kendall Perrin of Orange, left, was among the teenagers from around the country -- 35 of them from California -- to win a Scholastic Art and Writing Award. Kendall was honored for her novel, her English teacher wrote to tell us.
“Miss Lavender Venumn was a malevolent serpent. Her soft emerald eyes could destroy you with a single glance, and her alabaster arms struck children until they burst like little bottom bombs.”
So begins 13-year-old Kendall's tale of Miss Lavender Venumn, the spank-a-holic owner of Miss Lavender’s School for Happy Orphans.
More than 1,100 students in grades seven to 12 were honored, some of them eligible for thousands of dollars in scholarship money. It's the 85th year of the awards.
“Since Scholastic’s founder M.R. Robinson established the Art and Writing Awards, the program has been an oasis for the more than 13 million creative young people who have participated,” said Bryan Doerries, program director of the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, which administers the Awards.
Past recipients include Andy Warhol, Robert Redford, Sue Miller, Richard Avedon, Zac Posen, Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Otterness, Sylvia Plath, John Lithgow, Joyce Maynard, David Salle and Francine Prose.
Kendall goes to New York next week with her mother, Barbara Perrin, and her home-school English teacher, Clarissa Ngo, to be honored at Carnegie Hall.
Among the other winners are:
- Farah Abouzeid, 14, of Monterey
- Megan Broughton, 17, of Santa Clarita
- Anabel Curry, 17, of Los Angeles
- Elena Dreyer, 12, of Monterey
- Lizzie Eisenstein, 18, of Los Angeles
- Adrienne Ford, 17, of Calabasas
- Charlie Green, 17, of North Hollywood
- Emily Hilario, 17, of Corona
- Kevin Jan, 17, of Santa Ana
- Sharon Jan, 15, of Santa Ana
- Elizabeth Knight, 17, of Los Angeles
- Allegra Krasznekewicz of Monterey
- Chloe Lane, 13, of Los Angeles
- Matthew Lindly, 14, of Monterey
- Sadie Marchese Moore, 16, of Los Angeles
- Matias Maunu, 17, of Los Angeles
- Austin Nelson, 16, of Los Angeles
- Francisco Quintero, 18, of Bell
- Amanda Rountree, 18, of Orange
- Kayla Shapiro, 13, of Los Angeles
- Alake Shilling, 14, of Los Angeles
- Gabrielle Trujillo, 13, of Chatsworth
