The 7th annual Anoka County Library teen short story contest, called Write On! saw a record number of submissions. Youth living in or attending school in Anoka County, Minnesota, in grades 6-12 were eligible to submit a piece of short original fiction between 1000-3000 words in the month of April. Using the same criteria as the Minnesota Book Awards, Anoka County Library staff evaluated these submissions throughout two rounds of judging, finally narrowing down the list to a list of finalists.

The stories in this anthology collection represent the best of all submissions received in 2023. Three winners in each grade category (6-8, 9-10, and 11-12) as well as four honorable mentions were chosen, for a total of seven stories in each of the three categories. These stories have been published as they were submitted by each author, including any formatting or stylistic choices their authors made.

In this collection, readers will find an enormous amount of talent and creativity. Stories span genres and topics and represent the breadth of diversity present in Anoka County’s youth. Anoka County Library is honored to be able to share in the creative work of these talented young people.