The Pocahontas County Literature Fair was held last Thursday at Pocahontas County High School, with more than 100 projects on display by students in grades kindergarten to 12.
Students chose from a variety of genres – adventure, fantasy, realistic fiction, non-fiction, biography – and more. They read the books as individuals, in a group or as a class and then created a display outlining the themes and meaning behind the books.
Community members served as judges and had the hard task of assigning points to all the well done projects.
The winners were:
Kindergarten through second grade
Class, realistic fiction: first place, Jackson Tankersley and Adalaide Hall, and Nicole Taylor’s first grade class, “Peter’s Chair.”
Individual, adventure: first place, Brantley Cox, “Magic Tree House: Mummies.”
Pair, adventure: first place, Natalie Irvine and Ava Edward, “Splat the Cat.”
Individual, fantasy: first place, Makiya Burns, “The Lorax.”
Class, fantasy: first place, Autumn Hively and Ace Gregory, and Gina Hardesty’s second grade class, “The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash;” and second place, Marilyn Beverage’s kindergarten class, “The Crayon Box That Talked.”
Individual, mystery: first place, Sally Marks, “Password to Larkspur Lane.”
Pair, mystery: first place, Alana Bennett and Joshlynn Burgess, “The Terrible Topsy-Turvy Tissy Tossy Tangle.”
Individual, historical fiction: first place, Victor Dean, “The Golden Delicious: A Cinderella Apple Story.”
Pair, historical fiction: first place, Abigail Taylor and Kya Arbogast, “Little House in the Big Woods.”
Individual, informational: first place, Jerrall Clifton, “My Baby Blue Jays;” second place, Carter Smith, “Ready, Set, Play;” and third place, Elijah Flood, “Why Does Lightening Strike?”
Third through fifth grade
Individual, fantasy: first place, Allyson Taylor, “How to Train Your Dragon;” second place, Zara Fanning, “Matilda;” and third place, Asa Marks, “The Lost Hero.”
Pair, fantasy: first place, Khloe Gainer and Shalynn Thompson, “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs;” second place, Tessa Johnston and Alivia Underwood, “The Wump World;” and third place, Eli Beezley and Willa Hardy, “Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse.”
Individual, historical fiction: first place, Erin Rider, “Riding Freedom;” second place, Ben Workman, “Riding Freedom;” and third place, Amber Defibaugh, “I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies 1967.”
Individual, science fiction: first place, Landen Arbogast, “The Murk;” and second place, Griffin Taylor, “Deep Trouble.”
Individual, realistic fiction: first place, Johnna Bennett, “Because of Winn Dixie;” second place, Madalynn Landis, “The Candy Corn Contest;” and third place, Kenslee Lane, “A Taste of Blackberries.”
Pair, realistic fiction: first place, Izabella Arbogast and Roxie Thompson, “Whale Song;” second place, Nicole Strader and Laelah Clendenin, “Secret Life of Squirrels;” and third place, Julian Dennison and Tristan Sizemore, “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.”
Individual, mystery: second place, Catherine Lucabaugh, “Goosebumps: Please Do Not Feed the Weirdo;” and third place, Damien Blankenship, “Scream and Scream Again.”
Individual, adventure: first place, Sierra Nelson, “I Survived Hurricane Katrina;” and second place tie, Savana Sharp, “Max’s Story;” and Hailley Hoke, “Magic Tree House Dinosaurs Before Dark.”
Pair, adventure: first place, Kegan Calhoun and Luke Taylor, “Shiloh;” and third place, “RT Hill and Lillie Cassell, “Dogman: Tale of Two Kitties.”
Individual, biography: first place, Alary Creamer, “The Girl Who Drew Butterflies;” second place, Riyan Gladwell, “Who is Dolly Parton?;” and third place, Eowyn Smith, “Taylor Swift, Her Song.”
Individual, informational: first place, Haiven Brown, “The Monarch Butterfly;” second place, Gracie Rhodes, “Mummies and Pyramids;” and third place, Thomas Arbogast, “Freshwater Fishing.”
Pair, informational: second place, Silas Dean and Cade Wagner, “Gettysburg Address.”
Sixth through eighth grade
Individual, adventure: first place, Garrett Nelson, “My Side of the Mountain;” second place, Trenton Brock, “The Trail;” and third place, Nolan Street, “Hunger Games.”
Pair, adventure: second place, Ella Markl and Mya Workman, “Kidnapped;” and third place, Jadyn Lane and Cameryn Boggs, “Far From You.”
Individual, fantasy: first place, Willie O’Ganian, “His Majesty’s Dragon Temaire, Book 1;” second place, Addison Waddell, “Took;” and third place, Maddie Ray, “The Mark of Athena.”
Pair, fantasy: second place, CC Sharp and Cheyenne Dean, “The Fear Zone.”
Individual, historical fiction: first place, Jacob Bickford, “Prisoner B-3087;” and second place, Ayden Fedak, “Allies.”
Pair, historical fiction: first place, Ramona Hardy and Kaylee Pritt, “To Kill a Mockingbird;” and second place, Jaden Green and Harley Brown, “Salt to the Sea.”
Individual, mystery: first place, Ella Johnston, “The Light Jar;” second place, Cammi Warner, “The Forgotten Girl;” and third place, Hannah Williams, “Confessions of a Murder Suspect.”
Pair, mystery: second place, Ronnie Simmons and Hannah Beverage, “Paper Towns.”
Individual, realistic fiction: first place, Ashley Bussard, “Fake;” second place, Mileya Bircher, “The Beautiful Lost;” and third place, Callie Davis, “Toby’s Story.”
Pair, realistic fiction: first place Elizabeth Friel and Hannah Burks, “The Longest Ride;” second place, Riley Pollack and Courtney Waugh, “Saint Anything;” and third place, Gavin Walls and Clayton Burns, “Whirligig.”
Class, realistic fiction: first place, Brooke Nottingham’s class, “Freak the Mighty.”
Individual, science fiction: first place, Taylor Arnold, “The Witch Child;” second place, Jordan Faris, “Gathering Blue;” and third place, Calli Propst, “Goosebumps, Monster Blood.”
Pair, science fiction: first place, David Casey and Trevor Tuskan, “Dark Life.”
Individual, book series: second place, Eden Smith, “The Secret Language of Girls.”
Pair, poetry: second place, Harlie Wilson and Emily Arbogast, “Out of the Dust.”
Individual, autobiography: first place, Mackenzie Taylor, “Please Stop Laughing at Me;” and second place, Rachel Felton, “Who Was John F. Kennedy?”
Individual, informational: first place, Silas Beezley, “The Story of the Paratroops;” and second place, Olivia Vandevender, “Pumpkin’s Story.”
Ninth through 12th grade
Pair, historical fiction: third place, Zachariah Miller and Mackenzie Thomas, “Salt to the Sea.”
Individual, realistic fiction: first place, Melinda Beverage, “The Things They Carried;” and third place, Robert Pritt, “The Most Dangerous Game.”
Pair, realistic fiction: first place, Connor Taylor and Austin Morgan, “Where the Red Fern Grows;” second place, Emma Riffe and Kelsi Taylor, “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before;” and third place, Jax Osborne and Ryan Roy, “The Most Dangerous Game.”
Class, realistic fiction: first place, Jaclyn Osborne and Katlyn Simmons, “The Gift of the Magi;” second place, Virginia Allan and Nathan Boylen, “The Clown;” and third place, Sara Stull and Jesse Johnston, “A Good Deed Goes Wrong.”
Pair, informational: third place, Logan Wimer, “I Have a Dream.”
Individual, biography/autobiography non-fiction: first place tie, Mason Solliday, “Outlaw Platoon;” and Haley Spencer, “Thank You for My Service;” second place, Max O’Ganian, “House to House;” and third place, Grace Beverage, “A Long Way Gone.”
Individual, fantasy: first place, Sarah Cole, “Perseus.”