THREE fledgling authors from Girton Grammar have placed in the top 20 of The Sunday Age MS Readathon Ultimate Story competition.
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Students Samuel Hilson, Bronte Maruff and Liam Radford entered the competition as part of Girton’s grade 6 curriculum and won a $200 Penguin voucher for their efforts.
They had to write the final chapter in a story created by four Penguin children’s authors; Oliver Phommavanh, Davina Bell, Justin D’Ath and Gabrielle Williams.
All students said they loved writing and reading adventure novels. Liam said he wasn’t too keen on entering the competition at first.
“When I started off I didn’t want to do it, but my mum made me,” he said. “I’m glad I did.”
In contrast, Bronte was enthusiastic from the start.
“I really wanted to, I was really excited about it,” she said.
Samuel, who cited John Flanagan as his favourite author, said he found writing the chapter easy once he had his initial idea.
Grade 6 teacher Tabitha Peter said she was “immensely proud” of the students.
“All of it comes down to them and what they put into it,” she said.
“They all worked really hard.”
Ms Peter said the competition was an important part of the grade 6 curriculum.
“It’s a whole literacy experience,” she said. “The kids get to study characters and see how the plot develops and how authors can write things from different people’s perspectives.”
Snippets from the students' Ultimate Story submissions:
Samuel Hilson: The Power of The Imagination.
Marlena was wondering what to do, sitting on the couch like a stuck pig, when she saw it. A USB socket in the back of the raccoon. The raccoon was really a computer with the mother virus inserted in it. She knew what she had to do. It was a crazy idea. It was an idea so nuts, so out of this world, that it might just work!! She would have to go back in time and stop the Triumvirate of Evil plus one from injecting the raccoon with the mother virus and it would kill the mother virus instantly. “If only I could go back in time” Marlena thought to herself. Then she saw it. She couldn’t believe it. “Getcha 3000 time machine. Make yesterday today.” Marlena rushed over to the time machine and typed in the date a week earlier and pressed “GO”. BAAM!!
Liam Radford: The Antidote:
Finally, after worriedly hassling the Extremely Disorganised Triage nurse that her daughter was about to die, she got to see a surprisingly organised doctor. However, he was confused by the mute frozen fading nerdy girl that he had to call in a team of Ologists. There were cardiologists (she was an alarming blue colour,) rheumatologists (her limbs wouldn’t move), physiologists, (maybe it was an acute stress reaction), speech pathologists, (she was still mute), oncologists, (maybe it’s a rare type of cancer), and radiologists, (she had to be x-rayed), not to mention the head of nuclear medicine (endless scans and full body MRI), the chief paediatrician (she was still a girl) and an Ologyologist (she could have been a nurse!) the result - they were all perplexed and she was continuing to fade. The conclusions - call in the priest and bring in the family.
Bronte Maruff- The Power of Imagination:
A distant but deafening noise, that sounded plenty like a swarm of bees, loomed upon Marlena and the room. This was as unmethodical as the rest of the bizarre goings-on today. Had Marlena glanced up at that very moment, she would have had an experience that would astound the world. Marlena unfortunately chose that moment to bend over and fasten her shoelace. Above her, a cascade of colours produced a ball, not liquid, nor gas, and danced in the temperate reception atmosphere.
![Bookworms: Girton Grammar year 6 students Samuel Hilson, Bronte Maruff and Liam Radford have placed in the top 20 of entrants in The Sunday Age MS Readathon Ultimate Story competition. Picture: Brendan McCarthy Bookworms: Girton Grammar year 6 students Samuel Hilson, Bronte Maruff and Liam Radford have placed in the top 20 of entrants in The Sunday Age MS Readathon Ultimate Story competition. Picture: Brendan McCarthy](/images/transform/v1/resize/frm/storypad-QHeEGweNnSiKHGS2UyF8yp/e2b663ba-45c1-4ba8-899f-bd6e0fb70565.JPG/w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)