I wrote this back in October when the theme was first announced, but I found that I liked it a lot and so made it very long and didn’t submit it for that reason…I’ll submit it now anyways.
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Looking for Hope, fantasy, YA
This story follows Rosalie D’Essen, a fifteen-year-old girl who has just started work with the Sunlighters, a group whose job is to protect the Known World from the encroaching Otherworld. Every year, the Otherworld takes a piece of the Known World for its own, as it will do every year until the end of the hundred-year Age, when the Known World will then start taking back pieces of the Otherworld. The Sunlighters’ job is to identify the Spot that will be taken and clear it of valuable things and people. Right now, Rosalie is just trying to find the Spot; it’s not close to the Taking Month, and so she spends her time inside the Sunlighters’ building looking at maps and working on skills with the other new trainees.
At the same time, Rosalie is dealing with her mother, Rae, who has been severely depressed ever since Rosalie’s elder sister, Hope, vanished during the most recent Taking Month. She was the very best Sunlighter of her cohort, and dashed back into the Spot just before it became part of the Otherworld. While Rosalie has been coping with the loss of Hope by throwing herself into her training, Rae has quit her job as an administrator and is spending her time at home.
As the year progresses, a new mindset unfolds among some people in Rosalie’s city, who call for the Sunlighters to fight the Taking. The Sunlighters, all female, are viewed by the extremists as dispensable if they can’t fight the Otherworld, even though no one can fight a world advancing; when Rosalie’s Sunlighter cohort leader gets into a fight with the leader of the extremists, she decides that her cohort will stay in the Spot so they don’t get in any further trouble.
The last month before the Taking Month is a tense one, viewed by the Sunlighters as their last month alive. The Otherworlders are often portrayed as savages who kill anyone left on the land, but in reality, nobody knows what happens to the Spot. Rae is begging for Rosalie to look for Hope; Rosalie is far too preoccupied to listen.
Thus the stage is set for a story with many twists and turns, which tells us that it is still important to hold on to hope, especially when nothing is as it seems, for then even the very worst possibilities may take a turn towards your favor.

Judging, finally!
Both entries were great, and I would read either of them :]
Second place goes to…Thalorwin, for Rebuilding What’s Lost! The emotion in your summary was so well done, and I love how you included the historical elements :] great job!
First place goes to Moon Wolf for Hope in the Dark! The dystopian society is so intriguing, and I really liked your description. Congrats, you’re the next judge!

Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see Seadragon’s entry! I really wish that book was real so I could read it…am I allowed to have Seadragon tie with Moon Wolf and have both of them judge?

You can judge if you’d like, since I judged before. 🙂

Great job Seadragon and Moon Wolf!! Yours were so good. They both deserved the win!! 🙂

Thank you, Amity! Sorry my entry was so late. Moon Wolf, if you don’t mind, I’ll take you up on your offer to judge. And thanks, Thalorwin, for the compliment. 🙂
The next theme is winter, and I’ll judge on December 13th. Feel free to interpret the theme any way you’d like.

Through the Slush, Dystopian, YA

The windows are forever frosted. The breaths of children smear the condensation on the windows, and snow blankets everything like vanilla frosting.

But not everything is peachy-keen. The snow has been falling since anyone can remeber–the only memories of the seasons are through ancient art and music, tapestries that try to capture the sunlight on the skin, the feeling of being sunburned, and of lying in the sand.

And a girl named Adele is upset, and fed up. All the snow’s fun has worn off, and all she can think about is summer. Adele is determined to bring summer to the world again…but the problem is no one knows how the snow started, let alone how to stop it.

Iced Out Fantasy    Alara is a princess in a far away kingdom called Cathasopia. She’s the princess of this land. Winter is coming, and fast. No one knows when it will be over. Ice is growing on the castle like ivy on a tree. If the ice grows too quick, their kingdom will freeze. 

 Alara works with her best friend, Eliandra to figure out the exact time of the full-freeze. It’s the Winter Solstice. That’s only one month away. They’ll have to travel to a far-away place, called Velthiras, and get to the “turn off switch” before it’s too late. Will they be able to stop the growing ice before the solstice, or will they be too late?

Seasons Unbalanced, Myth Fantasy, MG/YA

Eira, the adopted daughter of an elderly couple, lives a peaceful life in a snowy village in the north. However, her little world changes as the environment around her warms, which although it is welcomed at first, people begin to panic as the lack of snowfall results in a snow drought, disrupting the balance of nature around her. One day, when she decides to journey out to search for the answer to this mystery, she discovers a winter spirit, sent by the goddess of winter, who tells Eira about the truth of herself—that she is the daughter of the winter goddess.

And what’s more, is that her village isn’t the only place unraveling. The blazing warm south is frosting over, the springtime meadows are turning barren, and autumn forests refuse to shed their leaves. She eventually meets Solara, the daughter of summer, Vernis, the son of spring, and Rowan, the child of autumn, who come to realize that the reason why the seasons and nature are unbalanced is because the seasonal deities are in trouble—they have disappeared. Now, Eira must work together with the others to find out what happened to the seasonal deities, in order to bring back the balance of the seasons. But the stakes may be much higher than she initially thought, as tensions rise, secrets are uncovered, prophecies are spoken, and Eira must decide what—or who—to trust, and who she is meant to become.

Because the fate of every season now rests in her hands.

All right, here’s the judging!
Third place–Thalorwin, for Iced Out. I love the premise for Alara and Eliandra’s adventure! I hope that they find a way to save Cathasopia.
Second place–Moon Wolf, for Seasons Unbalanced. The summary is really well-written, and Eira and the others seem like great characters (I love their names).
First place–Cloud Bunny, for Through the Slush. Reading it left me wondering about the origins of the long-lasting winter, and if Adele will succeed in her quest (if so, how?). Congratulations, you’re the next judge!