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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#29: Bildungsroman

Often, the stories we read in our youth end up sticking with us well beyond adolescence. We vividly remember our first encounter with imaginative Anne Shirley, the nail-biting rumble between the greasers and Socs in The Outsiders, the fierce camaraderie shared by the Harry, Ron, and Hermione trio, among many other memorable moments from the young adult books we read in our formative years.

This week, all five prompts feature popular elements that are frequently at play in coming-of-age novels. While you are certainly free to write a short young adult story, you can also choose to incorporate these prompts into any other type of fiction.

If you want to revisit some classic YA fiction to get your creative wheels spinning, check out our freshly published list of some of our favorite young adult books!

This week's prompts

Write a story about someone dealing with family conflict.

Nonfiction – 82 stories

Write a story about someone discovering something new about themselves.

Nonfiction – 52 stories

Write a story about two best friends.

Teens – 73 stories

Write a story about someone falling in love for the first time.

Romance – 80 stories

Write a story about a character struggling to decide how to handle a problem that is morally gray.

Short Story – 41 stories

Stories

“Past Reality” by Simran Koul

Submitted to Contest #29

Here comes another day at college, and since the past year I haven’t felt that tomorrow is going to be a “new day, new opportunity”. So I do what I do on regular days, brush my teeth, take a shower, and put on the first pair of blue jeans I find in my closet with a red hoodie. I take a quick look in the mirror and fix my hair and rub a little concealer beneath my eyes to cover up dark circles. I usually don’t get those except the times I have nightmares or disturbing dreams. I rush to my mess and grab the first two bread slices I see on the ...

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“At Sixteen” by Valerie Kaufman

Submitted to Contest #29

He was six-foot-tall and broad-shouldered, but I was blind to his charms. His doeful brown eyes stared dreamily at me in class behind studious-looking glasses, but his oversized nose seemed to push me away. The fact that he liked me made him foolish, since I wasn’t worthy of anybody’s attention. But he was smart in school, and well-mannered, so I told him yes, I’d go with him to see the musical playing that weekend at the open-air theatre of a nearby beach park. I had dre...

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“The Patience of a Friend” by Rebecca P

Submitted to Contest #29

Julie stood in the doorway with her jaw practically dropped to her knees. Stunned, she deliberated between succumbing to the wave of hysterical laughter caught in her chest or simply turning round and leaving so as not to be caught up in this next chapter of lunacy.Meredith had well and truly lost the plot, she thought.“What have you… I mean… why…?” Julie sputtered.Meredith stared back at her, a vacant expression washed over her face. Julie couldn’t tell if she’d upset, enraged, or in fact provoked any reaction in her. As a matter of fact,...

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“How I learned to stop worrying and embrace lying” by Vince Seese

Submitted to Contest #29

As I try to live a good life in my adult years, I often think back to the day I learned the lesson of a morally correct lie from my father. I’m certain it was not the lesson he wanted to teach me at that time, but in my impressionable youth, that's exactly what he did.I grew up in the old days as a good Catholic. This was before all the scandal, before saying you were Catholic immediately drew titters and questions about “were you an altar boy?”. Yes, in fact, I was an altar boy. And no, the vaguest hint of abuse was neve...

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“Icarus” by Chris Dante

Submitted to Contest #29

All I wanted was a chance to make sense of everything. To have a normal high school experience, like everyone else. Graduate and leave, like everyone else. But you ruined it. You decided to be different. You inspired me to be different. You ruined my chance to be normal, and now I’m peddling 20 miles per hour in the pouring rain, just to keep you around. This is like those indie movies you love, and you just had to thrust me in the middle of one. God, my head is spinning. Ike, please be okay so I can kill you.When we first met, you didn’t ha...

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“Three Inches” by Helana Mulder

Submitted to Contest #29

The kilt was to be three inches above the knee. No more. No less. That was the rule and every girl at Heaven’s Christian Secondary School knew that if they broke it, it meant trouble. It applied to high school girls only; but rumours of this strict high school rule had wandered down to the elementary grades, so Sarah Beemer had known about it for some time now. It was intimidating to say the least; something so minuscule gaining so much attention. No one really knew why this rule was the one that all the teachers cared about, but sometimes t...

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“Discovery” by Lisa Massimilla

Submitted to Contest #29

David ran a hand through his hair and shifted in his chair. Taking a deep breath, he focused on the computer screen before him and read “The government is now considering a bill to limit drone use-”The sound of the apartment door opening followed by Jason declaring, rather loudly, how much he hated college, shattered what little concentration he had left. Leaning back in his chair, David turned to see his disgruntled roommate enter the living room.“Bad day?”“The worst,” he paused, looking at him in disbelief. “It's Friday night and you're do...

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“And So, We Feel Alive” by Noni Kuhner

Submitted to Contest #29

I knocked gently on the huge wooden door. It didn’t matter; the air still shook with loud booms every time my knuckles tapped against it, as if I had pounded upon it with giant fists, but I was used to it now.No answer.I tried again, and again three deep, loud sounds echoed from within, but still there were no coming footsteps, and the door didn’t open.“Dee?” I called, “Are you home?” I tried the handle and found it opened easily. Out, but expecting me, then. That would do.I pushed the door open with my shoulder as I backed into his home. As...

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“In Eva's World” by Zosia Appleton

Submitted to Contest #29

Pink hair, white shirt, gold buttons, brown skirt. Pink cheeks, white teeth, gold face paint, brown eyes. Eva holds the World in her hands. She’s still elated from the end of summer fair and her hair is knotted at the back of her head where she can’t see it, tangled from one too many rides. She stands in front of the mirror and pretends it is a camera. I watch her, but I am not the only one. To her, we are alone. Her truth, I remind myself, is what’s most important here. Her bed is softer than mine under my hand, her duvets are lined w...

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“A Tale of Two Friends” by Bruno Lowagie

Submitted to Contest #29

He was the best of friends. He was the worst of friends. He was my richest friend. He was my poorest friend. We had good days. We had bad days. We said we would remain friends forever. We knew we would become each other's biggest rival. In short: our relationship as friends was one of love and hate.“Aren’t all relationships?” he once asked me.I know there are other, better relationships, but knowing him the way I know him, I fear he might never find someone to have such a relationship with. As a c...

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“(Ex) Best Friends” by Sophia Nelson

Submitted to Contest #29

My best friend and I have known each other since kindergarten. We instantly clicked, forming an unbreakable bond. We had amazing sleepovers, went to each other's parties, joined clubs and sports together, hung out in all of our shared classes during school. We're in fourth grade now. Before, we had the same teachers every year. But now, we are in different classes. We are different people. Well, everything is different. Bree, my best friend, has made new friends. Cool, popular friends. They are brave, pretty, and kind girls. Exc...

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“Best Friends” by Jo Mulraney

Submitted to Contest #29

Layla sat at the back screen door looking in. We'd been through the ritual of sliding the door open, closed, and open again, all the while her green eyes on me - a silent exchange. "Come sit outside," those eyes said, "Let's sit on the grass together. You can pat me and call me pretty girl.""I'm sitting inside," I say, "Are you in or out?"She settles on the mat and I slide the door closed once again. Her wide eyes stay on me, then narrow with consent as I sit back down at the table not more than six feet from her and in plain sight through t...

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“BFF Vampbunnies” by Emilie Conroy

Submitted to Contest #29

Have you ever gone shopping for a corset? Not long after Violet and I had started poking around in the real and for true vampire community, we received an invitation to a vampire ball from a fellow called BlackSwamp. I wish you could have seen nighttime in Orlando in the 1990's after the theme parks had closed. “A Midsummer Night’s Scream” proposed the most diverse, splendid, and confusing dress code I’d ever seen. “Let the flowers of the night be in full bloom,” the invitation said. “Let Elizabe...

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“Lost Love ” by Erynne Eoff

Submitted to Contest #29

It was two years ago that I lost my best friend, my lover, my soulmate. I’m ready to talk about it; I think. It started my freshman year when I was fifteen. I wasn’t very outgoing, which made it hard to make friends so I went online. A lot of them turned out to be fakes or just plain creepers; but out of them I met Joshua. He was sixteen and an introvert like me we just clicked. It sounds like some dumb teen movie but that’s what happened we instantly understood each other. We talked for hours a night about games, music, art, school, and the...

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“Lemonade Stand” by Lauren Jones

Submitted to Contest #29

I woke up to the sun streaming through my bright blue butterfly curtains. After I remembered what day it was, I jumped out of bed so fast I was lightheaded. Today was a very important day, it was the first day of summer! Fifth graded was officially over and I was free for three amazing months. I quickly threw on my official summer clothes, purple shorts, and my watermelon shirt. I also tied my ty-dye bandana around my forehead. I grabbed an apple from the counter as I was running out the door. “Be back for dinner Jamie!” my mom yelled ...

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$50

Prize money

328

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 21, 2020 EST

Won by Megan Dang 🏆

Title: Time Bomb

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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