By Journal Staff

MARQUETTE — The Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association is extremely pleased to announce the winners of the Sixth Annual Dandelion Cottage Award.

The award recognizes U.P. student short story writers of excellence in grades 5 through 12. The Dandelion Cottage Award is funded entirely by charitable donations and no fees have ever been charged to entrants or winners. Students submit stories in consultation with their teachers.

This year’s contest added second- and third-place winners to the junior division, which formerly chose only single winners.

The contest is chaired by Larry Buege of Marquette, an UPPAA Board member and author of the popular “Chogan” series.

In the senior division for grades 9 through 12, first place was awarded to Jaclyn Jukkala, a freshman at Houghton High School, for her story “The Window” whose sponsor was teacher Jessica Klein) The award includes a medallion, the winner’s name on a traveling school trophy and a $250 cash prize.

Second place went to to Lilli Gast, a freshman at Houghton High School, for her story “Azalea Tea and Other Poisons” accompanied by a medallion and $100 prize. A medallion and prize money of $50 will go to third-place winner Miah Billie, a sophomore who is home schooled in Ironwood for her story “Shadows of the Mind” (sponsor Elizabeth Billie).

In the junior division, for writers in grades 5 through 8, eighth-grader Halle Wakkuri in the Delta County Christian Home Educators Co-op, won first place for her story “The Karate Club,” which confers a $150 prize. Her sponsor was Lena Quinlan.

Eighth-grader Serah Oommen of Houghton Middle School (sponsor Jessica Klein) won second place for her story “Overcoming Hardships in Life,” which includes a $75 prize. Betty Harriman, a sixth-grader at Bothwell Middle School in Marquette took third place for her story “Mushrooms,” which carries a $25 prize. Her sponsor was Adam Dompierre.

This year’s 37 participants came from 16 U.P. schools from Ironwood to Escanaba and from Houghton to Marquette.

For more information about the annual Dandelion Cottage short story contest, visit www.DandelionCottage.org.

Each of the honored stories will appear in the upcoming seventh volume of the U.P. Reader, UPPAA’s annual literary anthology featuring short stories, poetry and essays by its members. This publication spreads the word about the organization, raises money for educational programming, and encourages people in the Upper Peninsula and beyond to read U.P. writers. Complimentary copies of the U.P. Reader are available to all U.P. educators and media for the asking.

The on-sale date is April 15. Consult your local bookseller for availability or purchase at Amazon. For more information, visit www.UPReader.org.

The awards are tentatively scheduled to be distributed at the 25th Annual UPPAA Conference at the Peter White Library in Marquette on June 10. In the event of a public health issue, the awards, including cash prizes, medallions and complimentary copies of U.P. Reader, will be distributed through private meetings throughout the U.P.