MBHS students win publishing contest

Mountain Brook High School students placed second and third in Books-A-Million’s first annual Publishing Contest. As a result, their books will be published through BAM! Publishing Masterpiece publishing package and sold at the Brookwood Village store and online through the Books-A-Million website. 

Jennifer Lauriello, a junior taught by English teacher Peter Perez, won second place with her novel Eliza, a mystery that follows the character Charlotte Jennings, whose sister disappears one night during an intense thunderstorm. Lauriello wrote the novel during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November. 

“I’ve been interested in writing since I was in elementary school,” Laureillo said, “but I followed through with this story because my friend, William Scott, suggested I participate in NaNoWriMo.” 

The Muse literary staff won third place with a collection of their work edited by senior Cat Schultz and junior Adelaide Kimberly. Their book includes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, photography and art created by the literary staff. 

“I was dreadfully happy when I got the news,” Schultz said. “I’m so proud of my Muslings!” 

While the Muse literary staff publishes an annual collection of school-wide writing and art, only the staff is represented in this collection. 

“The March deadline prevented us from soliciting school-wide material, but our online magazine is just about to go live on scribd.com,” Schultz said. “It includes over 100 pages of the best writing and art from our school.”

Joyce McKinnon, Espresso Book Machine Coordinator for Books-A-Million spoke highly of the winners. 

“The second and third place books were immensely enjoyable to read,” she said. “There is definitely some real literary talent at Mountain Brook High School.”

The high school plans to work with Books-A-Million to hold book signings and readings for the new publications.