Book Week Scotland 2024

As part of Book Week Scotland 2024 we ran a competition for local youngsters, giving them a chance to show off their writing skills and boy, did we get some fantastic entries! These stories are centred around this year's theme of hope. Below are our winners, hand picked by Rebecca from Night Owl Books. Congratulations everyone!

Hope for the World by Sophia Skvarnyk - winner of the 7-11 year old category

This story is about the Ukrainian war. It started on the 24th of February 2022. It was Thursday morning and I woke up because my parents told me to get dressed and pack a bag. At that time, I had no idea what was going on and what was about to happen. My mum told me to be quick and pack a bunch of things. I only had five minutes to pack so I quickly got my pens, coloring book and my 3D pen and put them all in a small bag. Me, my sister, my mum and my dad piled into our car and we drove off. We drove for 5 days to a hotel that was far away from bombs. We stayed there for a week and went back into the car. We drove for a week to the border of Romania and Ukraine. My dad couldn't pass the border because there is now a rule in Ukraine that a man can only pass if he has 3 kids or health problems. Fortunately or unfortunately, my dad used to work at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and had health issues as a result. He had to return to the hospital and provide necessary documents to receive approval to cross the border.

On the border of Ukraine and Romania, me, my sister and my mum had to go round asking people if they would drive us to Romania. Eventually we found a woman and her daughter who had two cute little puppies. We drove to Romania where relatives of my mum's colleagues whom we never met before provided a room in their giant house. Their house looked like a mansion. During that time, we stayed in that house for a week while my dad was finalising documents.

One day the doorbell rang and I went to answer the door and my dad was there. I felt very happy to see him again. The next day we took a plane to Portugal where my aunt met us. We spent 2 months in Portugal. Then me, my mum and my sister moved to Scotland; Gullane. And finally I moved to North Berwick, which is where I am right now. I lost my home, my friends, and a happy life I had in Ukraine, but I am grateful to live in a safe place now and hope one day the world becomes a safe place for everyone.

This was a story about war. There are lots of wars right now. This should change fast. Our world is falling apart. I can think of the following wars right now: Ukraine, Gaza, Syria, Sudan, and the Democractic Republic of Congo. The number of wars has been increasing and the global economic impact of violence is trillions of dollars.

We need lots of hope for the world. It really needs it. Because of everything that has been happening - wars, climate change, people dying - it's been a difficult time. But even in the darkest times, hope and kindness can guide us to a better future.

Sofia Skvarnyk, Age 10

Law Primary School (P6A)

 

All for a Pinch of Hope - Ivy Crawford - winner of the 12-15 year old category

I was always the odd one out. I wasn't cool, I was just Kady. I was Kady, with the red hair and green eyes. I was Kady, who could imagine the world. In school, I strove for equality, not popularity, which for some reason really scared people. I didn't get it - why live in a world where righteousness is so heavily frowned upon and not do anything about it? It made zero sense, it was like the way everyone else thought was 'you should be mean, social, and BOOM. That's it. World hunger solved.' But unfortunately, it wasn't. World hunger was a bigger issue than your little gang that beat up small kids apparently. I told this to my class... as you may be able to tell, I didn't exactly have a lot of friends. Friends... they were overrated. That's what I told myself, and what I'd been saying for a long time. I dare you to try to change my mind.

Thing is, I always lost a dare.

Nila Lord spoke to me today, which was fairly unusual, seeing as I'm usually just completely ignored. "Hey Kady! What do you do after school every day, seeing as you OBVIOUSLY have no friends?" I rolled my eyes, calmly telling her to shove off. She laughed but surprisingly obeyed, leaving me standing alone and bemused. It wasn't true. I knew it wasn't. l... I had friends, didn't l? Didn't I? Well... mum says I should make some friends... I... no. Overrated. Right?

After Nila sashayed away, I shook my head, feeling all the fog clear. After the worst of my mental mind-storm blew away, I started to run. I knew where I was going, and where I would be going for a long time after today. My Tree. It's basically just a hollowed-out oak, yet it feels like everything to me. I've been going there for as long as I could remember, but this time, as I neared the park, I sensed that something was wrong. I slowed to a walk, chills creeping up my back, and started to shiver. What was wrong? Nothing seemed different about the park... the same old lady sat at her bench; the two girls that lived across my street played on the worn-out rope swing. Dogs of all breeds nipped at my ankles, enjoying the after-school rush. I wandered about for a bit, before telling myself to quit being so paranoid, and turning the corner onto the little path where My Tree grew.

Sirens.

Flashes of vibrant red.

My Tree.

My Tree.

I knew something was wrong.

I came to a sudden halt, my breath catching, and my eyes stinging. I stared hard at my tree. It was ruined, squared off with red tape and wires. People in official-looking clothes and concerned faces gathered around it, inspecting my tree and scribbling notes down whenever they could. Suddenly, I was panting hard, and my legs ached, and I realized I was running. I closed my eyes, and I slammed myself into the trunk of My Tree, vaguely feeling something snap under my foot and the jagged bark slicing up my face and arms, but I couldn't focus. I felt arms prise me away, and I writhed out of their grip, opening my eyes. A horrible mess stood before me, a mess consisting of crackling wires and broken police tape surrounding My Tree. I stared, bemused and scared, then realised something. "Did- did I do that?!" a kindly-looking policewoman nodded. "Yes dear, but we can easily fix that, don't you worry! First, we need to get you all cleaned up!" I blinked. Cleaned up... ? I looked down at my hands, and gasped as I realised they were covered in blood. My blood apparently. Finally, I managed to stutter the words 'l... um...' I didn't want this strange lady to have my tree. I didn't want anyone to have my tree. It's mine after all. I shook my head, clearing the bad thoughts away, and began to run down the way I had come. When I glanced back, for just one more look at My Tree, I vaguely saw a small, blotchy red face within the crowds. I pulled my eyes away and ran.

When I got home, I could barely contain my tears. I found myself blurting the truth out to my parents, who shared concerned glances. They knew how much my tree had helped. As soon as I had told them, Mam pulled a newspaper from under the table, flicking to a slightly thumbed page and showing it to me. In large letters were the words 'INFECTED TREE, KEEP YOUR KIDS AWAY!' I felt tears begin to swell in the corners of my eyes, the word 'INFECTED' flashing, engraved on my eyelids. Every day, I visited my tree, wishing it was back to normal, that it was all a misunderstanding. But as the days passed by, it seemed as though the red tape was there to stay. I couldn't stop thinking about that person with the blotchy face... but eventually, the stress of school got to me, and I forgot all about them. But then, one day in English class, something my teacher said caught my mind. We were learning about a book, in which a boy realised his favourite building was going to be destroyed by some rather nasty men, in black suits. We were supposed to have read it but I couldn't be bothered... I was fiddling with my pencil, and Mx Ramona suddenly burst out "So do you know what this boy did, what he became??" she said it like she knew that someone was writing her life story, and like she knew that sentence deserved two question marks. A boy in my class, Marcus, yelled "Did he become Skibidi Mx??" the entire class erupted with laughter, like a rather cruel volcano.

I stared down at my blank jotter, becoming more agitated by the minute. "No. No Marcus, he did not become Skibidi. No, in fact, the little boy became a hero, a saviour. He petitioned, he cheered, he begged for the building to be saved and did anything he could to help the process along. In fact, at one point, the little boy STRAPPED HIMSELF TO THE BUILDING to stop it being demolished" Marcus sniggered. "Demolished like our future? I mean, with you as our teacher, I'm sure we don't even have a future...!" An outbreak of cold-hearted giggles once again. Their laughter... it reminded me of a plague. Infectious, deadly. I just want to leave. When the bell finally rings, I rush to my tree, rolling the words my teacher said over in my head. 'Became a saviour. Begged for his home to be saved. STRAPPED HIMSELF TO THE BUILDING' I realised what I needed to do.

I ran home, grabbing a piece of paper and my set of pens I got for Christmas. I had no idea how a petition worked, but I reckoned it involved paper. I decided to create a poster, asking for My Tree to be saved. I rushed upstairs, sank into my bed, and drew. I sketched and I shaded, scribbling and writing. I hoped like anything this would work. While I was midway through my colouring, Hera burst into my room. Hera is my meddling older sister... I generally don't like her too much. "Watcha doin' Shady?" she calls me Shady because when I was younger, she dressed me up like a creepy old man and said to everyone that I knew where they lived. My first word was literally 'stalk' for goodness' sake. I sighed. "I'm making a poster, to save my tree!" Hera rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Why won't you forget about the tree, it's been nearly a month." I'm getting annoyed. Why can't she understand? This is my tree. I can't let it go. I decide to ignore her and go back to my colouring. Hera giggled, but her face had softened. "I'll help you, idiot! I bet I can do a poll on my Instagram... yeah! I'll put a poll up, help you spread the word!" I stared. I couldn't believe she was volunteering to help! Maybe, just maybe, she cared after all.

The posters were everywhere, and word was certainly spreading, and spreading fast. I checked up on my tree every day, and Hera is doing all she can to alert the online world. She came with me once, after a hard day at school. "Who's she?" I turned around, scanning the park for whatever Hera was pointing at. My eyes landed on a girl, about my age, with large purple bags under her eyes, and a wishful expression. I shrugged "How should I know?" Hera narrowed her eyes and started to walk purposefully towards her. "I've noticed her at the tree before, when I'm taking my morning run. Been here every day, ever since the tree got classed infected. I was wondering if you knew her?" she said, glancing at me with a look that said, "you got lost in your thoughts and completely ignored everyone, didn't you?" I blushed and shook my head. "Kady!" she looked at me disapprovingly. When we got to the girl, she looked alarmed. She stared at her shoes for a while, before peeking up at me. Her expression immediately altered, and she suddenly hugged me. I stood there rather awkward until she pulled away, bright red. "I- I'm sorry, it's just... you're helping the tree, and l... the tree is my... it's my home." I gasped. She felt the same way? "You could help... if you like? What's your name?" I blurt it out before I can stop myself. In that moment, the girl looked as if she would explode. The happiness in her eyes, it made everything feel all right. "My name is Hope" In that moment, I knew we could do this.

Weeks later, after struggling through anger and tears, midnight panic attacks, and horrible, horrible people, a letter arrived. It looked official, and I was almost terrified to open it. It was addressed to me... but that somehow made it scarier. I called Hera downstairs, and facetimed Hope immediately. She lived on the other side of town, and I couldn't wait. We'd been in touch with the council, we had sent them letter after letter, petition after petition (once Hera had explained what they were to me), and no answer, until today. I gulped, peeling off the red stamp and reading the letter

Dear Kady, Hera and Hope

We heard of your work in attempting to save the tree of yours, and immediately began to consider the idea. We were of course going to remove the treefrom the park, and replace it with a block of flats, but when we heard how much people loved this tree of yours, we became rather tempted to call off the idea. We spoke with our Highers, and you will be glad to hear your request has been granted!

We wish you good luck, and well health.

Jonathan Cooper

I couldn't believe it. I slumped into my chair, while the others screamed and laughed. We did it. We made a Difference. We won. I did this, I saved something dear to me, but I had still stumbled on the way, I'd fallen over, creating scars that cut deep. Some wounds were still bleeding.

All this for a pinch of hope?

No.

All this, for a world of hope.

Ivy Crawford