The Young Writers Who Won the 2025 Story Challenge

Inspired by National Reading Month, the contest received hundreds of entries from all corners of the world, including Australia, Canada, Egypt, Hong Kong, Mexico, Peru and Spain. The entries were judged on creativity, originality, organization, and descriptive language. Education.Com wanted to spotlight ten students whose submissions stood out and reminded the judges about why storytelling matters.

• Marco G., Age 7 (Spain) — Captain Lentils 
  • This bold tale follows Captain Lentils, an unexpected hero who courageously takes on aliens and bank robbers to save planet Earth.
• Zechariah F., Age 7 (Illinois) — Samuel the Pea and his Quest for Family
  • Samuel is separated from his pod during the Great Pea War and adopted into a new family. Still, he never gives up hope of reuniting with his parents. This heartwarming tale highlights the power of resilience, love and the unbreakable bond of family.
• Bethany I., Age 9 (Texas) — Clay and the Mysterious Pink Lemonade 
  • One day, Clay is handed a glass of pink lemonade instead of his usual yellow. He’s stunned but learns a powerful lesson: Something can look different and still be just as good.
• Dominic P., Age 9 (Florida) — Homework Monster
  • A splash of magic juice turns one student’s homework into a monster! A wild quest to outwit the creature ensues, blending fantasy and fun in every paragraph.
• Eyas K., Age 9 (Texas) — Life as a Cheetah
  • What if you could trade your physical abilities for the speed and power of the fastest creature on land? Eyas imagines life as a cheetah: darting across the savanna, spotting opportunities from miles away—and never having to eat veggies again.
• Sanvi K., Age 10 (Canada) — The Midnight Whisper
  • Sanvi’s eerie mystery plunges readers into a rain-soaked New York City, where investigator Lina Rains follows a trail of cryptic clues, chilling whispers and ancient secrets. Nothing is as it seems.
• Eliana T., Age 10 (Hong Kong) — Another Imagination
  • Stranded on Xelvi after Earth’s collapse, Sora crosses paths with “C”—a half-human, half-AI companion. Together, they risk everything chasing the legendary Luminescence Crystal, hoping to make an impossible wish a reality.
• Evelyn K., Age 11 (Oregon) — The Stone From the Sky 
  • When Jessie finds a glowing blue orb in her school locker, she’s torn from her body and whisked into a cloud-shrouded realm where she must decide who to trust.
• Hasitha C., Age 12 (Canada) — The Truth Reflected
  • A dusty cheval mirror in Charley’s attic reveals terrifying visions of the future, leading her and her best friend Bella to uncover a hidden family history. Will Charley simply unearth the past or venture to rewrite it?
• Rose G., Age 13 (California) — The Perfect Tutor
  • Struggling in eighth grade after his parents’ divorce, Relic faces failing grades. He is assigned Brielle, a seventh-grade genius, as his tutor. Despite initial skepticism, Relic realizes Brielle’s unconventional approach might be the perfect way to help him finally catch up.

“We’ve been blown away by the creativity and originality of the entries we received,” says Paul Mishkin, CEO of IXL Learning, Education.com’s parent company. “We encourage everyone to take a moment to read these exceptional works and congratulate the writers for their outstanding achievements.”

All winning stories will be featured in Education.Com’s annual Story Challenge anthology, where they will inspire readers of all ages. The winners will also receive a one-year Premium membership to Education.com, an organization that provides a vast library of learning materials for pre-kindergarten to grade eight students, including more than 38,000 interactive games, worksheets and hands-on activities. Parents and teachers can follow its lesson plans or curate their own curricula using grade-specific resources to teach core skills in any topic. Over 33 million parents and teachers worldwide have joined the platform since its debut in 2006. Education.com joined the IXL Learning family of brands in 2019. ◊