BOOKS

 

Every family—and every girl—has an incredible story to tell. That’s what makes Ann M. Martin’s new Family Tree series so interesting—it follows a family through four generations of love and drama. Do you know your family story?

In the Write Your Roots! contest from GL and Scholastic, we’re giving you the incredible opportunity to trace your roots, then share a story about your ancestors for a chance to win a fun-filled vacation for the whole fam.

Wanna uncover the clues to your history…and make some amazing new memories, too? Read on!

Here’s how to enter our story-writing spectacular…

• Scroll down to check out Family Tree, a new series from Ann M. Martin that follows the story of four generations of girlhoods. Read the excerpt to get inspired to uncover your own history.
• Grab a relative (mom, dad, aunt, grandpa, whoever knows the most family history) then CLICK HERE to find the Family Tree Maker. Step by step, you’ll trace your story from the beginning.
• While you’re digging into your roots, jot down notes and stories as you trace your relatives. Did something crazy happen to your uncle as a kid? Maybe there’s a hilarious tale about how your nan and pop met? Uncover as many clues about the past as you can to get inspiration for your story.
• Write your roots! Put pen to paper (err, fingers to keyboard) and share a special story about your family. Keep it 300 words or fewer and save it as a word-processing document.
• When your story is 100% ready, submit it below by May 31, 2013. Copy and paste your story into the submission box and make sure all the information fields are filled out correctly.
  
• Got questions? Post ‘em in the comments! 

The girl with the most captivating story wins a trip for her family to the TradeWinds Island Resorts on St. Pete Beach including a four-night stay for four, two breakfasts for four, one dinner for four and two $50 TAZ (TradeWinds Action Zone) Passes good for Splash Island Water Park, glow-in-the-dark mini-golf at the resort and more!

Family Tree is a new series from Ann M. Martin (the author of The Baby-sitters Club books—one of our all-time faves!) that explores one family through four generations of girls. In the debut novel, Better to Wish, it’s 1930 and we meet 8-year-old Abby Nichols.

Abby can’t imagine what her future holds. She lives with her quiet mother, her angry father, and her sometimes annoying, sometimes sweet sister, Rose, in a small town in Maine. One of her best friends is a boy named Orrin, whom her father doesn’t want her talking to. She’s known her other best friend, Sarah, forever, and doesn’t think they’ll ever be apart.

But Abby’s world is changing fast. Soon there will be new siblings to take care of, a new house to move into, and new friends to meet. There will also be good-byes to say and hard choices to make.

In this incredible new series, bestselling author Ann M. Martin brings that past and the present together one girlhood at a time, and the result is a remarkable look at four generations in one memorable family.

CLICK HERE to download your free excerpt of Better to Wish by Ann M. Martin. Read it, get inspired…then ready, set, write!

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