WINNER:

Maria Isabella Silvanessa by Hunter Ridgway

A young, impoverished, homeless, brutalized, Latina woman rises, in the span of less than one year, from being the most insignificant and forsaken soul on the planet to being, at least for a brief shining moment, the most important person in the world.

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Second Place:

Take a Sad Song (and Make it Better) by John McCarthy

In the 1960s, a sexually abused altar boy manages to find his way to recovery...with a little help from his friends.

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Third Place:

This Little Light of Mine by Susan Boger

​Tessa is a claustrophobic young black woman married to Jerry, a white man, and mother of four-year-old Matty. She invites her older brother Trevor and his partner Dave for a backyard cookout. Trevor tells the ghost story of Esther, a runaway enslaved woman, searching for her daughters, Heddy and Willow, hidden in a cave. While Trevor tells the story, Matty wanders off and becomes trapped in the same cave that Heddy's and Willow's spirits wait for Esther. The search for Matty leads Tessa, Jerry, Trevor, and Dave to the cave. It's up to Tessa to overcome her fear of the cave and enter it to rescue Matty. She does but has a severe panic attack. Torn between wanting to flee the cave and her love for Matty she freezes. Esther's spirit speaks to Tessa and reminds Tessa that she is a descendant of her great-great grandmother who escaped slavery and worked on the Underground Railroad. Tessa conquers her fear, rescues Matty, reunites Heddy's and Willow's spirits with Esther's spirit, and frees their souls.