MeeGenius Announces Winners of Nationwide Author Challenge for Children's Books

NEW YORK, March 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- MeeGenius, Inc, the world's largest virtual store for enhanced children's books, today announced the winners of their nationwide Author Challenge.

Gregory G. Allen, of Nutley New Jersey, has won the MeeGenius Author Challenge People's Choice award for the touching story he wrote for his autistic godson. Allen, the managing director of Bloomfield New Jersey's Westminster Arts Center, beat out over 400 entries from across the country to take home the top prize. Inspired to write a book from the perspective of his autistic godson, Allen's story Chicken Boy: The Amazing Adventures of a Super Hero With Autism, touched readers from every corner of the United States.  As the winner, Allen receives a $1,500 cash prize, a publishing contract with MeeGenius and a digital library of more than 300 titles to be donated to Radcliffe Elementary School in Nutley, New Jersey, the very school that his godson attends.

"MeeGenius is extremely proud of the work that Gregory has done," said Wandy Hoh, CEO and Co-Founder of MeeGenius. "This book speaks not only to parents and children who are familiar with autism, but also to anyone who loves a great kid's book," she continued.

The MeeGenius Author Challenge is a 6-month, multi-round contest that solicits entries from across the country. The People's Choice and Runners Up awards are determined by popular vote. The Editor's Pick is chosen by the MeeGenius editorial panel, which is comprised of MeeGenius senior staff member and industry experts.

Other winners included: Editor's Pick Winner, Bobbi Gale from Houston Texas, the First Runner Up, Tanya Valentine from Lilburn Georgia, the Second Runner Up, Gwendolyn Conover from Baldwin City Kansas and the Third Runner Up, Kelly Ehasz from Upper St Clair Pennsylvania.

"The huge number of great submissions and the high quality of our winners reflects the deep and versatile talent pool of children's books authors that is the MeeGenius community," said Hoh. "This challenge has been hugely successful and we encourage authors to stay tuned for our next contest," she concluded.

The MeeGenius Author Challenge launched in September 2011. The full list of MeeGenius Author Challenge award winners is below and can also be found at: http://meegenius.com/challenge/winners/.

People's Choice Winner: Gregory G. Allen from Nutley New Jersey
Editor's Pick Winner: Bobbi Gale from Houston Texas
First Runner Up: Tanya Valentine from Lilburn Georgia
Second Runner Up: Gwendolyn Conover from Baldwin City Kansas
Third Runner Up: Kelly Ehasz from Upper St Clair Pennsylvania

About MeeGenius

MeeGenius is the world's largest virtual store for enhanced children's books. Available as a website and an application, MeeGenius works across all platforms offering the largest selection of classic children's stories anywhere. All titles are available with enhancements such as read-along word highlighting, audio playback and personalization. Having been downloaded by well over a million parents MeeGenius is the number one app for children's books.

SOURCE MeeGenius