Choosing contest finalists is SO FLIPPING HARD, you guys! I must have the most brilliant, creative, and artistic readers in the entire YA universe.

ALL entries can be seen here on Pinterest.

And trust me, you want to check them out because there are some AMAZING ones that I wasn’t able to include among the finalists despite being crazy impressed.

In the end, I made my selections based on originality and creativity, relevance to the book, effort, and execution.

Here are your finalists!
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By Samantha.
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By Jackie Chapman
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I recommend looking at Jackie’s pinboard to see the back of the pumpkin (which has “Cinder” carved into it) and the steps of her process.
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By Lily Zheng Gb: “This is my lantern pumpkin. Consider it a real pumpkin made out of paper, painted red to resemble the lunar eclipse, orange bands for pumpkin color’s sake, silver for the dress and Pearl which is also what the dots at the bottom are. Then there is a quote in English and some Chinese characters. Then inside is a red shoe on a cream cloth pillow and then hanging over it is a flower-shaped candle on a “stem” as the handle.”
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I recommend checking out Lily’s Facebook album to see pictures of the shoe and pillow inside the lantern, and pictures of it lit up.
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By Whitney: “I imagined Cinder watching her stepsisters carving pumpkins every year, while she had to clean all the pumpkin guts off the floor (yuck). I could envision her wanting to take part in the festivity but not being permitted to. But knowing Cinder has a bit of a rebellious streak, I thought she would defy her stepmother by making her own pumpkin downstairs in the basement. She would make it by compiling any of the spare parts she wasn’t using…”
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By Kathryn: ” This is a jock’o’lantern version of Iko!!! I made her out of a squash instead of a pumpkin to get that robot-like shape, and I think it turned out pretty cute ~~ Iko was one of my favorite characters in Cinder. Marissa had a very creative take to everything she did, and my all time favorite Iko scene is when she comes in on Cinder wearing a string of Adri’s pearls and lipstick smeared across her face where her lips would be.”

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By Izamar Barrera: “This pumpkin is made out of glass and I decorated it to make it look edgy and punk-ish. The blue glow makes it look futuristic while it also gives it an eerie Halloween vibe. The wheels and the frame on the bottom make it look as if this really is Cinder’s futuristic pumpkin turned “car”-riage and she is going to speed away any second! If you would like to see more- please see these individual pictures on the board.”

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Now it’s your turn to decide the People’s Choice Winner!
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If the form doesn’t show up on your screen, click here.