AN EXMOUTH schoolgirl has won a place in the prestigious Evans Schools Short Story Competition anthology with her work being published on World Book Day today along with only 21 others nationwide.

AN EXMOUTH schoolgirl has won a place in the prestigious Evans Schools Short Story Competition anthology with her work being published on World Book Day today along with only 21 others nationwide.Bethany Foxon, aged 15, of Exmouth Community College, was selected from more than 2,700 entries from over 500 primary and secondary schools from around the country.Her story, Red, will feature in The Cry of the Wolf and other short stories, a collection of the best secondary school entries to the 2009 Evans Schools' Short Story competition. A series of first lines supplied by leading children's authors were the starting point for the budding young authors to create their own short stories. Bethany used the first line provided by adventure writer Bear Grylls - "As the cry of the wolf echoed over the forest, the fire went out and Beck was left in darkness" - as the starting point for her own story, which puts an original and thrilling twist on a classic fairy tale.The competition was judged by Stewart Ross, one of Britain's most versatile authors for young people.He said: "I find it difficult to believe what I have been reading. Many of these stories by seven to 15-year-olds are vastly better than adult equivalents. "Anyone wanting to know what the young are thinking nowadays, how their minds are working, is urged to read these terrific collections - and stand amazed at their skill, inventiveness, vitality, sensitivity, wit and painful honesty."The Cry of the Wolf and other short stories will be on sale in bookshops around the country for �3.99 from World Book Day, March 5. All profits from the sale of the anthology will be donated to World Book Day.World Book Day, now in its 12th year, is the UK's largest celebration of books and reading.