Congratulations to Kayla Trinh of Clarksburg High School and David Ng of Damascus High School, who were awarded first place in the 2013-14 Washington, D.C. Diverse Minds Youth Writing Challenge.

Their winning book, “Cake Kingdom,” embodies the purpose of the challenge: promoting tolerance and communicating a message of equality among all citizens, regardless of race, religion, national origin, gender or sexual orientation. 

The end result was an appetizing story of pastries that put aside differences in order to live in harmony. For their efforts, Trinh and Ng will share a $5,000 college scholarship and become published authors with their first official book signing at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery in downtown D.C.

Here is a gallery from last night’s awards ceremony: