“Summer is about reading anywhere,” says Texas Connections Academy eighth-grader Maggie Martin. That philosophy – and her ability to illustrate it in a compelling design and slogan – has made Martin the winner of HISD’s contest to create a logo for the 2014 “Read Houston Read” district summer reading program for kindergartners through fifth-graders.

Martin’s design, entitled “Every Summer Has a Story,” will appear on all HISD summer reading program materials, including a special parent toolkit that will be sent home in May to encourage summer reading as a family activity.

The logo depicts popular outdoor summer activities – going to the beach, a picnic, and bright sunshine – to show “reading is part of summer,” according to Martin.

Her work was chosen from nearly 300 entries, according to Liz Philippi, manager of HISD Library Services. “We received lots of entries in a digital format,” Philippi said, “and one of the things that caught our attention with Maggie’s was that it was hand-drawn and that it included so many aspects of summer.”

Martin received a Kindle Fire digital reader as a prize, and Texas Connections Academy will receive $1,000 in electronic books from DLB Educational Corp./Scholastic Books.

Even though Martin, 14, studies online through the Academy, she says she still prefers scanning library shelves, sampling books, and reading them the old-fashioned way – preferably in bed at night. She favors fantasy and sci-fi books. On her summer reading list: Ranger’s Apprentice and Divergent.

Martin hopes to make a career of art, either as an animator or interior designer.