You Will Not Remember by Claire Bisch
2025 winner: Grades 7 to 9 category
You Will Not Remember by Claire Bisch is the winner of the 2025 First Page student writing challenge in the Grades 7 to 9 category.
Students across Canada wrote the first page of a novel set 150 years in the future, imagining how a current-day trend or issue has played out. About 1,000 students submitted their stories.
The shortlist was selected by a team of expert CBC readers. The winners were selected by YA writer S.K. Ali.
Bisch, 14, a student at Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School in Waterloo, Ont., writes about climate change and government corruption.
"Will it be painful?"
"You will not remember," I reply calmly, in the monotone voice I've learned to master.
The small pale woman in the medical recliner struggles in the handcuffs, breathing in small gasps. She looks helpless, trembling like a frightened child.
Guilt tugs at me as the laser lines up with her forehead. She is a spy from the Northern colonies, I remind myself. She screams. Her panicked eyes meet mine before slowly rolling back into her head.
On the computer next to me, images of the woman's memories download onto the screen. I steal a quick glance before quickly looking away. It is not our place to explore. I begin replacing the incoming memories with new, safer ideas.
The woman's name is now Diane Eaton. Diane's family died in the heat waves and floods of 2165. Updating the rest of her memory file is easy. I insert the standard memories of people running to escape the incoming water, the images blurred and distorted.
While preparing to upload the changes to the database, something catches my eye. Against my better judgment, I glance at Diane's old memories. An abandoned city appears before me, small plants blooming everywhere. Confused, I pause the program and zoom in. The monitor indicates the memory is from this year, 2175. But that's impossible – plants can no longer grow outdoors.
A small gasp startles me. I slam my computer shut and glance up at Diane who is now conscious and staring at me. I grasp my hands to stop them from shaking before standing up and removing Diane's handcuffs.
'Welcome back, Diane," my voice trembles. I continue with the speech I've recited hundreds of times before.
"It is good to see you healthy and well again. Two weeks ago, you collapsed from the virus. This new variant affected you mentally and you became violent." I gesture to the handcuffs before continuing.
"The virus also impacts memories, and you may feel disoriented as your brain adjusts. You have been lucky enough to make a full recovery. Here at MediLab we will monitor you closely for the next few days before you can return to your normal life."
I wait for Diane to fall asleep before looking at her memories of the green city one last time. Then I press the delete button, erasing them forever. I'm uncertain about everything I've ever been told.
About The First Page student writing challenge
CBC Books asked students to give us a glimpse of the great Canadian novel of the year 2175. They wrote the first page of a book set 150 years in the future, with the protagonist facing an issue that's topical today and set the scene for how it's all playing out in a century and a half.
Two winning entries — one from the Grades 7 to 9 category and one from the Grades 10 to 12 category — will be chosen by bestselling YA author S.K. Ali.
Her books include the YA novels Saints and Misfits, Love from A to Z and Love from Mecca to Medina. She has also ventured into children's books with her picture book The Proudest Blue and the middle-grade anthology she co-edited, Once Upon an Eid which won the Middle East Book Honor Award in 2020.
Her latest novel explores a different genre to everything she has done before — dystopian science fiction. In Fledgling: The Keeper's Records of Revolution, the first of a YA duology, two Earths are on the brink of self-destruction.
Winners will receive...
- A one-year subscription to OwlCrate, which sends fresh boxes of books to young readers across Canada on a monthly basis.
- 50 free YA books for their school library
You can read the complete rules and regulations here.
Last year's winners were Toronto's Anya Thadani in the Grades 7 to 9 category for Fixed and Kleefeld, Man's Hayley Peters in the Grades 10 to 12 for Forbidden Realities.
The winner was announced on CBC Books on June 12, 2025.
