AUBURN — Annie Hazelton, 13, has been named the winner of the 13th annual Auburn Book Project, a contest in which students write and illustrate their own books.

The winner will be celebrated at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, at the Auburn Public Library, with an author’s tea to follow. The public is welcome.

Hazelton’s book, “Looking Closer,” is a story about a turtle who learns why characters shouldn’t be prejudged, that they might turn out to be a friend, said Carolyn Dupee, an Auburn School Department gifted and talented teacher involved in the book contest.

Hazelton’s main character is a turtle because she likes turtles and enjoys drawing them. Her story also features a crow as the turtle’s opposing character. Hazleton wanted to write a book that offered a lesson in accepting different cultures, Dupee said.

Hazleton is the daughter of Sandra and Sid Hazelton. An Auburn Middle School student, she wrote her book last year as a sixth-grader at Park Avenue Elementary School. She is thinking about a career as an ultrasound nurse.