The ELA Honor Society is proud to celebrate the winners of this year’s Tableau Vivant Creative Challenge, a competition that invited student members to bring works of literature to life through creativity, collaboration, and visual storytelling. Inspired by the French artistic tradition of the “living picture,” students recreated scenes, characters, and moments from literature through carefully staged performances and photography, demonstrating both artistic vision and deep engagement with literary texts.
The evaluation team was highly impressed by the originality, attention to detail, and interpretive skill displayed in submissions from around the world. From costume and composition to symbolism and emotional impact, each winning tableau reflected the power of literature to move beyond the page and into vivid visual expression.
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
Valia Kontanis, Grace Brenes, and Geovanna Cora
Christa McAuliffe School PS 28, N
To fulfill his father’s final wishes, Joshua Bell, from The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, attends the championship game of his basketball season. Winning this game is a feat which Josh has strived for throughout the novel, but now much more is on the line. As the final whistle blows, Josh makes a critical basket, leading his team to victory. As he releases the ball from his hands, he sees a look of horror on his brother, JB’s face, leading him to realize that an unfortunate event has occurred. Josh sees JB bury his head in his girlfriend Alexis’ shoulder, and he knows what has happened. The twins’ father has been sick for months, and at that moment both brothers understood that he wouldn’t recover after his most recent heart attack. For the twins, their dad was a crucial figure in their lives who provided support, advice, and inspiration. Losing him was like losing their best friend and biggest idol. We chose this pivotal moment because despite the overwhelming sadness that he feels at the realization of his father’s death, Josh plays on to win the game, demonstrating how he has matured over the course of the book.
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Isabelle Miller, Jayla Vazquez, and Kamila Zozzaro
Christa McAuliffe School PS 28, NJ
This scene from Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, where Stargirl sings happy birthday to Hillari Kimble, is our chosen scene. This scene is a pivotal point in Stargirl because it demonstrates how authentic and carefree she is. Throughout the story, Leo sees how unworried Stargirl is, and this is one of the first scenes where it affects him. This moment is a great representation of the theme of conformity versus individuality between the characters. Stargirl deals with social norms by not complying with them at all. She remains a free spirit which impacted most of the story. Although Hillari was rude to Stargirl, she still chose to sing; this shows the readers that she doesn’t let anyone’s judgement control her. Overall, the scene highlights Stargirl’s personality which affected not just her school, but Leo as well.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Avery Joyce and Ramlah Khader
Morgan Road Middle School, NY
In All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, soldiers faced awful and horrible conditions in the First World War trenches. They had to live in extremely muddy, cold areas with minimal protection. There was a constant risk of sniper fire, even if you were in the trenches. The worst danger was in No Man’s Land, where artillery bombardment, bullets, and chaos reigned over troops charging the enemy trench. In this story, Paul, a German soldier, faces many emotional dilemmas and conflicts. In Chapter 9, there is a scene where Paul, taking cover in a crater in No Man’s Land, kills an approaching French soldier to save his own life. After realizing that the man he killed was another human being just like him, Paul breaks down in a crisis of conscience. This scene is recreated in our photo, where the French soldier faces down Paul, with a tree in between symbolizing the rift and disparity between the two men, on opposing sides, in a pivotal and harrowing moment of war uncensored.
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