A young Mercer Island writer’s tiny memoir has garnered massive success.

Paloma “Lola” Melian Lafinur finds it surreal that her 100-word meaningful story — “Mi Nombre” — has reached so many people after it received acclaim in a national contest.

When the 14-year-old Islander Middle School eighth-grader learned from two of her classmates that she notched an honorable mention award in the third annual New York Times Tiny Memoir Contest, she was surprised and excited that her mini narrative had made such an impact with the judges.

“It really means a lot to me because I really love writing and I have since I was little. So just to imagine all the people who read it is just so insane, but really cool at the same time,” she said.

Lola penned the piece last November in her language arts class, and her teacher Whitney Swope and fellow instructors Taylor Gall and Joseph Gushanas encouraged the scribe to submit “Mi Nombre” into the contest the following month. The Times received more than 12,000 submissions from students around the world and announced 20 winners, 28 runners-up and 72 honorable mentions.

“Mi Nombre” touches upon Lola delving into her Latino family heritage while reliving a moment from her sixth-grade year on Mercer Island and expanding on a conversation she had with another student.

After telling the girl that she’s Latino, Lola said: “She gave me this very incredulous look, and she was very surprised. And she was like, ‘Oh, but you don’t look Latino.’ And for me, that was very strange, because I grew up in Seattle, and for six years I went to an international bilingual school. So for six years, I was around a lot of people from a lot of different places, and nobody ever questioned where you were from.”

During the piece, Lola said she explores the fear that she and others have of possibly losing their heritage and connection to one or both of their parents’ country of origin. Her father, Rafael, is from Argentina and her mother, Krista, hails from the United States.

“I realized that, yes, you may not go back as often, you may forget some of the language, but you are who you are, and you’re never going to lose that. And for some people, you’re always going to carry things from your past and from your family’s past. For me, it’s my name,” she said.

Lola feels that she encompassed the feeling she was trying to convey through that particular experience and is grateful that Swope pushed her to submit the memoir. Lola added that her parents have always encouraged her to be artistic and creative and she wants to continue along the storytelling path.

Krista said that Lola has provided inspiration to others through her writing.

“It’s been a passion of hers. It’s just incredible how articulate she’s been with her own feelings for a really long time, and then just really empathetic and interested in other people,” added the proud mother.

Added Swope: “I’m so proud that The New York Times recognized what I’ve seen in the classroom: Lola has a gift for personal, beautifully crafted storytelling. I tell my students that their voices are powerful, and the world needs their stories. I can’t wait to see where Lola’s stories will take her. She promised to send me a copy when she publishes her first novel, and I can’t wait to read it.”

Here’s Lola’s tiny memoir:

“Mi Nombre”

“You don’t look Latino,” she says, head cocked to one side. Only four words, but my heart aches; a bruise rather than a vital organ. I worry that someday, the Spanish I spoke so confidently will be nothing but incoherent sounds. Broken, jagged; like rocks tumbling from a cliff. If I don’t have the language, it won’t be enough. Convincing ignorance like hers, won’t be enough. I won’t be enough.

“I know,” I reply.

My words betray me. However, there is one thing that I can always pronounce, always claim.

It means hope, creativity, family.

Paloma Melian Lafinur.

My name.