Four years after launching Yaldah, a magazine “for Jewish girls, by Jewish girls,” 17-year-old editor and publisher Leah Larson of Sharon is awaiting the results of a $100,000 Wells Fargo contest that could reshape her media future.

Thanks to a 250-word essay written by her mother, Evelyn Krieger, the magazine is one of five finalists in the bank’s “Someday Stories” contest, an honor that already reaped $10,000 for the quarterly publication.

The 48-page Yaldah, which targets 9- to 15-year-olds, printed 1,500 copies of its last edition and has 700 subscribers around the world. A typical full-color issue includes a fiction story, interview, recipe, craft, quiz, a fashion page with modest clothes, a true story, an advice column and features.

“We try not to be preachy,” Larson said. “Girls write about what they want to read about, so that makes it very applicable to girls’ lives.”

Larson’s plans for the cash windfall would include funding the magazine and expanding into publishing high-quality books for Jewish girls. She also would launch an advertising campaign to promote Yaldah to a wider audience.

“It’s been a challenge, on a small budget, just getting the word out to other Jewish girls who might be interested in subscribing or contributing,” she said.

Larson juggles her magazine duties with her school work at Bais Chomesh High School, an all-girls Jewish boarding school in Toronto, where she’s a senior.

“I have very rigid schedule that I make for myself, but so far, it’s been working well,” she said.

The public will decide the winner of the Wells Fargo contest. Votes can be cast at www.wellsfargo.com/somedaystories