Sec. of State: Three students named 2017 Letters About Literature champions

April 10, 2017 · News Release
https://www.sos.wa.gov/office/news-releases.aspx#/news/1232

OLYMPIA…Students from Olympia, Amboy and Sammamish have won the 2017 Letters About Literature contest.
Sponsored by the Washington State Library and the Library of Congress, the competition encourages students to write letters to authors (living or not) of books that made an impact on them. Chosen from nearly 3,000 entries statewide, here are this year’s winners:
Mia Widrow, a fourth-grader at Lincoln Options Elementary School in Olympia, is the Level 1 (grades 4-6) champion. Widrow wrote her letter to Laura Ingalls Wilder about her book Little House on the Prairie. Here is part of Widrow’s letter:
Before reading your book, I did not think very much about how Native Americans were treated back then, or even now. Now I think that the way they are treated now is still a bit like in your time. My school had an assembly when Billy Frank Jr. died a few years ago. I learned that he was a Nisqually Indian who got arrested over fifty times just for fishing salmon, even though the treaty gave him the right to fish in his land.
Annabelle Melton, an eighth-grader at Amboy Middle School in Amboy, is the Level 2 (grades 7-8) champion. Melton wrote her letter to John Green about his book Looking for Alaska. From her letter:
What is life? This is a question that many spend their entire career slaving over, never truly finding the answer. Scientists know what we're made of, they know the chemicals and components in our bodies and in our brains, and they think they can give us the answer in a mathematical equation. But no, they're all wrong.
Julia Wang, a ninth-grader from Sammamish, is the Level 3 champion (grades 9-12). Wang penned her letter to Rudolfo Anaya about his book Bless Me, Ultima. An excerpt tells how a character in the book reminds Wang of her own mother:
When Antonio's mother begs Antonio's three brothers to stay, I see my mother in her. I see the mother who stayed by my bed when I had severe asthma. I see the mother who drove for hours searching for her daughter who had ran away from her. I see the mother who silently cried when her daughter left, shameful for showing her emotions. Your book has taught me to appreciate the love of a mother and to never forget a mother's advice and support.
“I congratulate Mia, Annabelle and Julia on being named state champions this year!” Secretary of State Kim Wyman said. “Their letters are truly outstanding and moving. I love Letters About Literature because it focuses on both reading and writing, and it produces so many thoughtful entries. Thanks to all of the students who entered. Their parents should be proud.”
State Librarian Cindy Aden will recognize the state champions, three second-place runners up and 25 honorable mention letter writers during an awards ceremony in the Columbia Room (first floor of the Legislative Building on the Capitol Campus in Olympia) on May 12 at 1:30 p.m.
“I’m very impressed with the quality of writing that so many students showed in this contest,” Aden said. “I really look forward to meeting the students we’re honoring and hearing Mia, Annabelle and Julia read their letters aloud during the ceremony.”
The Washington State Library is a division of the Office of Secretary of State.
Nearly 3,000 Washington students submitted letters for this year’s contest. More than 2,900 letters advanced to the second round of judging and 82 semifinalists overall reached the third round. From the 82 semifinalist letters, judges selected three champions, three second place runners up, and 25 honorable mentions. The semifinalists not invited to the awards ceremony will receive an award certificate in the mail.
Seventy-one schools from around the state had entries. The contest ran from September to January. The three state champions' letters have been sent to the Library of Congress for the national competition. Winners will be announced in early May.
The Washington State Library and the Office of Secretary of State sponsored the competition as part of Washington Reads, which highlights books about Washington or the Pacific Northwest. This annual writing contest for young readers has been made possible by a generous grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and by gifts to the Library of Congress Fund and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, which promotes the contest through its affiliate Centers for the Book, state libraries and other organizations.
This is the 12th year that the State Library has run the contest in Washington.
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