RALEIGH — North Carolina students are talking back to authors. As participants in the 2008 “Letters About Literature” contest, 1,483 middle and high school students communicated with an author about how reading the writer’s book has made a significant difference in the student’s life. In an age of iPods and wii, these students find that reading and books still matter.
“Letters About Literature,” a project of The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, in partnership with Target Stores and in cooperation the North Carolina Center for the Book, and other state centers, has selected its 2008 national winners chosen from this year’s 59,000 entries. Information on winners will be posted in mid-May here.
“Every year we receive amazing letters from students about books that expand their understanding of their lives and the lives of others, and challenge them to view the world in another way,” says Center for the Book director Frannie Ashburn. Jim Rosinia, former youth services consultant for the State Library of North Carolina, selected this year’s winners and observes, “It gave me an opportunity to read thoughtful, heartfelt, and well-written testimonies to the ability of literature to alter a reader’s perspective, to inspire, to inform, to reassure, and to change lives.”
In each level the North Carolina Center for the Book awards a $75 cash prize to the state winner and $50 to each of the four honorable mention recipients. The three winners also receive a $50 Target GiftCard. The first prize winners are: Level I, Amber Parker, grade 4, Antioch Elementary School, Matthews; Level II, Leah Howard, grade 8, Exploris Middle School, Raleigh; Level III, Richard Deans, grade 11, Rocky Mount High School, Rocky Mount.
The North Carolina Center for the Book, a program of the State Library of North Carolina, Department of Cultural Resources, has sponsored “Letters About Literature” in the state since 1995. State honorable mention recipients are listed below.
Entries are submitted to the national contest office where semi-finalist letters are selected and sent on to the states for further judging. From the 1,483 North Carolina entries, the national project office selected 124 semi-finalist letters to be judged by the North Carolina Center for the Book. Five finalists were then selected from each of the three competition levels: Level I for grades 4-6, Level II for grades 7-8, and Level III for grades 9-12. A winner was selected for each level, and the three winning letters were sent to the national office for final judging and the selection of national winners.
North Carolina’s HONORABLE MENTION RECIPIENTS
Level I (grades 4-6)
Kavirath Jain, grade 6, Metrolina Regional Scholars’ Academy, Charlotte
Brooke Phillips, grade 5, Woodlawn School, Davidson
Elise Weatherly, grade 6, Burlington Day School, Burlington
Diamond King, grade 4, Kingswood Elementary School, Cary
Level II (grades 7-8)
Claire Bennett, grade 8, Exploris Middle School, Raleigh
Morgan Blythe, grade 8, Brawley Middle School, Mooresville
Kelsey Davis, grade 7, Apple Valley Middle School, Hendersonville
Daniel Wellman, grade 8, North Davie Middle School, Mocksville
Level III (grades 9-12)
Jesika Fitzgerald, grade 9, Challenger High School, Hickory
Jennifer Hollowell, grade 10, Surry Early College High School of Design, Dobson
Lilly Park, grade 9, Perquimans County High School, Hertford
Maggie Wolfe, grade 9, Watauga High School, Boone
For information contact: Frannie Ashburn, director, North Carolina Center for the Book, e-mail frannie.ashburn@ncmail.net or phone 919-807-7416. The State Library of North Carolina is a Division of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture, and observing “Telling Our Stories” in 2008.