TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama Center for the Book, housed in The University of Alabama Libraries, recently announced state grade-school winners in the Letters About Literature competition.
The national reading and writing contest asks students to write a personal letter to an author explaining how that author’s work somehow changed the readers’ view of their world.
The national competition is sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress in partnership with Target.
“This year almost 70,000 students entered the national competition,” said Dr. Louis A. Pitschmann, director of the Alabama Center for the Book. “Alabama’s entries from public, private and home schools continue to grow with more than 400 — a record number.”
Judges for the Alabama Center for the Book selected the top letters in the state on each of the three levels of competition: Level 1 for students in grades 4 to 6; Level 2 for students in grades 7 and 8; and Level 3 for grades 9 to 12.
Level 1 winners are: First–place, Ellie Guyader, Advent Episcopal School in Birmingham, for “The Prophecy of the Sisters” by Michelle Zink; Second-place, Phillip McKenzie, The Montgomery Academy, for “Marley and Me” by John Grogan; and Third-place, Alexis Rueve, Highlands School in Birmingham, for “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins.
Level 2 winners are: First-place, Gabrielle Aboki, Baldwin Arts & Academics in Montgomery, for “A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes; Second-place, Ben Dasher, Advent Episcopal School in Birmingham, for “The Hobbit” by J. R.R. Tolkien; Third-place, Afsaneh Faki, Advent Episcopal School, Birmingham, for “Dreamland” by Sarah Dessen; and Honorable Mention, Michelle Bui, Oxford Middle School, for “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher.
Level 3 winners are: First-place, Mary Locker, Florence High School, for “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway; Second-place, Gabrielle Lindley, Florence High School, for “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou; Third-place, Shejuti Paul, Florence High School, for “House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
State winners were announced April 16 at the Alabama Book Festival in Montgomery. First-place winners received a $50 Target Gift Card, and all winners received cash prizes from the Alabama Center for the Book.
Level 2 winner Gabriel Aboki advanced to the final round of national judging, placing her letter within the top 11 entries in the country. The six national winners (two per level of competition) and 12 national honorable mention winners (four per level of competition) will be announced at a future date.
The national winners will receive a $500 Target gift card, plus each will win a $10,000 LAL Reading Promotion Grant for their community or school library. Additionally, the national honorable mention winners will each receive a $100 Target gift card and a $1,000 LAL Reading Promotion Grant for the community or school library of their choice.
To learn more about the program, visit www.lettersaboutliterature.org or the .http://alabamacenterforthebook.lib.ua.edu/
Contact
Richard LeComte, media relations, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu, 205/348-3782
Source
Donna Adcock, UA Libraries, 205/348-1416, dbadcock@lib.ua.edu