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April 20, 1999
Contact: Yvonne French (202) 707-9191

Center for the Book and Weekly Reader Corporation Announce "Letters About Literature" Essay Contest Winners

A Pennsylvania girl and a budding New York folksinger won the "Letters About Literature" essay contest, the Center for the Book and Weekly Reader Corporation announced today. They competed with 20,000 students nationwide in the reading-writing contest. The students' essays were read by 100 judges across the country.

"Letters About Literature" invites students to write a personal letter to an author -- living or dead -- explaining how the author's work changed their lives.

Kelly McAnerney, a seventh-grade student at Seneca Valley Middle School in Harmony, Pa., won the national prize from grades 4-7 for her letter to Jerry Spinelli, author of the humorous young-adult novel Crash. Penn, a misfit character in the novel, helped Kelly see the maliciousness of the teasing and bullying that goes on in her school. She wrote Spinelli, "Crash pushed me into doing what I'd often denied my conscience: being nice. Your novel handed me a new pair of sneakers to walk life's roads, and they fit wonderfully."

Bradley Farberman, an eighth-grade student at Woodmere Middle School in Hewlett, N.Y., won the national prize from grades 8-12 for his letter to Woody Guthrie about Guthrie's autobiography, Bound for Glory. The book inspired Bradley, who like Guthrie, writes songs and plays a guitar. After reading Bound for Glory, Bradley made a commitment to himself to "speak his mind and to talk real loud" about hope and beauty. He said he would like to travel across the country, as Woody Guthrie did, singing songs about everyday Americans.

"Books give young people wings," said Cathy Gourley, director of the national program, "wings to cope with peer pressure and parental divorce, wings to rise above prejudice and discover a pride in cultural and racial heritage. These were just some of the themes students explore in their letters this year." The contest has been held since 1982.

State-level winners were also selected by 26 participating state Center for the Book affiliates. A state-by-state list of winners follows. For further information call Weekly Reader at (203) 705-3500.

FIRST PLACE WINNERS AWARDED BY PARTICIPATING STATE CENTER FOR THE BOOK AFFILIATES

Alaska

Level I (grades 4-7): Linnea Johansen, grade 6, Pearl Creek Elementary, Fairbanks, letter to Gloria Whelan, Hannah

Level II (grades 8-12): Rachel Bennett, grade 12, A.J. Dimond High School, Anchorage, letter to Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

Arizona

Level I: Sam Watters, grade 5, Kyrene de la Esperanza School, Phoenix, letter to Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage

Level II: Rebecca Doell, grade 12, Chaparral High School, Scottsdale, letter to Ernest Gaines, A Lesson Before Dying

California

Level I: Dallas Woodburn, grade 6, Cabrillo Middle School, Ventura, letter to Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

Level II: Ash Hill, grade 8, Clifford School, Redwood City, letter to Elizabeth Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Colorado

Level I: Rachel Winter, grade 7, Zion Lutheran School, Brighton, letter to Deborah Savage, To Race A Dream

Level II: Christine Ridge, grade 11, Arapahoe High School, Littleton, letter to A.A. Milne, House at Pooh Corner

Connecticut

Level I: Erin McCarthy, grade 5, Branchville Elementary School, Ridgefield, letter to Eloise McGraw, The Moorchild

Level II: Brenda Addison, Ella T. Grasso Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical School, Groton, letter to the anonymous author of Go Ask Alice

Florida

Level I: MacKennon Shehee, grade 6, Creative Learning Center, Pensacola, letter to Colonel McKinnon, The History of Walton County

Level II: Emily Goldman, grade 10, Lake Mary High School, Lake Mary, letter to Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go

Illinois

Level I: Ann Wooton, grade 7, Emerson School, Oak Park, letter ot Anne Frank, The Diary of Anne Frank

Level II: Ericka Wills, grade 10, Ridgeview High School, Colfax, letter to Richard Wright, Native Son

Kansas

Level I: Danielle Sunberg, grade 6, Pembroke Hill School, Leawood, letter to Vicki Grove, The Crystal Garden

Level II: Betheny Pittman, grade 10, Maize High School, Wichita, letter to Steven Cosgrove and Robin James, the Serendipity series

Louisiana

Level I: Michael Hart, grade 7, Episcopal Day School, Lake Charles, letter to J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

Level II: Stacy Nelson, grade 9, C.E. Byrd High School, Shreveport, letter to James Hurst, "The Scarlet Ibis"

Maryland

Level I: Kevin Fallon, grade 6, Plum Point Middle School, Huntingtown, letter to Emily Cheney Neville, It's Like This, Cat

Level II: Marcus Wang, grade 11, Gilman School, Baltimore, letter to Jackie Chan, I Am Jackie Chan

Minnesota

Level I: Nellene Benhardus, grade 7, St. Anthony Middle School, St. Anthony, letter to Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia

Level II: Emilia Allen, grade 9, Southview Middle School, Edina, letter to Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Missouri

Level I: Logan Skelly, grade 5, Cecil Floyd Elementary, Joplin, letter to Janell Cannon, Stellaluna

Level II: Sara Luebbering, grade 9, Simonsen 9th Grade Center, Jefferson City, letter to Lurlene McDaniel, Don't Die, My Love

Nebraska

Level I: Kris Wright-Peterson, grade 7, Irving Middle School, Lincoln, letter to Willa Cather, O Pioneers!

Level II: Jamie Hamburg, grade 10, Burke High School, Omaha, letter to Jon Krakauer, Into Thin Air

Nevada

Level I: Jeremee Peters, grade 7, The Meadows School, Las Vegas, letter to John Hersey, Hiroshima

Level II: Aurora Patridge, grade 10, Edward C. Reed High School, Sparks, letter to J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

New Mexico

Level I: Leticia Valencia, grade 7, Lynn Middle School, Las Cruces, letter to Ann Turner, Nettie's Trip South and Philip Hernandez, grade 4, Dona Ana Elementary, Las Cruces, letter to Richard Atwater, Mr. Popper's Penquins

Level II: Nora Geiss, grade 12, Santa Fe Preparatory, Santa Fe, letter to James Baldwin, Sonny's Blues

North Carolina

Level I: Rebecca Neer, grade 5, McGee's Crossroads Elementary School, Willow Springs, letter to Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia

Level II: Jaroah Carter, grade 12, Beddingfield High School, Wilson, letter to Nikki Giovanni, The Collected Poems of Nikki Giovanni

North Dakota

Level I: Jacquelyn Bartz, Bismarck, letter to Jerry Spinelli, Maniac Magee

Level II: No winner selected this year

Ohio

Level I: Tim Chai, grade 5, Birchwood School, Cleveland, letter to Gary Paulsen, Hatchet

Level II: Natalia Moese, grade 8, Lakota Ridge Junior High School, West Chester, letter to Matt Christopher, The Winning Stroke

Oklahoma

Level I: Kristen Dodson, grade 5, Spiro Upper Elementary School, Spiro, letter to Bill Wallace, The Christmas Spurs

Level II: Jeremy Oleson, grade 8, Kerr Junior High School, Del City, letter to Chieko Akiyama, Faithful Elephants

Oregon

Level I: Jessica Fox, grade 7, Whitford Middle School, Portland, letter to Lois Lowry, The Giver

Level II: Trevor Ducker, grade 12, School, Cottage Grove, letter to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet

Tennessee

Level I: Virginia Batts, grade 4, Ensworth School, Nashville, letter to Marguerite Henry, Stormy, Misty's Foal

Level II: Lusine Zeytunyan, grade 12, Wayne County High School, letter to John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

Texas

Level I: Marc Trust, grade 7, Trautmann Middle School, Laredo, letter to Leo Buscaglia, The Fall of Freddie the Leaf

Level II: Adam Bilal, grade 11, Katy High School, Katy, letter to Katerine Anne Porter, Ship of Fools

Virginia

Level I: Sarah Chase-Levenson, grade 6, Village School, Charlottesville, letter to Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights

Level II: Mitch Mathias, grade 11, Albemarle High School, Charlottesville, letter to Maya Angelou, "Equality"

Washington

Level I: Bryan Fakkema, grade 6, Oak Harbor Middle School, letter to Lee Rodney, Hunted in the Alaskan Wilderness

Level II:. Jason Kim, grade 8, Einstein Middle School, letter to Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None

Wisconsin

Level I: Amanda Amodeo, grade 7, Eisenhower Middle School, New Berlin, letter to Anna Sewell, Black Beauty

Level II: Gina Rosen, grade 12, Pius XI High School, Milwaukee, letter to Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

Wyoming

Level I: Lindsay Egginton, grade 7, Holy Name School, Sheridan, letter to C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe

Level II: Lacey Witowski, Jackson, letter to C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia

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PR 99-054
4/20/99
ISSN 0731-3527