Students from Medina, Redmond, and Gig Harbor have been named champions of Washington’s 2018 Letters About Literature Contest and will be recognized in a May 11 ceremony at the Capitol.
Sponsored by the Washington Center for the Book and the Library of Congress, Letters About Literature encourages students to write letters to authors, living or not, of books that made an impact on them.
“I’m extremely proud that so many young Washington readers shared remarkable insights about the books they love,” said secretary of state Kim Wyman, in a press release.
Washington students wrote 2,418 letters for this year’s competition, and the winners were selected from 92 semifinalists identified by the Library of Congress. Students in 63 schools participated in the contest. The three Washington champions’ letters have been sent to the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress for the national competition. Results will be announced in early May.
This year’s winners
Level 1: Annabelle Yan, a fifth-grade student at Medina Elementary School, is the winner among fourth- to sixth-grade entrants. Anna wrote her letter to Grace Lin, author of Dumpling Days.
An excerpt from Yan’s letter:
“Before I read your book, Dumpling Days, I was not proud of being Chinese. I felt that there was some sort of ‘cultural barrier’ between me and my Caucasian friends. Whether I brought dumplings or steamed eggs, my lunches would always trigger some questions: ‘Um … What’s that?’ I remember shrugging shyly, murmuring something about steamed eggs and chicken soup and closing my lunchbox, gritting my teeth and trying not to cry in front of everybody.”
Level 2: Riya Sharma, an eighth grade student at The Overlake School in Redmond, took first in the grades 7 and 8 competition. Riya wrote her letter to Katty Kay and Claire Shipman about their book The Confidence Code.
From her letter:
“Thanks to your book I have learned how to overcome the small voice inside my head and have a little more courage. Something [‘ve always wanted to do is run for the middle school student body president. I was terrified that I would fail and forever go down in history as a loser. But feeding off of the infuriating examples in your book where perfectly capable women held themselves back, I decided to do it. As a matter of fact I did lose the election. But I gave it my absolute best and now if I’m asked to give a speech in front of the school I won’t be afraid.”
Level 3: Amina Khan, a tenth grader from Gig Harbor, claimed the top spot in grades 9 through 12. Amina wrote her letter to Yann Martel about his book, The Life of Pi.
From her letter:
“Thank you for writing an amazing book. Thank you for introducing me to Piscine Molitor Patel. This book has challenged me in some ways, but overall it has made me appreciate the nature of God and religion, as well as understand my own circumstances. I’m not at fault for being born into a society that is often unwilling to accept who I am, and the best I can do in this situation is simply to love God, like Pi did, and trust Him to show me His pure nature.”
The state champions, runners-up, and honorable mentions will be honored at an awards ceremony May 11 hosted by Secretary Wyman and State Librarian Cindy Aden.
All state semifinalists will be mailed award certificates. This is the 25th year of Letters About Literature, and the 13th year in which the State Library has managed the contest in Washington.
Washington’s Office of Secretary of State oversees a number of areas within state government, including managing state elections, registering corporations and charities, and governing the use of the state flag and state seal. The office also manages the State Archives and the State Library, as well as documents extraordinary stories in Washington’s history through Legacy Washington.
