Letters About Literature '99.



1999 marked the first year in which Alaska participated in the national "Letters About Literature" contest, and it proved to be a wonderful success.

Letters About Literature '99 is a national writing contest sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Weekly Reader Corporation. Here in Alaska, the Alaska Center for the Book was the local sponsor.

To enter, students in grades 4 through 12 must write a letter to an author - living or dead - explaining how his or her book somehow changed the student's way of thinking about the world. This explores the relationship between the book and the reader.

The contest has two competition levels: Level I is open to students in grades 4 through 7; Level II is open to students in grades 8+. Students who win on the national level each receive a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond, and the top state winners each receive cash awards of $100.

The contest deadline was December 18, 1998. All entries are sent to the national site, where teams of readers sort through and choose semi-finalists for each state.

Those entries are then returned to the state for judging by their own panel of judges.

Here in Alaska, Level I judges were Chrystal Carr Jeter (librarian, Anchorage) and Susan B. Andrews (author and professor, Kotzebue). Level II judges were Dermot Cole (author and columnist, Fairbanks), Roz Goodman (librarian, Dillingham), and John Creed (author and professor, Kotzebue).

First year entries totaled 154 for Alaska (131 of which were for Level I). Nationally, 15,554 entries were submitted, with the most participation coming from Illinois and Texas.

Alaskan entries came from throughout the state: Hoonah, Wrangell, Soldotna, Kodiak, Palmer, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Eagle River, and Wasilla.

Alaska State winners and the runner-up for each level were:

Level I: Linnea Johansen, grade 6, Pearl Creek Elementary, Fairbanks
Runner-up: Bethlehem Pal-laya, grade 5, Ursa Minor Elementary School, Ft. Richardson
Level II: Rachel Bennett, grade 12, A.J. Dimond High School, Anchorage
Runner-up: Juliann Schamel, grade 9, West Valley High School, Fairbanks
The top state winners each receive cash awards of $100.

Level I Finalists:
Leif Anderson, grade 7, Colony Middle School, Palmer
(writing to Marlo Morgan, author of Mutant Message Down Under);
Molly McIsaac, grade 4, homeschooled, Soldotna
(writing to Marguerite Henry about her horse stories);
Heather Olson, grade 7, Colony Middle School, Palmer
(writing to Anne Frank, author of The Diary of a Young Girl);
Anna Fernandez, grade 7, Colony Middle School, Wasilla
(writing to Elie Wiesel, author of Night).

Level II Finalists:
Sarah Stehn, grade 12, Chugiak High School, Eagle River
(writing to William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies);
Davone Khamleu, grade 8, Clark Middle School, Anchorage
(writing to Anne Rice, author of Interview with the Vampire);
Caroline LeBlanc , grade 12, Chugiak High School, Chugiak
(writing to F. Paul Wilson and Matthew J. Costello, authors of Mirage);
Jessica Lyn Butler, grade 8, homeschooled, Anchorage
(writing to Lloyd Alexander, author of the Westmark Trilogy).