Young Nebraska writers will receive Letters about Literature award
certificates from Gov. Dave Heineman on April 9, 2014 at a
proclamation-signing ceremony celebrating National Library Week,
April 13-19, 2014. Letters about Literature is a national reading
and writing promotion program. Nearly 50,000 adolescent and young
readers nationwide in grades 4 through 12 participated in this
year’s Letters about Literature program, more than 400 of them from
Nebraska. The competition encourages young people to read, be
inspired, and write back to the author (living or dead) who had an
impact on their lives.
This annual contest is sponsored nationally by the Center for the
Book in the Library of Congress. The Center for the Book was
established in 1977 as a public-private partnership to use the
resources of the Library of Congress to stimulate public interest in
books and reading. The Nebraska competition is coordinated and
sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Library
Commission, and Houchen Bindery Ltd.
Young Nebraska writers to be honored are:
Winners
Brianna Wilson, Big Springs, for a letter
to Charles Bukowski about
You Get So Alone at Times That It Just
Makes Sense
Sydney Kohl, Lincoln, for a letter to
Gary Soto about
A Fire in My Hand
Christopher Penas-Hull, Lincoln, for a
letter to Jules Verne about
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Alternate Winners
Thomas D'Aquila, Elkhorn, for a letter to
Art Spiegelman about
Maus
Wyatt Liewer, O'Neill, for a letter to
Gary Paulsen about
Brian's Hunt
Madeline Walker, Lincoln, for a letter to
Sharon Draper about
Out of My Mind
The students wrote personal letters to authors explaining how his or
her work changed their view of themselves or the world. They
selected authors from any genre, fiction or nonfiction, contemporary
or classic. Winners were chosen from three competition levels: upper
elementary, middle, and secondary school.
The Nebraska winners will be honored at a luncheon and receive cash
prizes and gift certificates. Their winning letters will be placed
in the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors at Bennett
Martin Public Library in Lincoln. They will advance to the national
competition, with a chance to win a trip to Washington, D.C. for
themselves and their parents. For more information see
http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/programs/LAL.html.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library
Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers,
booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and
scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to
celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the
written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the
Nebraska Library Commission. As the state library agency, the
Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and
information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library
Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of
library and information services, bringing together people and
information.
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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library
Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website,
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.