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Public Information and Communication

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 6, 2012

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tessa Terry
402-471-3434
800-307-2665

Young Nebraskans Win Writing Competition

Young Nebraska writers will receive Letters about Literature award certificates from Gov. Dave Heineman on April 11, 2012 at a proclamation-signing ceremony celebrating National Library Week, April 8-14, 2012. Letters about Literature is a national reading and writing promotion program. Nearly 60,000 adolescent and young readers nationwide in grades 4 through 12 participated in this year’s Letters about Literature program—378 of them from Nebraska. The competition encourages young people to read, be inspired, and write back to the author who had an impact on their lives.

This annual contest is sponsored nationally by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress in partnership with Target Stores. Target sponsors Letters about Literature as part of its national reading initiative, “Ready. Sit. Read!,” which is aimed at fostering a love of reading among children at an early age. Since opening its first store in 1962, Target has partnered with nonprofit organizations, guests, and team members to help meet community needs. 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

  • Ethan Vanneman, Lincoln, to Gary Paulsen  about The Legend of Bass Reeves

  •  Marin Harrington, Omaha, to Kathryn Stockett about The Help

  • Arash Hamidi, Omaha, to Maya Angelou about I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings        

Alternate Winners

  • Taisha Morris, Omaha, to Faith Ringgold about My Dream of Martin Luther King

  • Tyson Hostert, O'Neill, to Gary Paulsen about Hatchet series

  • Maria Terrazas, Ansley, to Joseph Bruchac about Code Talker

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, receive cash prizes and gift certificates to Target Stores, and 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 Nebraska's 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." 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.

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For more information, contact Tessa Terry.