LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE
A Statewide Writing Contest
Sponsors | History | Past Winners
The Letters About Literature Essay Contest is sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and Target. Each state has the opportunity to participate. All statewide winners are also entered in the national contest. The participation guidelines are also available at the Library of Congress web site.
*Contact "LAL Central" for free teaching materials, including guidelines, lesson plans, assessment checklists, and writing samples
Additional information:
This year's judges
Pennsylvania state prizes
2009 Winners
Gregory Miller, Xio Torres, and Aiden Giles
Level I Award (grades four through six)
Aiden Giles, writing to Alfred, Lord Tennyson about "The Charge of the Light Brigade"
Level II Award (grades seven and eight)
Gregory Miller, writing to Gary Paulsen about Hatchet
Level III Award (grades nine through twelve)
Xio Torres, writing to Randa Abdel -Fattah about Does my Head Look Big in This?
Level I honor of high distinction winner is:
Jordan Emely, writing to Jack Gantos about Joey Pigza Loses Control
Level I honorable-mention winners are:
- Rachel Aluise, writing to Douglas Wood about Old Turtle and the Broken Truth
- Lennon Mullen, writing to Kate DiCamillo about The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
- Abigail Opher, writing to Judy Blume about Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
- Amarra Rosania, writing to Kate DiCamillo about Because of Winn-Dixie
- Aislinn Slaugenhaupt, writing to Walt Whitman about "I Sing the Body Electric"
Level II honorable-mention winners are:
- Philip Barboza, writing to Gordon Korman about Schooled
- Samantha Bristow, writing to Melvin Burgess about Billy Elliot
- Brielle Brown, writing to Debbie Allen about Dancing in the Wings
- Timothy McAuliffe, writing to David McKee about Elmer
- Allyson Miller, writing to John Grogan about Marley: A Dog Like No Other
- Jeanne Shi, writing to Andrew Clements about Things Not Seen
- Elisa Trucco, writing to Meg Cabot about How to be Popular
- Megan Walton, writing to an unnamed author about an unnamed poem about grief
Level III honorable-mention winners are:
- Mawunyo Akabua, writing to Loung Ung about First They Killed My Father
- Ebtesam Al-Thowaini, writing to Harper Lee about To Kill a Mockingbird
- Genevieve DiSpirito, writing to Elizabeth Cady Stanton about Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions
- Emmalee Hagarman, writing to Sue Monk Kidd about The Secret Life of Bees
- Allison Isaacs, writing to Susanna Kaysen about Girl, Interrupted
- Derek Lichtner, writing to T.S. Eliot about "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
- Joshua Wortzel, writing to John Steinbeck about The Grapes of Wrath
Judges
Letters About Literature contest judges were:
- Anna Eichner, a former Letters About Literature winner and student at Grove City College
- Maggie Herb, Assistant Director, Writing Center, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
- Nancy Leuschner, a retired English and humanities teacher from Harrisburg
- Cindy Pimental,4th Grade Teacher at G.B. Luhrs University Elementary School, Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA.
- Kara Robertson, a data-management coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh
- David Rockower, a sixth-grade teacher at Mount Nittany Middle School from Boalsburg
About the Sponsors
Target Stores and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress are the presenting sponsors of Letters About Literature. Target Stores, along with its parent company, Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), gives back more than $2 million a week to its local communities through grants and special programs. Since opening its first store in 1962, Target has partnered with nonprofit organizations, guests, and team members to help meet community needs.