2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | History of Contest

LAL 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. Participation guidelines are available at the Library of Congress Web site.

Winners for 2007

Kui Murage, Josh Burd, and Sadie Katarina Eichner

Josh Burd won the Level I prize, covering grades four through six, for his letter to Scott Adams about Dilbert. Kui Murage won the Level II award, covering grades seven and eight, writing to Sue Monk Kidd about The Secret Life of Bees. Sadie Katarina Eichner won the Level III award, covering grades nine through twelve, for her letter to Ray Bradbury about Fahrenheit 451.

Level I honorable-mention winners were Lucy Sedor-Franzak of Bethel Park, writing to Shel Silverstein for The Giving Tree, Skyler Yarroll of Bethel Park, writing to J. K. Rowling for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Teresa Morin of Mercer, writing to Mitch Albom about For One More Day, Emily Waggoner of Hummelstown, writing to Chris D’Lacey for The Fire Within, Hollis Mermelstein of Pittsburgh, writing to Gail Carson Levine for The Two Princesses of Bamarre, Logan Hanning of Honey Brook, writing to J.K. Rowling about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Level II honorable-mention winners were Haluk Akay of Sewickley, writing to Dr. Benjamin Carson for Gifted Hands, Hannah Lugg of Lock Haven, writing to Karen Cushman about The Loud Silence of Francine Green, Jordyn Turner of Plymouth Meeting, writing to George Orwell about Animal Farm, Adam Lewis of Yardley, writing to Charles Dickens about A Christmas Carol, Brooke Henderson of Cranberry Township, writing to Davida Wills Hurwin about A Time for Dancing.

Level III honor of high distinction goes to Lynn Detwiler of Ridgway, writing to Billy Collins about Nine Horses.

Level III honorable-mention winners were Alexis Perrine of Wallingford, writing to Dr. Seuss for How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Jelyn Waltz of Greencastle, writing to Elie Wiesel for Night, Jonathan Y. Du of Mars, writing to Richard Adams for Watership Down, Courtney Robel of New Kensington, writing to Tomie dePaola for The Clown of God, Gabrielle Augustine of Palmerton, writing to Markus Zusak for The Book Thief.

Winners for 2006

Chris Cox, Jenny Uehling, and Natasha Kumar

Chris Cox won the Level I prize, covering grades four through six, for his letter to Temple Grandin about Emergence Labeled Autistic. Jenny Uehling won the Level II award, covering grades seven and eight, for her letter to Jerry Spinelli about Stargirl. Natasha Kumar won the Level III award, covering grades nine through twelve, for her letter to Lois Lowry about The Giver part 1, part 2, part 3 .

Level I honorable-mention winners were   Kieryn N. Ziegler of Boalsburg, writing to Judy Blume for Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself and Avery Gosselin of Cheswick, writing to Eric Nylund for Halo, The Fall of Reach. 

Level II honor of high distinction went to Samantha Weber of Freeport , writing  to Avi for Crispin, The Cross of Lead. Level II honorable-mention winner is Jessica Bomm of Malvern, writing to Peter Benchley for Shark Life. 

Level III honorable-mention winners were:  Kristina Smith of Conshohocken, writing to Shel Silverstein for Where the Sidewalk Ends,  Moriah Huggler of Ridgway, writing to Christopher Pike for The Midnight Club,  Abbigail C. Gregg of Beaver Falls, writing  to Charlotte Bronte for Jane Eyre, Joseph Firoozmand of Cleona, writing to J. R. R. Tolkien for The Lord of the Rings, Andrea Munyan of Lafayette Hill, writing  to Ben Mikaelsen for Petey , and Daisy Willis of Fountain Hill, writing  to Vivian Vande Velde for The Rumpelstiltskin Problem: Straw Into Gold.

Winners for 2005

Erik Dill, Target Stores representative, Kristen Soforic, Luke Edmondson, Anna Eichner, Steven Herb

Luke Edmondson won the Level I prize, covering grades four through six, for his letter to Louis Sachar about Holes. Kristen Soforic won the Level II award, covering grades seven and eight, for her letter to Madeleine L'Engle about A Wrinkle in Time. Anna Eichner won the Level III award, covering grades nine through twelve, for her letter to J. M. Barrie about Peter Pan.

Kristen Soforic, Luke Edmondson, Anna Eichner, Steven Herb

High Honor of Distinction awards were given to Natasha Kumar in Level II for her letter to Mitch Albom about Tuesdays with Morrie and in Level III to Thomas Williams for his letter to Friedrich Nietzsche about The Antichrist.

Luke is a 6th grader at Mount Nittany Middle School in State College, PA, Kristen is a 7th grade homeschooled student from Mt. Pleasant, PA and Anna is a 10th grade homeschooled student from Tarentum, PA. They received their awards at Penn State's Children's Literature Matters Conference on April 9, 2005 at the Penn Stater Hotel in State College, PA.

Winners for 2004

Meghan Harrison won the Level I prize, covering grades four through six, for her letter to C.S. Lewis about Perelandra.* Natasha Kumar won the Level II award, covering grades seven and eight, for her letter to the Dalai Lama about Freedom in Exile.* Kumar not only won Pennsylvania, but placed in the top six in the country as well. Cory Merrill won the Level III award, covering grades nine through twelve, for her letter to Allen Ginsberg about Howl.*

Kumar, a seventh grader at Hershey Middle School in Hershey, Merrill, a twelfth grader at Delaware Valley High School in Milford, and Harrison, a fifth grader at Springside School in Philadelphia, received their awards at Penn State's Children's Literature Matters Conference on May 8, 2004, at the Penn Stater Hotel in State College.

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Winners for 2003

Pauline Holdsworth won the Level I prize, covering grades four through six, for her letter to Tamora Pierce about Alanna - The First Adventure. Kaylyn Koberna won the Level II award, covering grades seven and eight, for her letter to Pearl S. Buck about Imperial Woman, and Alison Wall won the Level III award, covering grades nine through twelve, for her letter to Pearl S. Buck about The Good Earth. Additionally, Ravi Pandit's letter to Lemony Snicket about The Bad Beginning received honorable mention for Level III. Kaylyn Koberna (our Level II winner) also received an honorable mention distinction in the national contest.

Winners for 2002

The 2002 winners are Geoffrey W. Locher of the Richland Elementary School for his letter to Stephen Crane and Michael J. Shafer of the Palmerton Area High School for his letter to Henry David Thoreau. The winners received their recognition in April at the Children's Literature Matters Conference in the presence of noted authors Janet Wong, J. Patrick Lewis, Uri Shulevitz, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Anthony Browne, Jack Gantos and Paul Janeczko.

Steven Herb, Michael Shafer, Geoffrey Locher and Dan Hade

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Winners for 2001

In 2001, Kayla Sargeson from the Seneca Valley Middle School won the Level I competition for her letter to Anne Frank. The Level II award was presented to Laura K. Smith-Gary from Wyalusing Valley Junior/Senior High School for her letter to George Orwell.

History of the Contest

This nationwide writing event, sponsored by The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress in partnership with Target, invites students to write a letter to an author-living or dead-explaining how the author's book gave them wings and changed their way of viewing the world and themselves. The contest has three competition levels: Level I for young readers in grades 4-6; Level II for young adult readers in grades 7-8; and Level III for readers in grades 9-12. The top essayist on each competition level will receive a cash award and a $50 Target GiftCard plus a cash award from the Pennsylvania Center for the Book. The first-place winners in each state will then advance for national judging.