And the Winner Is...

The awards ceremony for the winners of the state level competition for Letters About Literature was held yesterday afternoon at the Mississippi Library Commission. In this annual contest, students in grades 4-12 read a book, poem, or speech and then write a mock letter to the author. The first place winners for Mississippi will continue on to the national level and learn whether they've won in mid-May. The national winner in each age group wins a $1,000 award and each national honorable mention winner wins $200.

This year, Mississippi's winners wrote to the authors about the following books:

Level I, upper elementary grades 4-6
The first place Mississippi winner wrote to Christopher Paul Curtis.
Both the second and third place winners wrote to R. J. Palacio.

 

Level II, middle school, grades 7-8

The first place Mississippi winner wrote to Russell Freedman.
Second place wrote to Lois Lowry and third place wrote to S. E. Hinton.

 

Level III, high school, grades 9-12
The first place Mississippi winner wrote to Kathryn Lasky.
Second place wrote to Margaret Mitchell and third place wrote to J. D. Salinger.

Congratulations to all our winners! Check back this Fall for information on participating in the next Letters about Literature competition.