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Announcing the 2017 Letters About Literature Winners and Honorable Mentions

Announcing the 2017 Letters About Literature Winners and Honorable Mentions

The Iowa Center for the Book honored 18 student readers from across Iowa as winners and honorable mentions for the 2017 Iowa Letters About Literature awards program at a ceremony on Friday, April 28 at the Urbandale Public Library.

Sponsored by the Library of Congress, the prestigious national literary contest has student readers write a letter to an author of a book that has changed their view of themselves or their world.

"I am dazzled by the letters we received.  What a wonderful unfolding of the creative process! We congratulate each of the student readers on their accomplishment,” said Helen Dagley, coordinator of the Iowa Center for the Book. “Iowa has a tradition of showcasing meaningful and moving letters that do well at the national level, and this year is no exception.”

Award-winning Iowa author Sharelle Byars Moranville addressed the attendees on the reality and rewards of a writing career at the event. Her current book, 27 Magic Words, was chosen as the 2016 Discover Great Places Through Reading selection for Iowa at the National Book Festival. The students received their awards from Byars Moranville and State Librarian Michael Scott.

For the 2017 program 1,618 Iowa students submitted letters, with163 passing the first round of review and returning to Iowa for further judging. First place winners in each level are submitted to the Library of Congress from each of the 52 participating states and territories to compete at the national level. In 13 years of participation, Iowa has had five national winners.

The winners and honorable are listed below; read the students’ letters in full. 

Level I (Grades 4-6)

First Place: Josie Boyle from Drexler Middle School, Farley
Book: The Same Stuff as Stars by Katherine Paterson

Second Place: Ella Sherlock from Iowa City
Book: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Third Place: Aiden Cowley from Gilbert Middle School, Gilbert
Book: The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Suess

Honorable Mention: Avery Bolton from Longfellow Elementary School, Iowa City
Book: The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

Honorable Mention: Olivia Kuper from Parkview Middle School, Ankeny
Book: Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

Honorable Mention: Addie White from Northeast Elementary School, Ankeny
Book: Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

Level II (Grades 7-8)

First Place: Luke Strawn from St. Augustin Catholic School, Des Moines
Book: The Eye of Minds  by James Dashner

Second Place: Kunyu (Kimi) Du from Holmes Junior High School, Cedar Falls
Book: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Third Place: Adrian Huang from Decorah Middle School, Decorah
Book: Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

Honorable Mention: Abby Bishop from Stilwell Junior High School, West Des Moines
Book: Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Honorable Mention: Payne Blazevich from Stilwell Junior High School, West Des Moines
Book: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Honorable Mention: Olivia Smith from Stilwell Junior High School, West Des Moines
Book: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J. K. Rowling

Level III (Grades 9-12)

First Place: Hannah Huang from Ames High School, Ames
Book: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Second Place: Sibani Ram from Dubuque Senior High School, Dubuque
Book: The Name Soup by Sandhya Pillalamarri

Third Place: Olivia Tobin from Davenport
Book: Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

Honorable Mention: Silvia Aydinyan from Ames High School, Ames
Book: The Lord of the Flies  by William Golding

Honorable Mention: Eleanor Ball from Des Moines
Book: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Honorable Mention: Fares Habboub from Davenport
Book: The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins

The Iowa Center for the Book is a program of the State Library of Iowa and an affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book. Founded in 2002, ICB's mission is to stimulate public interest in books, reading, literacy and libraries. For more information, go to www.iowacenterforthebook.org. 

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