Letters About Literature, 2007 Awards
Congratulations to the students listed below, who were awarded 1st place, 2nd place, and Honorable Mention awards at the state level in the 2007 Letters About Literature Contest.
Letters About Literature is a national reading-writing contest offered by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, in partnership with Target Stores and in cooperation with affiliate state centers for the book. Readers in grades 4-12 are invited to write a personal letter to an author, living or dead, from any genre—fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic, explaining how that author’s work changed the student’s way of thinking about the world or themselves. There are three competition levels: Level I for children grades 4-6; Level II for grades 7 and 8, and Level III for students in grades 9-12.
In addition to the national sponsors named above, the Letters About Literature contest in Maine is sponsored by the David Royte Fund. The David Royte Fund, created in 2006 by Merle and Leonard Nelson and Dr. and Mrs. Paul Royte, honors the father of Merle and Paul, Mr. David Royte. Mr. Royte served as a valued member of the Board of Directors of the Maine Humanities Council for many years.
The following students received first place awards:
Caroline George read The Great Good Thing by Roderick Townley
“I had not even finished the first chapter before I was sitting up with my mouth hanging open. What was this? My mind snapped to fully alert. I flipped back to the beginning and started again. Characters living behind the covers of a closed book? Characters living outside the line written for them by the author? This was a new and worrisome idea...
...In bed that night, I tossed and turned. I though I would never get to sleep. Had I neglected my books? Did I have a responsibility to them that I had not even considered? I imagined my favorite books lined up on the shelf, like dogs hopeful for a walk, when their owner picks up the leash...
...Sylvie and her adventures with the “Reader,” not only kept me up that first night, but also changed the way I will think about books forever. Now, when I am in that unsettled interval between books, I take the time to revisit the old friends on my shelves. I imagine Sylvie, “resting on grandiloquent, the largest adjective in sight,” pleased that she has saved her story from being forgotten, as well as all the other stories in my room!”
Annie Fagan read A Separate Peace by John Knowles
“My name is Annie Fagan. I am a soon-to-be high school student living in a small coastal town in Maine, and I recently read one of your novels. It was entitled A Separate Peace, and the characters and events hidden within its crisp pages distinctly mirror myself and my life.
Each chapter of your book was like the return of an old friend, the story of a life that similar to my own. Each event brought me deeper and deeper in to a novel full of jealousy, friendship, and adulthood. Gene was a logical intellectual. Finny was a witty, crazy athlete. One was immature, and one was beginning to grow up. They were complete opposites, and yet it was only when I wound their two personalities together that I finally found myself.
When did everything change? Was it when recess turned into a study hall? Or was it when rosy cheeks became pimpled, dry skin? It seems like only yesterday I wore a tie-dye shirt with my favorite polka-dotted tights, and today I spend half an hour just doing my hair...
Somewhere along the line, however, I stuck my head out of the makeup aisle long enough to listen to the little kid I was trying to run away from . Wake up, she said. You are erasing yourself. I know who the real Annie is, and it is not the person you are trying to become. I listened, Mr. Knowles, because the child inside of me was speaking the truth.
Thank you for writing A Separate Peace. Whether you realize it or not, you have given me the ability to embrace the new and revel in the old.”
Jessica Staples read the Naruto series by Masashi Kishimoto
“I finished the book and it made me start acting strange…like a ninja! I wanted to be just like Naruto! Strong, outgoing, and awesome. I started standing up for myself in school, and I gathered some new friends that would back me up. I would stand up to my family too, which helped me lift a great burden from my shoulders. Whenever I was feeling sad I would think, Naruto wouldn't be sad over something this small!...
My friends and family started noticing that I was happier more often…My grades were improving too! I was a lot more into my schoolwork because whenever we had a project to do, I would try to tie Naruto into it somehow...
Nobody really understood why I was so happy, and when I was asked, I just laughed and responded, “because I am me, and I am happy.” Naruto truly changed the way I look at things as well as the way I act, and I think it made me realize more of my true self.”
2nd Place: Lizzy Loxterkamp (George B. Weatherbee School, Hampden)
Honorable Mention: James O'Connor (Camden Rockport Middle School, Camden)
Honorable Mention: Emily Guare (Fairmount School, Bangor)
Honorable Mention: Alex Crans (Camden Rockport Middle School, Camden)
Honorable Mention: Katie Boldebook (Saco Middle School, Saco)
2nd Place (tie): Melina Bergkamp (Falmouth Middle School, Falmouth)
2nd Place (tie): Abigail White (Tripp Middle School, Turner)
Honorable Mention: Larisa Frost (Stratton Elementary School, Stratton)
Honorable Mention: Jamien Hallowell (Bristol Consolidated School, Pemaquid)
Honorable Mention: Rosamond Hayden (Individual Entry, Brunswick)
Honorable Mention: Alexis Jeter (Greely Middle School, Cumberland)
Honorable Mention: Jacob Merson (Falmouth Middle School, Falmuth)
Honorable Mention: Lila Reid (Falmouth Middle School, Falmouth)
Honorable Mention: Colin Shott (Individual Entry, Newcastle)
2nd Place: Shawnee Haynes (Edward Little High School, Auburn)
Honorable Mention: Ashley Gallagher (Edward Little High School, Auburn)
Honorable Mention: Carmen Lasagna (Edward Little High School, Auburn)
Honorable Mention: Tom Lynch (Edward Little High School, Auburn)
Honorable Mention: Sarah Olstein (Edward Little High School, Auburn)
Below is a complete list of Letters About Literature Honorable Mentions and Semifinalists. Names are sorted by school, and by town in the case of home-schooled entrants.
Krysta Moulton, Semifinalist
Jake Gendron, Semifinalist
Keila Grigware, Semifinalist
Amethyst Hersom, Semifinalist
Nick Laverriere, Semifinalist
Summer Emery, Semifinalist
Kolby Tozier, Semifinalist
Daniel Foster, Semifinalist
Jamien Hallowell, Honorable Mention
Mitchel Stewart, Semifinalist
Madalyn Davis, Semifinalist
Stephen Gross, Semifinalist
Eben Kopp, Semifinalist
Orion Krause, Semifinalist
Francie Merrill, Semifinalist
James O'Connor, Honorable Mention
Sarah Scott. Semifinalist
Hannah Wallace, Semifinalist
Blair Hudson, Semifinalist
Claire Albee, Semifinalist
Brittany Grant, Semifinalist
Jessca R. Potts, Semifinalist
Cody Halvorson, Semifinalist
Felicia Binette, Semifinalist
Matt Blanchard, Semifinalist
Shelby Chouinard, Semifinalist
Samantha Dean, Semifinalist
Rebecca Dubois, Semifinalist
Ashley Gallagher, Honorable Mention
Shaunee Haynes, Second Place
Carmen Lasagna, Honorable Mention
Tom Lynch, Honorable Mention
Sarah Olstein, Honorable Mention
Kenzie Souders, Semifinalist
Jessica Staples, First Place
Melanie Zablotny, Semifinalist
Kyle Clukey, Semifinalist
Emily Guare, Honorable Mention
Molly Jack, Semifinalist
Brennan MacDonald, Semifinalist
Jackson W. McGarvey, Semifinalist
Jonathan Stanhope, Semifinalist
Harlan Cutshall, Semifinalist
Allie Lycan, Semifinalist
Jacob Merson, Honorable Mention
Lila Reid, Honorable Mention
Jordan Stanhope. Semifinalist
Helena McMonagle, Semifinalist
Abby Bonnevie, Semifinalist
Emily Harris, Semifinalist
Taylor Goyette, Semifinalist
Adriana Macvane, Semifinalist
Sydney Nadeau, Semifinalist
Colton Pelkey, Semifinalist
Mariah Webber, Semifinalist
Dakota Duncan, Semifinalist
Taylor Delly, Semifinalist
Laura Hurst, Semifinalist
Emily O'Connell, Semifinalist
Deborah Whittier, Semifinalist
Samuel Morse, Semifinalist
Emily Eames, Semifinalist
Lindsey Harris/Winter, Semifinalist
Parker Kennedy, Semifinalist
Hannah Chavis, Semifinalist
Hailey Pollard, Semifinalist
Hannah Sheperd, Semifinalist
Jennifer Foss, Semifinalist
Caitlyn Harris, Semifinalist
Brittney Packard, Semifinalist
Kristina Glanville, Semifinalist
Darby Rawcliffe, Semifinalist
Nate Smart, Semifinalist
Alexia Stephenson, Semifinalist
Tommy Ellis, Semifinalist
Mike Kennedy, Semifinalist
v Amanda Linscott, Semifinalist
Matt Russell, Semifinalist
Joe Newlin, Semifinalist
Christian McCue, Semifinalist
Caitlin Swake, Semifinalist
Maggie Ross, Semifinalist
Dyllan Fullerton, Semifinalist
Katherine Zafirson, Semifinalist
Katilyn Coburn. Semifinalist
Hannah Cook, Semifinalist
Amanda Robinson, Semifinalist
Jenny Scontras, Semifinalist
Justin Martin, Semifinalist
Leigh-Ashley Milne, Semifinalist
Caitlin Humphries, Semifinalist
Samantha Augello, Semifinalist
Ashley Bower, Semifinalist
Skyler Laliberte, Semifinalist
Audra Miles, Semifinalist
Rachel Owens, Semifinalist
Dennis Robertson, Semifinalist
Mary Schomaker, Semifinalist
Nicole Smith, Semifinalist
Kyle S. Lyon, Semifinalist
Keenan Soule, Semifinalist
Katy Massey, Semifinalist
Damion Moore, Semifinalist
Melissa Buzzell, Semifinalist
