Letters About Literature 2010

Letters About Literature is a national reading and writing promotion contest sponsored by the Library of Congress and Target. This year over 70,000 students from grades 4-12 read a nonfiction book, short story, poem, essay, or speech and then wrote a personal letter to the author. In these 100-400 word letters, the students reflected upon the affect the piece of literature had on their lives. Students from the state of Ohio submitted over 2,400 letters; 913 of these were from fourth to sixth graders. Of these 913 entries, only 36 advanced to state level (Round 3) judging. Birchwood School's fifth and sixth graders made up one-sixth of the total students from Ohio to reach Round 3 judging. These six students include Prathna K, Vinny K, Michael T, Peter A H, Kavya R, and Katelyn V. In the next round, the 36 entries were whittled down to six semi-finalists, and once again, Birchwood students finished very strongly. Of the six top essays chosen, half were those of Birchwood students: Kavya R, Katelyn V, and Michael T. Kavya then went on to win second place in the state of Ohio for her letter to Kathryn Lasky, who wrote The Night Journey, while Katelyn earned third place for writing to Ann M. Martin, author of A Dog's Life. Congratulations to these fine students for their success with clear written expression.