Texas Center for the Book news brief<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Texas Center for the Book has announced the winners of the 2020-2021 Letters About Literature Texas contest, a statewide event sponsored by the Texas Library and Archives Foundation. This annual competition invites fourth\u2013 through twelfth-grade students to write letters to authors\u2014living or dead\u2014about how that writer\u2019s words affected them or changed their worldview.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hundreds of Texas students selected a book, book series, essay, play, poem, short story, or speech that touched their lives and submitted their letters to the author this year. Winners across three competition levels receive a $100 cash prize and were honored at the 2021 Virtual Texas Library Association Conference.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Winners<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Level 1 (Grades 4-6)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
1. Reese Owen of Austin wrote to Kate DiCamillo
   \n\tBook title: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
2. Caroline Mebane of Austin wrote to Meredith Davis and Rebeka Uwitonze
   \n\tBook title: On Her Own Two Feet<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
3. Davis Martin of Austin wrote to J. K. Rowling
   \n\tBook series title: Harry Potter<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

   Level 2 (Grades 7-8)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

   \n
   1. Max Yan of Dallas wrote to R. J. Palacio
      \n\tBook title: Wonder<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
   2. Darby Rosetta of Lubbock wrote to Donna Gephart
      \n\tBook title: Lily and Dunkin<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
   3. Abigail Durnin of Leander wrote to Steven Levenso
      \n\tBook title: Dear Evan Hansen<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Level 3 (Grades 9-12)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
      1. Olivia O\u2019Reilly of Houston wrote to Chaim Potok
         \n\tBook title: The Chosen<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
      2. Cara Shield of Beaumont wrote to Mary Oliver
         \n\tPoem title: \u201cWhen Death Comes\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
      3. Andi Lopez of New Braunfels wrote to Jessica Day George
         \n\tBook series title: Dragon Slippers<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          <\/p>\n

         \u201cCongratulations to our outstanding winners and runners-up, and a big thank you to all the students who wrote letters, as well as the librarians, teachers, and parents who supported their participation,\u201d said Mark Smith, Texas State Library and Archives Commission Director and Librarian. \u201cWe are pleased to be able to present the Letters About Literature Texas contest each year to encourage students to read closely, think critically and express themselves so eloquently through their amazing letters.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

          <\/p>\n

         The winning 2021 letters are published on the TSLAC website (<\/span><\/span><\/span>https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/lettersaboutliterature<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/a>), and all students are encouraged to share the link, as well as to reach out directly to the author and publisher.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

          <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

         Texas Center for the Book news brief<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[835,813,830,844],"class_list":["post-2525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-awards","tag-lone-star-literary-life","tag-lonestarliterarycom","tag-newsbrief"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}