2018 Winners|2017 Winners|2016 Winners
Over 2,000 Texas students entered the 2016-2017 Letters About Literature Contest. Congratulations to all the winners. First through Third place winners are listed below. First place winners have advanced to national judging!
All 4th-12th graders are invited to participate! Read a book or poem and write a letter. You could be on this list! For more information about the contest, see the Letters About Literature page.
Teachers, librarians, parents, neighbors, and beyond— please share this opportunity and cultivate a love of reading. As you will read in the winners’ entries, this contest takes words off pages, creates a heart connection to story, and organically cultivates life-long readers.
Level I Grades 4-6
Placement |
Winner |
Letter |
Hometown |
Piece |
Author |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st Place |
Celina Prieur |
|
Dallas, TX |
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” |
Mark Haddon |
"Your book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time has changed me…” |
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2nd Place |
|
Dallas, TX |
“Wonder” |
R.J. Palacio |
|
"I am writing to you because your book, Wonder, has changed my life, and I…" |
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3rd Place |
|
Dallas, TX |
“‘The Long Winter” |
Laura Ingalls Wilder |
|
"As I write this letter to you, I am sitting on a comfortable sofa, and I can smell…" |
Level II Grades 7-8
Placement |
Winner |
Letter |
Hometown |
Piece |
Author |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st Place |
Cynthia N. Onyiorah |
McAllen, TX |
“Nineteen Minutes” |
Jodi Picoult |
|
"Just the other day I was pondering about my life and the decisions…" |
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2nd Place |
Archer Calder |
Cypress, TX |
“Out of My Mind” |
Sharon Draper |
|
"My name is Archer Calder and I am 12 years old." |
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3rd Place |
Jimena I. Sotelo |
McAllen, TX |
“The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer” |
Michelle Hodkin |
|
"I know it's an atypical subject for a letter; death." |
Level III Grades 9-12
Placement |
Winner |
Letter |
Hometown |
Piece |
Author |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st Place |
Isabel Hu |
League City, TX |
“The Poisonwood Bible” |
Barbara Kingsolver |
|
“Throughout my entire life, I've imagined myself as a lonesome…” |
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2nd Place |
Colby Menefee |
Buffalo, TX |
“Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church” |
Lauren Drain |
|
"This morning, I read a news article about a 13-year-old gay…” |
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3rd Place |
Avery Gann |
Parker, TX |
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” |
J.K Rowling |
|
"In my lifetime, the Lord has tested me in many ways." |