Winning Essays Chosen for Letters About Literature 2002

Back, from left:  Kaitlin Tredway, Level I, third prize winner; Louise Blalock, Chief Librarian of the Hartford Public Library; Jay Gurney, Level I, first prizes winner; Kat Lyons, CT Center for the Book coordinator at the HPL; Patrick Shreckengast, Level I, second prize winner; Linda Tan, Level II, third prize winner; Cassandra Faustini, Level II, first prize winner; Mary Etter, Advisory Council Chairperson; and, co-creator of the I Spy series Walter Wick. Sitting, from left: Suzanne Barchers, Ph.D., managing editor, Weekly Reader's Read Magazine; Terese Karmel, features editor, The Chronicle, Willimantic; and, one of this year's judges Bina Williams.

Connecticut students were awarded cash prizes at the State Capitol this month for their winning entries in the "Letters About Literature 2002" essay contest presented by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and sponsored by the Weekly Reader Corporation.

"Letters About Literature 2002" inspired 1500 students from 61 Connecticut schools to write a letter to an author, living or deceased, explaining how that author’s work changed the student’s life in some way.

First Prize – Jay Gurney (grade 6, King Philip School, West Hartford), inspired by Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia; Second Prize – Patrick Shreckengast (grade 7, Sedgwick Middle School, West Hartford), letter to Christopher Curtis about The Watsons go to Birmingham—1963; Third Prize – Kaitlin Tredway (grade 7, St. James School, Manchester), wrote about Barbara Dana’s Young Joan.

First Prize – Cassandra Faustini (grade 11, Frank Scott Bunnell

High School, Stratford), swayed by Jack Kerouac’s On the road; Second Prize – Johana Manzano (grade 9, Danbury High School, Danbury), identified with Jennings Burch’s They cage the animals at night; Third Prize – Linda A. Tan (grade 11, Conard High School, West Hartford), excited by Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club.

All 25,000 Letters about Literature 2002 entries from around the nation were received and initially read by the national coordinator and her staff. Semi-finalists’ essays were then returned to the originating states for final judging while the very best were also forwarded to the Library of Congress for national consideration. 

Terese Karmel presenting an  award to Level I, second prize  winner Patrick Shreckengast of  Sedgwick Middle School,  West Hartford

All of Connecticut’s winners and semi-finalists, along with their parents or guardians and teachers, were invited to an awards ceremony at the State Capitol June 7.  The guest author for this year’s program will be Walter Wick. 

Terese Karmel presenting an  award to Level II, third prize  winner Linda Tan of Conard High  School, West Hartford

Suzanne Barchers, Ph.D., Managing Editor of READ magazine at Weekly Reader will also speak. Terese Karmel, features editor of The Chronicle in Willimantic will present awards and certificates. The three winners in each level will receive cash prizes of $100, $50, and $25. Each winner and semi-finalist will also receive a certificate of achievement from the Connecticut Center for the Book.

Sitting, Level II, second  prize winner Johana  Manzano of Danbury  High School, Danbury.   Standing, Bina Williams  and Kat Lyons.

Judges for Connecticut’s Level I student essayists this year were: Leonard Everett Fisher, Westport—artist, illustrator, and children’s author; Terese Karmel, Willimantic—editor and journalism instructor; and, Bina Williams, New Haven—children’s librarian. 

Walter Wick, featured  author

Level II judges were: Arlene Bielefield, Middlefield—professor, author, and attorney; Carole Goldberg, West Hartford—newspaper editor and book reviewer; and, Vivian B. Martin, New Britain—journalist, adjunct professor, and author.

Entry forms for the 2003 contest will become available in fall 2002 through school media specialists, Weekly Reader Corporation, and the Hartford Public Library's Web sites.