The Iowa Center for the Book honored 18 student readers from across Iowa as winners and honorable mentions for the 2017 Iowa Letters About Literature awards program at a ceremony on Friday, April 28 at the Urbandale Public Library.
Sponsored by the Library of Congress, the prestigious national literary contest has student readers write a letter to an author of a book that has changed their view of themselves or their world.
Congratulations to Josie Boyle from Drexler Middle Intermediate School in Farley, Iowa who placed first in the Level I (Grades 4-6) category. Josie’s letter focused on the book: The Same Stuff as Stars by Katherine Paterson. This is the second year in a row that Josie has had the honor of receiving this distinguished award.
"I am dazzled by the letters we received. What a wonderful unfolding of the creative process! We congratulate each of the student readers on their accomplishment,” said Helen Dagley, coordinator of the Iowa Center for the Book. “Iowa has a tradition of showcasing meaningful and moving letters that do well at the national level, and this year is no exception.”
For the 2017
program 1,618 Iowa students submitted letters, with163 passing the first round of review and returning to Iowa for
further judging. First place winners in
each level are submitted to the Library of Congress from each of the 52 participating states and territories to
compete at the national level. In 13
years of participation, Iowa has had five national winners.
You may read the students’ letters in full at this website: http://www.iowacenterforthebook.org/letters/winners/2017/2017-LAL