Letters About Literature winners to be honored

New Mexico state level champions and runners up in the 2017 Letters About Literature competition, an annual writing contest for young readers in grades 4 through 12, will be honored at the State Capitol Friday at 1:30 p.m.

Department of Cultural Affairs Cabinet Secretary Veronica Gonzales and State Librarian Kathleen Peiffer will congratulate the students and the state champions will read their letters aloud.

The program, made possible by a grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and administered by the Library of Congress Center for the Book, encourages youngsters to read a book and write a personal letter to the author explaining how the book changed or shaped their perspective of themselves or the world, according to a news release.

The winners are:

RAVEN CALLAWAYKIDD,

a fifth grade student at Turquoise Trail Elementary in Santa Fe, is the Level 1 champion. She wrote her letter to Holly Schindler about her book, The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky.

NATASHIA MCDONALD,

an eighth grade student at Des Moines Municipal Schools in Des Moines, is the Level 2 champion. Her letter is addressed to The Fault in Our Stars author John Green.

REBEKAH HILDEBRANT,

an 11th grade student at Arrowhead Park Medical Academy in Las Cruces, is the Level 3 champion. She wrote her letter to Rick Riordan about his books The Lightning Thief and The House of Hades.

The three New Mexico champion letters advance to the national competition and will be sent to the Library of Congress for the national judging round, where they will be competing for a $1,000 cash award. The results of the national contest will be released in early May.

To read the three winning letters, visit www.nmstatelibrary.org