Upper Merion Library holds awards ceremony for young authors

On Sunday, February 21, 2021, the Upper Merion Township Library in King of Prussia released a special Awards Ceremony video on their website honoring all of the young authors who entered their 46th annual Write and Illustrate Your Own Book Contest. Click here to see the video. The contest was open to all students in Kindergarten through grade 8. Book submissions were received from many different public and private schools in the area. Winners were chosen by a diverse and experienced panel of literary judges from the community. All winning books are bound, cataloged and included in the permanent Children’s Collection at the Upper Merion Township Library.

The 2021 Write and Illustrate Your Own Book Contest winners are as follows:

Kindergarten - Swara Parkhi (1st), Aren Artinian (2nd), Gianna Olson (3rd) and Danny Molchany (Honorable Mention).

First Grade - Jude Schoonover (1st), Alique Balian (2nd), Shelena Aneesh (3rd) and Aanya Singh (Honorable Mention).

Second Grade - Layla Vartanian (1st), Bhavit Chapalasetty (2nd), Alaina Sharma (3rd) and Ritu Gandhi & Aahna Dani (Honorable Mention - tie).

Third Grade - Thanishka Asturi (1st), Saanvi Sri Battula (2nd), Anna Zheng & Alexa Kazanjian (3rd - tie).

Fourth Grade - Emma Vigile (1st), Kashish Bhargava (2nd), Maggie Thompson (3rd) and Advaith Thumalur (Honorable Mention).

Fifth Grade - Talia Matthew (1st), Kaitlyn Aleardi (2nd), Sara Monteleone (3rd) and Alexis Marzzacco (Honorable Mention).

Sixth Grade - Max Belmonte (1st), Levon Placido (2nd), Jemma Topakbashian (3rd) and Gayathri Harikumar (Honorable Mention).

Seventh Grade - Denise Morales (1st), Talia Croy (2nd), Sofia Bagarazzi (3rd) and Nishan Bouloutian (Honorable Mention).

Eighth Grade - Sam Belmonte (1st), Ishitaa Saxena (2nd), Alex Dardarian (3rd) and Jacob Topakbashian (Honorable Mention).

In addition, two very special overall awards for the contest were announced. Denise Morales, a 7th grade student at Upper Merion Middle School, won the coveted Susan Lomax Award (Best Overall Illustrations) for her book entitled, Dear Grandpa,. Sam Belmonte, an 8th grader student also at Upper Merion Middle School, won the prestigious Joane F. McNamara Award (Best Overall Story) for his book entitled Covid vs. Soccer. Congratulations to these two young writers/illustrators on their outstanding work. The UM Township Library also thanks all of the students who took the time to submit a book into the contest this year.

To view the awards ceremony, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG5 UWWnVOjg&feature=yo utu.be

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