For Immediate Release
Contact: Mary Russell, 603-271-2866
March 19, 2009

Letters About Literature New Hampshire 2009 Semi-finalists Have Been Selected

Letters About Literature is a reading and writing promotion program of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, presented in partnership with Target Stores and coordinated in New Hampshire by the Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library. To enter, young readers wrote a personal letter to an author explaining how his or her work changed their view of the world or themselves. Readers selected authors from any genre—fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic. There were three competition levels in the program: upper elementary, middle school, and secondary. The contest theme encouraged young readers to explore their personal response to a book and then express that response in a creative, original way.

This year there were 802 letters received from New Hampshire students. Fifty-five New Hampshire semi-finalists were selected across the three competition levels by a panel of judges working on behalf of the Library of Congress. These letters are being reviewed by a panel of judges here in New Hampshire who will select the winning letters for New Hampshire which will be announced at http://nhbookcenter.blogspot.com by the end of March. The Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library will award $100 to each first place winner. State winners will advance to the national competition where they could win a $500 Target GiftCard and a $10,000 LAL Reading Promotion Grant for their community. 

Congratulations to all the 2009 Letters About Literature New Hampshire semi-finalists!

Andi Fowler - Rye

Andy Carper - Hollis

Angelina Higgins - Lisbon

Avery Judd - Hanover

Brennan Young - Lee

Chris Walker - Portsmouth

Cole Williams - Hollis

Crystal Spaulding - Exeter

Curtis Fraser - Contoocook

Dan Lannan - Derry

Derek Roberts - Lisbon

Elizabeth Caverly - East Hampstead

Elizabeth Krogman - Dunbarton

Emily Willard Bailey - Lyndeborough

Emma Sosa - Durham

Emma Williams - Lisbon

Ethan Michaud - Milford

Greg Bernash - Gilmanton Iron Works

Hannah Rose Bush - Richmond

Heather Coen - Contoocook

Kristen Scarano - Nashua

Lauren Foster - Dunbarton

Lucia Lansing - Nashua

Megan Cullinane - Derry

Merisa Dion - Derry

Micaela Griffin - Hampstead

Michael Ramos - Marlborough

Michaela Dowling - Brookline

Molly E. Forgaard - Hollis

Nick Maccini - Pembroke

Nicole Andersen - Dunbarton

Nicole Wholey - Hollis

Olivia Black - Hollis

Peyton Plante - Pembroke

Rachel Hatch - Derry

Rhiannon Frizzell – Stratford / Bloomfield, Vt.

Samantha Hebert - Salem

Sarah Barnard - Hopkinton

Sarveen Shafiyan-Rad - Nashua

Samantha Watterson - Gilford

Please note that in addition to the students listed here, there were 15 other students honored as semi-finalists who had not given us permission to announce their names as of today.

--- END ---