Letters About Literature National Winners 2009
Honorable Mentions, Level 1: Cameron Fitzgerald
Dear Jack London,
I loved your book, White Fang. In fact, it changed me. It made me think of the difference between just being alive and living. As I read your book, I felt that White Fang was half dead most of the time. But White Fang kept holding on, hoping for something good to happen.
Before I read your book, I was alive and breathing. But after I read your book, I felt it was important to be living and have fun. Your book helped me understand that most of the time it is right to make your own choices, as when White Fang came out of his cave without his mother. This past summer, when we were vacationing at the beach, the boys and girls and grown-ups would play a ball game. I never won. I always came in second. But I loved the game, so I joined in every chance I got. It was your book that inspired me to join in and take my chances. That, to me, is the choice between really living and just breathing in and out.
Because of White Fang’s example in your story, I will always make the choice to join in and play and not stand on the sidelines.
Sincerely,
Cameron Fitzgerald
