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2000 Letters About Literature National Winners
Each year, six National and 12 National Honor letters are chosen from the tens of thousands of entries. National winners can name the library of their choice to receive a $10,000 award from Target, and the students receive a $500 Target GiftCard. National Honor winners can name a library to receive a $1,000 award from Target, and the students receive a $50 Target GiftCard.
Level I
| Winner | Home Town | Book | Author | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candice Brooke Halk | Cherry Valley, AR | “The Summer of My German Soldier” | Bette Greene | |
| Finalists | ||||
| Amanda Vanderwarjer | Cornith, NY | “Tiger Eyes” | Judy Blume | |
| Hannah Richman | Kittanning, PA | “Warriors Don't Cry” | Melba Patillo Beals | |
| Melanie Beasley | Pompton Plains, NJ | “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep” | Lurlene McDaniel | |
| Jonathan Wells | Jacksonville, FL | the poem "I Rise" | Maya Angelou | |
| Lisa M. Weiner | Yardley, PA | “Hatchet” | Gary Paulsen | |
Level II
| Winner | Home Town | Book | Author | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helen Comber | Clarkstown High School North, New City, NY | “Bless Me, Ultima” | Rudolfo Anaya | |
| Finalists | ||||
| Zuri Rice | Clarkston, GA | “Beloved” | Toni Morrison | |
| Jessica Tomer | Hollis, NH | “The Joy Luck Club” | Amy Tan | |
| Nicole DiLello | Congers, NY | “Catcher in the Rye” | J. D. Salinger | |
| Allison Jerabeck | Skaneateles, NY | “The Sneeches” | Theodore Seuss Geisel | |
| Diana Alberti | Pittsburgh, PA | “To Kill a Mockingbird” | Harper Lee | |
State Winners Letters About Literature 2000
| State | Level I | Level II |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Lindsey Reyes-Rufelli, Girdwood, AK, for her letter to Mary Pipher, author of “Reviving Ophelia” | Jennifer Lewis, Palmer, AK, for her letter to Stephen Crane, author of “The Red Badge of Courage” |
| Arizona | Lindsey Haines, Phoenix, AZ, for her letter to Robin Jones Gunn, author of “Close Your Eyes” | Paula Phelps, Cottonwood, AZ, for her letter to Richard Bach, author of “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” |
| Arkansas | Candice Brooke Halk, Cherry Valley, AR, for her letter to Bette Greene, author of “The Summer of My German Soldier” | Ryan Charles Sajder, Mt. Home, AR, for his letter to Mitch Albom, author of “Tuesdays with Morrie” |
| California | Elise Castro, El Cajon, CA for her letter to Sharon Creech, author of “Walk Two Moons” | Patricia Liao, Diamond Bar, CA, for her letter to Joseph Conrad, author of “Heart of Darkness” |
| Colorado | Brad Shepard, Aurora, CO, for his letter to Jack London, author of “The Call of the Wild” | Juilia Kirsch, Littleton, CO, for her letter to Laura Esquivel, author of “Like Water for Chocolate” and Emily Pond, Littleton, CO, for her letter to Dr. Seuss, author of “The Sneeches” |
| Connecticut | Adam Silverman, West Hartford, CT, for his letter to Daniel Keyes, author of “Flowers for Algernon” | Jessica Wakeman, Fairfield, CT, for her letter to Elizabeth Wurtzel, author of “Prozac Nation” |
| Illinois | Paul O'Connor, Peoria, IL, for his letter to Shel Silverstein, author of “The Giving Tree” | Ran Tyrell, Carbondale, IL, for a letter to Amy Tan, author of “The Kitchen God's Wife” |
| Indiana | Michelle S. Bulin, Greentown, IN, for her letter to Ji Li Jiang, author of “Red Scarf Girl” | Rachel McColly, Lake Station, IN, for her letter to Danielle Steele, author of “His Bright Light” |
| Kansas | Ashley Prichard, Riley, KS, for her letter to Stella Pevsner, author of “How Could You Do It?” | Sara Lee from Wichita, KS, for her letter to Alexander Solzehenitsyn, author of “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” |
| Louisiana | Katie Stockton, Ruston, LA, for her letter to Astrid Lindgren, author of “Pippi Longstocking” | Jamie Allien, Monroe, LA, for his letter to Leo Buscaglia, author of “The Fall of Freddie the Leaf” |
| Maryland | Deanna Zook, Chesapeake Beach, MD, for her letter to Barbara Park, author of “Mick Harte Was Here” | Jessica Nauright, Ellicott City, MD for her letter to George Orwell, author of “Down and Out in Paris and London” |
| Minnesota | Amber Karjala, Shakopee, MN, for her letter to Eva Burke, author of “Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul” | Michael Newland, Zimmerman, MN, for his letter to Caroline Cooney, author of “Among Friends” |
| Missouri | Maurianna Randazzo, Glencoe, MO, for her letter to S.E. Hinton, author of “The Outsiders” | Samuel Warren Grabill, Harrisonville, MO, for his letter to Ray Bradbury, author of “Farenheit 451” |
| Montana | Jenni Love, Hudson, MT, for her letter to Louisa May Alcott, author of “Little Women” | Sonja Fields, Reed Point, MT for her letter to Richard Adams, author of “Watership Down” |
| Nebraska | Emily Benes, Raymond, NE, for her letter to Mildred Taylor, author of “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” | Matt Pieper, North Platte, NE, for his letter to John Grisham, author of “The Chamber” |
| New Mexico | Nilsa Delhghany, Las Cruces, NM, for her letter to Betsy Byars, author of “Cracker Jackson” | Caitlin Goss, Silver City, NM, for her letter to Harper Lee, author of “To Kill a Mockingbird” |
| North Carolina | Ginny Moye, Mt. Olive, NC, for her letter to J. K. Rowling, author of “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” | Kimberlyn Hickman, Wake Forest, NC, for her letter to Alan Paton, author of “Cry, the Beloved Country” |
| North Dakota | Samantha Olson, Bismarck, ND, for her letter to the anonymous author of “It Happened to Nancy” | Morgan Reese, Bismarck, ND, for her letter to David Pelzer, author of “The Lost Bo”y |
| Ohio | Max Bindernagel, Cleveland, OH, for his letter to Betsy Byars, author of “Trouble River” | Mary Schartman, Cincinnati, OH, for her letter to John Steinbeck, author “The Grapes of Wrath” |
| Oklahoma | Shannon Kranich, Edmond, OK, for her letter to J.R.R. Tolkien, author of “The Hobbit”, and Zachary Garrett, Broken Arrow, OK, for his letter to Arthur Ransome, author of “Coot Club” | Adam Roll, Tulsa, OK, for his letter to Stephen Crane, author of “The Red Badge of Courage” |
| Oregon | Caitlin Turner, Wallowa, OR, for her letter to Sharon Creech, author of “Walk Two Moons” | Dannah Shuval, Tualatin, OR, for her letter to Ray Bradbury, author of “Fahreneheit 451” |
| Texas | Heather Anne Cale, New Caney, TX, for her letter to Anne Frank, author of “Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl” | Jessica Brier, Austin, TX, for her letter to Anne Frank, author of “Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl” |
| Vermont | Witt Foster, Burlington, VT, for his letter to Paul Fleischman, author of “Bandit's Moon” | Jennifer Davis, West Hyde Park, VT, for her letter to Rinker Buck, author of “Flight of Passage” |
| Virginia | Anthony Vorce, Appomattox, VA, for his letter to Wilson Rawls, author of “Where the Red Fern Grows” | Vladimir Tenev, Alexandria, VA, for his letter to Sinclair Lewis, author of “The Jungle” |
| Washington | Erin Voss, Mt. Vernon, WA, for her letter to Elizabeth Craft, author of “Love Bytes” | Emily Piro, Seattle, WA, for her letter to Louis Sachar, author of “Holes” |
| Wisconsin | Melissa Vacha, Stevens Point, WI, for her letter to David Pelzer, author of “A Child Called It” | Megan Harney, Wauwatose, WI, for her letter to Richard Bach, author of “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” |
| Wyoming | Caryn Runnels, Cheyenne, WY, for her letter to William Shakespeare, author of “Romeo and Juliet” | Chris Cauwenberghs, Worland, WY, for her letter to Dean Koontz, author of “Intensity” |
