What do Little House on the Prairie, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Elegant Universe have in common? They are the books chosen by the three Washington students honored in Olympia as the state champions in the national Letters About Literature contest.

Reagan Nelson (middle) of Spokane, Stephen Hitchcock (right) of Woodinville and Tyler Christensen (left) of Snoqualmie were honored in Secretary of State Sam Reed’s office by Reed, State Librarian Jan Walsh and Guy Lamolinara of the Center for the Book, part of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The three winners read aloud their letters to the authors.

Nelson and Hitchcock recently were honored as national winners in the annual contest, which encourages students to write letters to their favorite authors, living or dead.

Family members and friends of the champs also attended the ceremony, which was covered by TVW and will air Monday at 9 p.m.  and then on Tuesday at 11 a.m. The ceremony also can be viewed online on TVW’s Web site.

Nelson, a sixth-grader at Hutton Elementary School in Spokane, is one of two national winners at Level I (grades 4-6). Nelson, the daughter of Erik and Colleen Nelson, wrote her letter to Laura Ingalls Wilder about her book Little House on the Prairie.

Here is an excerpt: “Change is something many people are afraid of, but I know it can be wonderful. It is something I have never looked at in the same way since reading your book Little House on the Prairie and meeting Laura. My house burned down when I was seven, and I almost died in the fire. Since that night my dad rescued me from my burning bedroom, things were never the same. People have always described the fire as a great tragedy that hit our family, but I have never viewed it that way. Like Laura on the prairie, this was a time when I was faced with big changes. My family had no home to live in and not even our clothes to wear. But Laura taught me that life’s challenges can be viewed as a great adventure, something to be thankful for even, and this is a view I have chosen to adopt in my own life.”

National winners each designate a favorite library that they wish to receive a $10,000 grant from Target. These students each receive a $500 Target gift card.

Hitchcock, an eighth-grader at Overlake School in Redmond, has been named one of the four national honor winners for Level II (grades 7-8). Hitchcock, the son of Greg and Lisa Hitchcock, wrote his letter to Jules Verne about his book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Part of Hitchcock’s letter focused on the book’s Captain Nemo: “He needed something to fill the void in his heart, the place that mankind had ripped out of him. What he began to realize was that killing couldn’t fill the void in his heart. What Captain Nemo needed was love. He needed someone to be there for him, to help him through his hard time. After understanding this, I realized the bullies only bullied because they had been the victim, and they needed more than ever to have someone to help them.”

Each national honors recipient designates a favorite library to receive a $1,000 Target grant. Each student receives a $100 Target gift card.

Christensen, a 12th-grader at Mount Si High School in Snoqualmie, is Washington’s Level III (grades 9-12) champ. Christensen, the son of Peter and Julie Christensen, wrote his letter to Brian Greene about his book The Elegant Universe.

From Tyler’s letter: “Thanks to the inspiration that I received from reading your book, The Elegant Universe, I have committed my life to a future in nuclear physics. Last year, I was searching for informational books on particle physics since this was an interest of mine; however, I found it difficult to find higher level materials that didn’t require college mathematics knowledge. The solution was your book, which I quickly read and have since been fascinated by the subject. The way that advanced topics are portrayed in a simple to understand and intriguing fashion make the book a brilliant piece of work that any aspiring physicist should read.”

After graduation, Christensen will study nuclear engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.