From left: Acting State Librarian Rand Simmons, John Kang, Abby Bateman, McKenna Conlin, Secretary Reed.

It’s a fun and memorable experience for people to visit the State Capitol in Olympia. It’s even more so when you receive an award there.

That was the case for three Washington students Friday afternoon, as they were honored by Secretary Reed in his office for being this year’s Letters About Literature state champions.  The annual contest encourages students to write letters to their favorite authors, living or dead.

The champs are:

• Level 1 (grades 4-6): McKenna Conlin, a sixth-grader at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Kirkland. Conlin wrote her letter to Sherman Alexie about his book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Here is part of McKenna’s letter:

“Everybody feels different sometimes.  And sometimes, I feel like nothing is right, like I’m the only person who ever feels like that, I feel alone.  But when I read your book I knew that Junior could be real and that made me feel like maybe I wasn’t as alone as I had thought, because I knew how he felt.  I knew that feeling because I know how it feels to have the world crash into a billion pieces.  Like nothing could even compare to feeling the same.  But Junior dealt with everything with humor.  He looked at everything that was good.  Your book helped me see that everything is somebody’s perspective.  That you can feel however you want.  But you should always try to look at everything you have first, not what you don’t have.  So you can see that maybe the world wasn’t so broken after all.”

• Level 2 (grades 7-8): Abby Bateman, a seventh-grader at Snoqualmie Middle School. Bateman wrote her letter to Katherine Paterson about her book Bridge to Terabithia. Last month, Bateman received one of the contest’s four Level 2 national honor awards. Bateman and the other national honor awardees receive a $100 Target gift card and a $1,000 grant. From Abby’s letter:

“Bridge to Terabithia inspired me, both in obvious ways and in totally unexpected ones.  I was touched by the power of friendship in your book, but the friendship was so strong and wonderful that it’s impossible not to be inspired by it.  I was inspired by a less prominent event in your book.  I was inspired by Jess running around in the cow field, striving to be the best runner.  That inspired me to accomplish my goals.  I have had many goals that I didn’t think I’d ever finish.  They ranged from learning Spanish to solving a Rubik’s Cube.  I have checked out Spanish books from the library and I solved my Rubik’s Cube last month.  My goals are suddenly becoming reachable.”

• Level 3 (grades 9-12): John Kang, an 11th-grader at Seattle’s Lakeside School who lives in Shoreline. Kang wrote his letter to Mary Paik Lee about her book Quiet Odyssey:  A Pioneer Korean Woman in America. Part of John’s letter reads:

“Before reading your book, I hadn’t given a thought to the journey my parents made from South Korea to America.  Even though they arrived without having to endure the same hardships that you faced, I was nevertheless able to hear my parents’ story deep within yours.  My parents left behind a foundation of comfort in which they could have stayed for a place where they would be far from their own family and friends.  You and your parents departed from your pioneering grandmother, for a land completely foreign and strange.  I have yet to fully understand my parents’ sacrifice at all, but now I recognize that the path to my life in America was not easy, that my parents and their parents gave up much to give me what I have now.”

All three champions read their letters aloud to Reed, their families and others. State Rep. Ross Hunter (48th District) also attended.

Go here for more info about the contest and awards ceremony, which was covered by TVW.

UPDATE: Go here to view TVW’s coverage of the awards ceremony. It’s just under 24 minutes.