State Library of Kansas
150 Years of Outstanding Service
Kathleen Sebelius, Governor
Christie P. Brandau, State Librarian
For more information, contact:
Kansas Center for the Book
800.432.3919, kcfb@kslib.info
Wichita Junior Wins Kansas Center for the Book
Writing Award
Ammarah Usmani, an 11th grade student at Wichita East High School, received the top honor in this year’s Kansas Letters About Literature reading and writing initiative. Judges recommended Usmani’s letter to Firooseh Dumas, author of Funny in Farsi, as the first place winner in Level III competition for readers in grades 9-12. Usmani’s winning letter advances to national competition.
“Finishing your book made me realize that the whole concept of family is utterly exquisite,” wrote Usmani. “Family members look out for one another’s best interests.”
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. Statewide, it is administered by the Kansas Center for the Book at the State Library of Kansas. Judges are all Fellows or representatives of Affiliates of the Kansas Center for the Book
To enter, young readers write a personal letter to an author explaining how his or her work changed their view of the world or themselves. Firoozeh Dumas’s book deals with an immigrant family rich with their Middle Eastern heritage, tradition, and kindred relationships. “I certainly hold more confidence and pride in my culture and religion now.” Usmani wrote in her letter to the author of Funny in Farsi. “The part that remains is discovering what contribution I am capable of making to the world.”
Readers can select authors from any genre—fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic. The program has three competition levels: upper elementary, middle school, and secondary. The contest theme encourages young readers to explore his or her personal responses to a book, then express that response in a creative, original way.
Almost 1,300 Kansas students in grades 4-12 competed. Twenty were selected as semi-finalists in Level III, the level Usmani won.
The state winner for competition Level I (grades 4-6) was Jamie Yearout, Stilwell, for her letter to Ann Martin for A Corner of the Universe. The state winner for Level II (grades 7-8) was Corinne Andresen, Overland Park, for her letter to Madeline L’Engle, who wrote A Swiftly Tilting Planet.
Kansas state winners each receive a cash award, a $50 Target gift card, and recognition by the Kansas Center for the Book at their school. Their letters are forwarded to the national competition to compete with state winners from across the U.S.
The Kansas Center for the Book promotes reading and libraries, fosters statewide literary activities, and seeks to stimulate public interest in the educational and cultural role of the book, authorship and writing. As a state affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, the Kansas Center for the Book is a nonprofit, tax-exempt program of the State Library of Kansas.
Target Stores, along with its parent company Target Corporation, gives back more than $2 million a week to its local communities through grants and special programs. Since opening its first store in 1962, Target has partnered with nonprofit organizations, guests and team members to help meet community needs.