Letters about Literature
Congratulations to our Rhode Island 2005 Winners
Level I State Winner
Angela Russo, 5th Grade, Metcalf Elementary School, W. Greenwich
Submitted by Parent: Ms. Russo
Dear Wendelin Van Draanen,
I am writing to you regarding your Sammy Keyes books. I am a big fan of Sammy Keyes and have been reading them since second grade. I still enjoy them and this year my fifth grade teacher is reading them to us as a class. I like your books mostly because they are about children around my age in a natural setting. I can easily relate to your books because Sammy shares some characteristics with me. Your books inspire me because I can picture Santa Martina and all of the settings as if I were the author. The style of writing paints a picture in my head. Sammy Keyes is a girl like me Out to change the world!
Sammy Keyes is a very thoughtful girl that is interested in everybody's business. I love to know what is happening in my family and in the world. I feel like a reporter sometimes because 1 always know what is going on. I love to solve cases and I am good at it too. I think that others would say I am very involved. I am never bored because my grandfather says that if you are bored you are boring. Reading is one of my many desires and some day I might become an author just like you.
I go to a public school just like Sammy and the people in the environment are very similar. It is as if she were in my neighborhood. Your books have made a difference in my life. They have let me be more aware on what is going on and I have learned more about myself as well as Sammy. I imagine what it is like in her world with Heather and 1 am starting to notice children like Heather and Marissa. I would like to be Sammy because she can say whatever she wants and not get in trouble. I would not like to live illegally in a senior highrise and have to hide whenever a guest is there. If 1 traded places with Sammy, I would absolutely love to visit Hudson. He is my favorite character because he always knows the right thing to say and he is seventy-two and still young. He is amazing and since I have been reading these books I started to focus in on the good in everybody. Reading Sammy Keyes is like getting a gift from god!
Before I read your books I was not as confident in myself Sammy was just some ordinary girl. After I was finished with the story I really understood the meaning of seventh grade and how living with no mother and father is very difficult. Sammy is interesting but I don't think that some people see that inner beauty. Everybody has talent and Sammy isn't a show off so she doesn't express all of her talent at once. I am the same way so I always have some left to share. I am not incredibly popular and I don't focus on others. I believe that Sammy shares some of those same traits. Sammy changes through the books and goes though conflicts just like me. Nobody's life is peffect and I'm sure you took that into consideration when developing the characters. The questions that your stories make me ask include why Officer Borsch and Sammy are in such controversy and how Heather became the cool kid. Sammy develops over time and that is one of the most significant changes everybody goes though.
Your books keep me interested in Sammy, her mother, the rest of the characters and myself 1ff had to give you feedback I would say you have top-notch books but you need to work on getting them out sooner. The Sammy Keyes series would make excellent movies because I can easily picture the setting that you write the characters in. Your books amaze me so keep on writing!
Sincerely,
Angela Russo
Level I Honorable Mention
TJ Cienki, 6th grade
Submitted by Parent: Sue Cienki
Dear Joseph Lemosali Luketon,
I was lying in my bed covered with my warm fleece blanket not anxious to get out of bed. I rolled over and nestled into my side was your book Facing the Lion: Growing up Maasai on the African Savanna. I had finished reading the book the night before and I did not realize at that moment what a profound effect your book would have on my life.
I sauntered down the stairs to get breakfast where I was warmly greeted by my mom. She ask if I finished reading your book (we both believe a good book is best when shared.). I told her despite the fact I am growing up on a different continent from you I was amazed at the similarities in our lives. I discussed with my mom how it seemed to me all children have dreams. We all want to be educated. We are all curious by nature and we want to explore possibilities outside the tiny corner of our life. I live in a very materialistic culture, while your culture was simplistic. Reading your book showed me it is possible to be happy without all the trappings existing in my life. Our environment should be enjoyed and appreciated, and we should not take the gifts we have been given for granted. A good book can sensitize you to issues existing in other cultures and open up your small world to the struggles that other people face every day. I left the comfort of my home that morning with a new perspective on the world.
Your book was about to ignite a passion deep within my soul. As I entered my classroom a few days before Thanksgiving, our class was discussing world hunger. The startling information I received about poverty in central Africa made me realize about the differences in our two diverse worlds. I thought we were living in parallel worlds yet the hunger present in Africa was not a reality in my world. Instinctively I knew I had to do something about this problem. Pondering what I as a 11 year boy could do to make a difference; I decided to form a grass roots organization to help eliminate world hunger for children in Africa. Deciding on a name I thought it appropriate to call it Help a Child. The organization is in its infancy, yet I hope to expand its nature to truly impact another child's life. I began by taking my lunch money and donating to this organization. I want to spread the word throughout my school and then my community about my goals. You have given me the passion to make the difference in one child's life.
Many people view books as entertainment. They see books as simply words upon a page. I see books as so much more. They, like your book, can change a person's outlook on life. Books are valuable tools to educate and inform. The greatest gift from your book would be my ability to reach across the ocean and make a difference in one child's life. To be able to rescue a future leader, writer or a farmer from the cycle of poverty would be a hope and dream in my life. Your overcoming tremendous adversity in seeking your goals has encouraged me to pursue mine. With great respect, I am,
Sincerely yours,
TJ Cienki
Level I Honorable Mention
Tori Caron, 6th grade, Western Hills Middle School
Submitted by Teacher: C. Mignanelli
Dear Ms. Naylor,
I love writing fictional stories about characters that I invent. You have touched me with an amazing book called Alice in Rapture.
Before I read your book, I was a bit confused about growing up. I have an underdeveloped right brain, so books are the way I learn. Your book also showed me some social skills that I could use in a tight situation.
After I read your tale, I felt more comfortable with growing up, and, even though she is fictional, I felt compassion for Alice about losing her mother. I would be lost without my own mother. Alice is also always in pinches like I am. She copes with love and life with her strengths and weaknesses. One of her greatest strengths that I can relate to is the way she speaks her mind. I believe that everyone deserves a say in things as she does. Her greatest flaw is that she is very sorrowful sometimes. I feel that way after I read a sad story, or hear a depressing song. These feelings Alice has makes her human, and it makes me understand that everyone my age feels sorrowful sometimes. It is part of life. Your story about Alice's life is woven into wondrous words inside of the book, and it seems as if it will spring to life at any moment. You have used your gift given to you wisely, helping pre-teens like myself relate to and work through our feelings.
Sincerely,
Tori Caron
Level II Winner
Katherine Zullo, 8th grade, Davisville Middle School, N. Kingstown
Submitted by Parent: Linda Reiss-Zullo
Dear Eireann Corrigan,
Let me tell you about a life changing day I once experienced. "Aren't you going to eat something?" I questioned heartily. The response was a harsh, "No." I sat directly across from a friend of mine and looked into her eyes. I could tell she was hurting inside. "You should really eat something," I said pushing my luck. I could already tell my friend did not want to be interrogated. "I just don't want to!" She screamed back at me. I could tell she had been starving herself. Her wrists looked thin and bony and she couldn't have weighed more than ninety pounds, so without saying another word I reached into my book bag and pulled out a book. I calmly stood up and dropped the book in front of her. As I walked away I saw her pick it up, look it over and then immediately start reading it. The title of the book I had dropped was You Remind Me Of You. I knew this was my last resort to changing this girl's life.
The day I read your poetry memoir I couldn't help but cry, tears ran down my cheeks like waterfalls. I never knew that a book could have such a dramatic effect on me. Your story was so real, so familiar, it was almost as if I could feel your pain every time you returned to another eating disorder facility. The world you lived in for years and years is a familiar world to many young adults, especially girls. Everyday I listen to somebody criticize someone else, however, most of the time no one realizes the consequences of their words or actions. While most people laugh it off I can tell that they are hurting deep inside. My heart bleeds for stories like yours and people like you. No one deserves to endure what you went through and you have changed my view of those kind of diseases and people forever.
Before I read your poetry memoir I was utterly oblivious to the world. Everything that didn't involve me I simply labeled as not being my problem or unimportant, but it is my problem. Everything is my problem. We live in America where freedom of speech is, well, free. A male can get away with calling a female "fat" and yelling absurdities, just like in other countries with different cultures. But this is America, where this should never ever occur. Now can you see why America has so many issues? I had no clue about what caused eating disorders or suicide, but now I do. My frozen heart was finally warmed up with compassion by your book. I finally realized that instead of worrying about what's in style I should be worrying about the issues that teens in America are faced with everyday. If it wasn't for your book my heart would still be stone cold to all these issues.
If someone were to be tripped and beaten right in front of you would you help them? Hopefully you would. So if you see someone becoming anorexic shouldn't you do something to help them? The answer is yes and your wonderful book taught me that. It opened my heart to how other people think and live their lives. Your book made me stop focusing on me and start focusing on everyone else. My thoughts went from, "I need that." and "I want that." to "How can I help that person?" and "What can I do for that person?" I would still be an egocentric, self-centered person if it wasn't for your eye-opening book. The girl I talked about earlier now weighs a normal, healthy weight and she says she owes it all to your poetry memoir You Remind Me Of You and to me. I allowed her to keep the book as a reminder of the right decision if she ever thought of not eating again. It felt good to change a person's life for the better and that's how you should feel too. You greatly changed my life and I can not thank you enough. Now that you've help me I can now help other people. There is nothing else to say but thank you. Thank you for your book, thank you for sharing your story, and thank you for caring.
Sincerely,
Katie ZuIlo
Level II Honorable Mention
Elizabeth Clark, 7th grade, Middlletown
Submitted by Teacher: Mrs. Corr
Dear Patricia McCormick,
I thank God that I found your book, Cut, when I did. Last year, all of my friends and I were cutting. I told my mom about what I was doing and we had a huge conversation about it (tears and all). Later that year, I went to the bookstore and found your book. I started reading it and could not put it down because I thought I was reading a book about me, for me. I let my friends read it and it helped us all. Although some of my friends still cut, it really helped us through some rough times, and led us to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The first day of reading the book, I felt like I was looking back at my past. I could connect so much to the character, Callie, that it scared me. When she talked to the therapist about how she started cutting, it made me cry because I saw so much of myself in her. Whenever I would read the book, I would tell myself that I couldn't and wouldn't hurt myself anymore. Finally, after I finished reading Callie's story, I had stopped cutting completely. Your story inspired me to love myself from the inside out. There are days when I want to stait cutting again more than anyone would believe. Those are the days that I look back at your book and remember the alternatives. Now, every time I look at my scars, I remember your book and how it gave me the strength that I needed to believe in myself I realize now that I am a good person and not everything that goes wrong is my fault (like I used to think).
All that I can say is thank you so much for the inspiration that your book gave me. If it weren't for you, I would probably still be cutting right now. Callie's story showed me the light at the end of the tunnel and gave me hope for the future. Although my life is far from perfect, it is much better because you decided to write the book Cut
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Clark
Level III Winner
Jennifer Plume, 11th grade, St. Mary Academy - Bay View, Riverside
Submitted by Teacher: Marion Wrye
Dear Ms. Rowling,
I greatly admire everything about the Harry Potter books but I especially love the character of Harry. We have grown up together and over the years he has worked his way into my heart. However, I must admit that for a while after reading the most recent book I felt slightly betrayed by Harry. Somewhere within those eight hundred and seventy pages of The Order of the Phoenix, he snatched away from me the few remaining strands of my childhood that I held in my grip.
I knew my childhood was slowly slipping away as each successive book grew continually darker in mood but I was still maintaining the idealistic perspective of a child and denying the existence of certain issues in the world. However, by the fifth book, the sinister issues became such a thematic and controlling figure within the novel that they were impossible to ignore. Corruptions in the Ministry of Magic and the evil deeds of Dolores Umbridge sharply contrasted with the other four books in the series. In the previous books, Hogwarts was a sanctuary; a place untouched by the outside world; a place where all problems were resolved by the term end. Now, in The Order of the Phoenix, Hogwarts is at the center of the turmoil. Fudge and Umbridge slashed open Hogwarts' mystical veil and determinedly sought to destroy everything that made it magical. As they made Hogwarts the forefront of the battle raging between the Ministry and Dumbledore, they shattered the glass of my snow globe world and brought home to me problems in society that had never before seemed to affect me. Like the thestrals appearing out of the mists of obscurity, the negative issues flooded into my sanctuary, my home. I was able to see myself as the war refugee or the abandoned child on television and I developed an aching sadness as I saw the world in a new light and realized some of its more negative aspects. Even still, it was not until the prophecy that I realized my fate was sealed.
Nothing less than the ugly truth of harry's future could awaken me to realize that I am no longer that innocent eleven year old gleefully riding the Hogwarts Express away from my troubles. I have obligations and responsibilities not only to myself but to society that I must face head on. Yes, my childhood is thoroughly a part of the past, and I mourned for it as Harry mourned for Sirius. With the loss of my childhood naivety, my hopes, my dreams, I felt a strange discontent about everything I once enjoyed, but then came the dawn of revelation. This change was not an end but a new beginning. By leaving behind my childhood views, I am better equipped to deal with the future. With this realization, Harry was redeemed. More than that, I now see myself as in debt to Harry, for he has shown me true strength of character while going through a similar change. In spite of the horrors in his past, and the difficulties set before him for the future, he does not let himself be weighed down by the lamentable aspects of life. The burdens and sorrows that I have met in my life don't even come close to what Harry has dealt with in his, and yet he is not a bitter person for it. More than that, Harry is capable of looking beyond his troubles, beyond Umbridge's hatred toward himself, to find not only joy in his life but a way to combat the evil around him. Instead of submitting to Umbridge and looking out for his own good, he risks his own wellbeing and takes a proactive approach to prepare the world for Voldemort's return through his D.A. meetings. Furthermore, I find Harry to be an exemplary character in his ability to persevere. When others had given in to the evil Umbridge, Harry is able to continue for truth's sake and for the good of the people he loves. Harry has truly been an inspiration to me and I feel better prepared and able to face the future because of the reality of the world he has brought to my attention and the strength he has shown me in dealing with these realities.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Plume
Level III Honorable Mention
Micaela Harvey, 12th grade, Portsmouth High, Portsmouth
Submitted by Teacher: Ms. C. Frankel
Dear Mr. Pelzer,
On August 14, 2003, my older sister, Jessi, passed away. She had fallen from her horse during the previous year. The fall left her with two broken bones in her leg and a fractured back. She was prescribed painkillers after her operation from which she soon developed an addiction. She then entered a rehabilitation center where she made a new "friend". He introduced her to heroin, which would become her final assassin.
This tragedy was a huge shock to my family, but even more to my friends. They had no idea of what was going on behind the smile I kept plastered across my face. I kept my secret until finally, the news headlines made it impossible to keep. As I read your autobiography, A Child Called It, I found myself easily relating to the feelings you expressed. Although our secrets were different, we both struggled to hide them from those outside our homes. Among many other reasons, you mentioned that you were embarrassed to let anyone know you were abused. I was embarrassed, as well. I was embarrassed to let anyone know that my sister was abusing drugs.
Particularly in the epilogue, I found myself easily inspired and easily relating to your thoughts. You wrote, "I knew the black hole was out there, waiting to suck me in and forever control my destiny-but only if I let it. I took positive control over my life" (157). With a long history of addiction in my family, I know I must be very careful about the decisions I make. While you avoid the cycle of abuse, I am avoiding my black hole- addiction. I will not have someone standing beside at all times to make my decisions for me or to tell me no. You have taken control of your destiny and you have inspired me to, as well. I must resist the temptations that drugs will create in order to "control my destiny" and to be successful in my life.
In your epilogue, you wrote, "The challenges of my past have made me immensely strong inside" (157). Once again, as I read, I found myself relating to your words. Since my sister's death, I have been faced with challenges that have tested my will to go on. These challenges have not broken me, but only made me stronger. I have looked at each challenge as a fall. With each fall, I get a cut or a bruise but those wounds heal and I stand back up. These cuts and bruises are emotional. I know, however, that they will not kill me. They will only make me stronger. My sister's death and the year that has followed has made me "immensely strong inside."
There are mornings when I wake up and it is a struggle to get out of bed and go to school, but then I remember the promise you made to yourself "I had to make something of myself I would be the best person that I could be" (157). I then get out of bed, get dressed, plaster on that smile, and head to school. At school, I will begin on the road to success, where, with your inspiration, I will make something of myself
Thank you for your inspiration.
Yours Truly,
Micaela Harvey
Level III Honorable Mention
Molly Levitt, 12th grade, Portsmouth High, Portsmouth
Submitted by Teacher: Vicky S. Hathaway
Dear Mr. Albom,
It is not every day that a person has the opportunity to look at a life shattering event through the eyes of another. Your book, Tuesday's with Morrie gave me that chance. At the young age of 43 my mother was diagnosed with A.L.S. I was six at the time, and had no idea what to think of this horrific disease that was slowly taking my mom away from me. For the next three years she battled the disease, and as a family we battled to understand her pain. The end struggle was intensified when she began to lose her ability to speak. I hated watching her slow transformation from a healthy happy mother, to wheelchair bound and helpless. It was a constant struggle of the heart to fathom the pain that she must be going through. A month later my mom passed away.
Shortly after the funeral a family friend gave my dad your book, Tuesday's with Morrie. The timing of the gift, however, was not perfect. Still grieving, my dad was unable to finish it. It wasn't until last year that I found your book on the shelf again and was truly able to appreciate its message.
Your book was essentially a window for me. It gave me an opportunity to see the other side of this debilitating disease through the eyes of a person who had lived with it. Through the life and words of Morrie, I found pieces of my childhood puzzle. The book flooded me with memories. As I turned page by page1 I felt like I was slowly getting closer to uncovering a secret; if I could just read one more page, maybe I would understand. On every page I learned something new. Morrie's voice came to life as he took me through his journey. It was as if he were my grandfather, imparting his wisdom on me.
For many who have not faced the disease, the life lessons tend to be the root of the story. For me, I found a deeper meaning. Morrie took me back to a time in my life, where little made sense. I saw all that my mom was going through, but at that time, was too young to comprehend it all. As I read the book Tuesdays with Morie. I followed Morrie as he went through the stages of this disease. Step by step he showed strength, determination and an appreciation for the life he was leading. Within the novel he faced tough issues such as inability to perform most actions without help and the lack of privacy you may face. As a young child, these issues seemed big. Morrie takes that issue and shows us that accepting help from others is nothing to be ashamed of. He took a seemingly embarrassing event and turned it into a positive endeavor. His attitude reminded me a lot of my mother.
Through Morrie's strength I saw the picture of my mother, who, like Morrie, was happy and grateful until her dying day. Reading this book gave me a lot of peace. For many years I had feared that my mom was unhappy and in pain. Morrie's positive attitude allowed me to see that although my mom was sick, she embraced life. They both were fighters, and although in the end neither came out on top, they both have left their marks on the world. They have shown true strength, courage and determination, and above all they taught me how necessary it is to make the most of the short time we are given.
Sincerely,
Molly M. Levitt
Letters About Literature has three competition levels: Level I for children in grades 4 through 6; Level II for grades 7 and 8, and Level III, grades 9 - 12. Winners receive cash awards at the national and state levels.