Sallisaw student among winners in writing contest
Who really writes letters these days?
Who really writes letters these days?
Oklahoma students who enter the My Favorite Book statewide writing competition, that’s who.
And that’s why Milo Manning, a homeschooled student from Sallisaw, is $100 richer after a third-place finish in the fourth-through-sixth-grade division on the 2023 competition.
Manning was cited for his letter to author Harold Keith for Keith’s historical fiction novel “Rifles of Watie,” about the lesser-known part of the Civil War, the Western campaign. The book won the John Newbery Medal in 1958 and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1964.
“The contest is designed to encourage young people to think critically about the books they read,” says Connie Armstrong, director of the Oklahoma Center for the Book, part of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. “The letter writing exercise also emphasizes formal and important ways to communicate in a world filled with texting and social media posts.”
For the competition, students write a personal letter to the author of their selected book or short story explaining how the work changed the student’s
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view of themselves or their world. The intent of the letter is to create a conversation with the author in which the student expresses thoughts, feelings and/ or ideas inspired by the author’s writing, as well as its impact on the student’s life.
The competition has three divisions: Grades 4-6, Grades 7-8 and Grades 9-12. This year, 774 students representing public, private, charter and home schools participated in the competition.
Cash prizes are awarded with first-place winners receiving $500; second-place $250; and third-place $100. In addition, the first-place winners will select their school or public library to receive a $1,000 grant.
An awards ceremony will be held at 10:30 a.m. May 12 at the Oklahoma State Capitol. Students will read their winning letters at the event.
The My Favorite Book competition is sponsored by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, the Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book, and the Kirkpatrick Foundation.
