Natchez Student Wins State Writing Award

The Armstrong Library wants to congratulate Courtney Sims, a 12^th grade student from Natchez, who has taken top honors for this year’s Letters About Literature writing contest. Judges selected Sims’s letter to Romona “Sapphire” Fulton, author of Push, as the first place winner in the Level III competition for students in grades 9 though 12 in Mississippi. Sims’s winning letter advanced for national competition, where it made it to the national semifinals.

“I never imagined how my persona would be affected by Push,” wrote the seventeen year old reader. “This novel has shown me that I am blessed to be in the position I am in.”

Approximately 59,000 young readers across the country participated in this year’s Letters About Literature competition, a reading promotion program of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, presented in partnership with Target. In Mississippi, 500 students competed across all three competition levels.

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. 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 response to a book then express that response in a creative, original way.

Courtney graduated from Natchez High School this year and is attending Touglaoo College, majoring in chemistry.