Alaska State winners for each level are:

Winners

Level I (grades 4-6)

Kendall Angeline Masneri, grade 4, O’Malley School, Anchorage (writing to Louis Sachar, author of There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom)

Level II (grades 7 & 8)

Diana Lower, grade 8, Girdwood Junior High School, Girdwood (writing to Susanna Kaysen, author of Girl, Interrupted)

Level III (grades 9-12)

Robin Lawrence, grade 11, Interior Distance Education, Seward (writing to Orson Scott Card, author of Ender’s Shadow)

The top state winners each receive cash awards of $100.

Runners Up

Level I (grades 4-6)

Adam Miller, grade 5, Family Partnership Charter School, Anchorage (writing to Gary Paulsen, author of Hatchet)

Level II (grades 7 & 8)

Jacob Courson, grade 7, Palmer Junior Middle School, Palmer (writing to Velma Wallis, author of Two Old Women)

Level III (grades 9-12)

Not awarded

Honorable Mentions

Level I (grades 4-6)

Aurora C. Dordan, grade 4, Birchwood ABC Elementary School, Eagle River (writing to J.K. Rowling, author of all four Harry Potter books)

Elizabeth F., Girdwood School, Girdwood (writing to Martin Luther King Jr., author of “I Have a Dream” speech)

Daniel Stoops, grade 6, Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School, Juneau (writing to Jerry Spinelli, author of Wringer)

Level II (grades 7 & 8)

Callan Chythlook-Sifsof, grade 8, Girdwood Junior High School, Girdwood (writing to Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim, author of The Matrix)

Lauren Nelson, grade 8, Gruening Middle School, Eagle River (writing to Chris Crutcher, author of “Guns for Geeks” in On the Fringe)

Thomas Sorensen, grade 7, Thunder Mountain Academy, Juneau (writing to Richard Ellis, author of Deep Atlantic)

Katie Wieliczkiewicz, grade 7, Teeland Middle School, Wasilla (writing to Bill Watterson, author and illustrator of Calvin and Hobbes)

Level III (grades 9-12)

Brittney Dobbins, grade 12, Robert Service High School, Anchorage (writing to Orson Scott Card, author of Ender’s Shadow)

Maggie Jacobsen, grade 12, Robert Service High School, Anchorage (writing to Rebecca Wells, author of Little Altars Everywhere)

Amanda Walker, grade 11, Robert Service High School, Anchorage (writing to Joseph F. Girzone, author of Joshua)