Middle school student wins state writing award

Yuchen Jin, a ninth-grade student at Carson Valley Middle School, has taken first place in Nevada's State Letters about Literature writing contest.

State judges selected Jin's letter to Greg Mortenson, author of "Three Cups of Tea," as the first-place winner in the level three competition for children in grades 9-12. Jin's winning entry was one of 51 letters to advance to national competition.

About 54,000 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 stores.

To enter, young readers wrote 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 their personal response to a book then express that response in a creative, original way.

Mortenson's book recounts his philanthropic efforts to build schools in Afghanistan while dealing with the loss of his sister.

Jin, 14, discovered within Mortenson's book the strength to work through problems at school and endure the pain of a personal loss of her own.

"Your book, 'Three Cups of Tea,' told of your life's accomplishment. It guided me through your successes, but more importantly your failures and how you got through them," Jin wrote. "Your book has helped me get through one of the hardest times of my life."

"I was impressed by Yuchen's ability to take such a difficult book and draw parallels with her own life," said Sarah Post, LAL assistant project director.

As the first-place winner, Jin received a cash prize plus a $50 Target gift card, in addition to other prizes.