The Letters About Literature contest invites each student in grades 4-12 to write to an author — living or dead — whose work influenced the student’s life. It’s not a formal report where someone picks a book the child or teen “should” read. Instead, the students themselves pick the books that touched their hearts. If a fourth grader found inspiration in War and Peace, so be it. If a high school senior turned his or her life around after reading Captain Underpants, we welcome their letter. What matters most is that a connection was made.
With that in mind, we thought it would be fun this year to compile a reading list of all the titles our Wyoming Letters About Literature participants chose. Some are newer, some are classics, some might be surprises, but all touched the lives of at least one young reader. Enjoy.
- Solo, by Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess
- The Amityville Horror, by Jay Anson
- The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
- Tyrell (series), by Coe Booth
- Daring Greatly, by Brene Brown
- Gold Buckle Dreams, by David G. Brown
- The DaVinci Code, by Dan Brown
- 70×7 and Beyond, by Monty Christensen
- The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
- Out Of My Mind, by Sharon M. Drapor
- The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexander Dumas
- The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
- Rumble Fish, by S.E. Hinton
- The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
- Impulse, by Ellen Hopkins
- The Wheels of Time (series), by Robert Jordan
- Cracker, by Cynthia Kadohata
- Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
- Under the Dome, by Stephen King
- “I Have a Dream” (speech), by Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney
- American Sniper, by Chris Kyle
- To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
- The Autobiography of Gucci Mane, by Gucci Mane
- Dear Nobody, by Gillian McCain
- Renegades (series), by Marissa Meyer
- Parakeets, by Nikki Moustaki
- Black Friday (Cherub), by Robert Muchamore
- Fablehaven (series), by Brandon Mull
- Ashfall (series), by Mike Mullin
- The Greatest, by Walter Dean Myers
- Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah
- Wonder, by R.J. Palacio
- Brian’s Winter, by Gary Paulsen
- A Child Called “It” (series), by Dave Pelzer
- The Kissing Hand, by Audrey Penn
- By the Time You Read This I’ll Be Dead, by Julie Anne Peters
- The Dogs of Winter, by Bobbie Pyron
- Where The Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls
- Nyxia, by Scott Reintgen
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians (series), by Rick Riordan
- Echo, by Pam Munoz Ryan
- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secret of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
- The Beginning of Everything, by Robyn Schneider
- Salt to the Sea, by Ruta Sepetys
- Admonitions to a Special Person, by Anne Sexton
- The Book of Basketball, by Bill Simmons
- The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks
- The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- I Cry, by Tupac
- “Why Am I Not Good Enough?” (poem), by Olivia Vella
- Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, by Bill Watterson
- Adult Children of Alcoholics, by Janet Geringer Woititz, Ed.D.
- I Am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai