East Oahu Students Win At Nene Awards

The written word still has clout, folks. When Hawaii’s young readers declared their favorite 2013 author, East Oahu students also scored for related commentary on good reads.

In a vote of 6,000 fourth-through sixth-graders, the Nene Award went to Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life by Chris Tebbetts and James Patterson (yes, that best-selling Patterson). Last year’s co-winner, The Lemonade War author Jacqueline Davies, was present April 18 for the awards ceremony at Hawaii Okinawa Center, where winning student essays, digital media and posters also were honored.

Hahaione Elementary’s Tryphena Hsu won among fifth-graders in the Persuasive Poster category, and Sacred Hearts’ sixth-graders Amanda-Joy Lee and Jade Unabia earned honorable mention in the Interpretive Digital Media category.

Kaimuki Library’s children’s librarian Melissa “Mysti” LePage chaired the Nene Award committee.

Sponsored by the Hawaii State Public Library System and DOE, the program asked keiki from 78 libraries and schools statewide to vote for their favorite fiction books. Each library and school gets copies of the award-winning titles from Perma-Bound Books.