Announcing the Winners of Our National Teen Writing Contest on the Freedom to Read

The New York Public Library is excited to announce the 21 winners of the Library’s National Teen Writing Contest, which ran from October to December last year and asked teens across the country, “Why is the freedom to read important to you?” The writing contest is part of the Library’s Books for All campaign which, in response to the alarming rise in book bans and challenges around the country, aims to celebrate and protect the freedom to read. The majority of the banned or challenged books are for young people and feature LGBTQ+ voices and people of color. The National Teen Writing Contest gives a voice to teens across the U.S. who may have been affected by book bans and challenges.

Winners were selected from a pool of almost 500 submissions from 36 different states, and will be published in a special edition of NYPL’s Teen Voices magazine, available in print and digital formats in early June 2024. Today, we are delighted to announce that the grand prize winner has been published by Teen Vogue and is available to read online now. 

Read the grand prize–winning entry on Teen Vogue: The Luminosity of Reading by Tara Isabel Lago, age 18, from New York.

The other winning entries came from all over the U.S. and we are pleased to announce them now ahead of their publication in Teen Voices:

• Hunger by Anonymous, 16, California
• Intertwined by Dana Balin, 16, New York
• And He Lived Happily Ever After by Connor Chan, 17, New York
• My First Favorite Book by Heba Elkouraichi, 16, New York
• Who Am I Without Books? by Camille Fallen, 15, Virginia
• Using Your Words by Eliot Fowler, 13, Maine
• The Crime of Indifference by Amanda Gao, 16, New York
• Allow Us Understanding by Draimely G., 16, New York
• The Lives Between the Lines by Maya H., 16, New York
• Paper Cut by Oluwatoyin Kupoluyi, 19, New York
• The Timeline from My Grandma’s Ink by Luna Lee, 15, Connecticut
• A Lone Student’s Merit by Angelina Meng, 17, New York
• My Home by Avah Montgomery, 16, Arizona
• An Open Book by Caelynn P., 15, Minnesota
• An Ode to Banned Books by Elora P-M., 19, Maryland
• Late Bloomer by Aliyah Sarmiento, 17, Florida
• The Night I Stood, and the Night They Listened by Ivan Torres, 18, New Mexico
• What Does The Freedom To Read Mean To Me? by Amina Walker, 16, New York
• Book Bans, Political Censorship Have No Place in Our Nation’s Classrooms by Joshua Weissenberger, 18, South Dakota
• Finding Pride Within the Pages by Alice Wolf, 16, California

These winning essays tackled the subject of book bans and the importance of the freedom to read in many different ways. Some teens shared stories of how they stood up to book bans by speaking at school board meetings. Other teens wrote movingly about how books have shaped and affirmed their identities. Below are a few short excerpts from the winning essays showcasing the vital, poignant, and insightful perspectives of teenagers across the country.

In this moment, ensconced by the beauty of the lanterns, the wonder of the community, and the preciousness of these stories, I realized that it does indeed take a village to create, celebrate art, and champion our right to read.

—Tara Isabel Lago (grand prize winner), New York

Intellectual freedom is where this fight begins, but it is far from where it ends. Censorship is but a prelude to these groups' ultimate ends of undermining the separation of church and state and building an exclusionary society where they not only ban books, but the people and the ideas they represent. These challenges to intellectual freedom speak to an evolving culture of censorship and hate. But, when students, teachers, and the community unite, we can chart a path forward to actualize the goal of vibrant inclusivity.

—Ivan Torres, New Mexico

For this is a fact that will remain true no matter how many places try to censor our identities: not giving access to our stories will not make them cease to exist, it will only make us more adamant about sharing them with the world. And the freedom to read comes not only hand-in-hand, but intertwined with the freedom to learn about community, empathy, and ultimately, yourself.

—Alice Wolf, California

Banning books restricts our opportunities to learn. Libraries, first and foremost, are knowledge hubs. They provide equitable access to information. Humans are meant to learn, to grow. When we empathize, we grow, and when we learn, we gain the ability to empathize. Empathy cannot exist without knowledge. Turning a blind eye to the events in our world doesn’t solve those issues—it simply exacerbates them by legitimizing their existence. Knowledge is power. It is power in itself, but it also grants us the power to create together.

—Maya H., New York

Discover Books for All at NYPL

Stand with The New York Public Library all year long to protect the freedom to read! Discover all the Library has to offer, including our Teen Banned Book Club, unlimited access to book club titles on NYPL’s SimplyE app, plus free programs and events, a free toolkit for you and your community, ways to get involved, and more for all ages. Learn more.

Teens at NYPL

Calling all teens! The New York Public Library is here for you today and to help you prepare for the future. Check out digital resources, tech equipment, art materials, and more at our expanded Teen Centers. Join us for free programs and events, get access to millions of books and e-books, and much more just for teens. See you at the Library!

At The New York Public Library, we believe what teens have to say matters. Read more from Teen Voices at NYPL.