DETROIT FREE PRESS
YAK FAVORITE BOOK CHARACTER CONTEST

The Yak/Detroit Free Press Favorite Book Character Contest is conducted by the Detroit Free Press each year in November. It is used as a way to enrich sixth grade writing skills as a part of the sixth grade English curriculum.
For the contest, the students write a description of their favorite character from any book or story. The paragraph must include the name of the character, the name of the book or story, and the name of he author. The students also submit a colored illustration of the character.

• This is completed by students in he sixth grade, but the contest is open to students in grades 1 -8.
• Students complete the contest entry during English class. It usually takes two days to complete the entries.
• All work is done during sixth grade English, in room 215.
• The teacher submits the student entries to the Detroit Free Press. The entries are judged by a panel of teachers during the month of January. Winners are selected in the rankings of first place, second place, third place, fourth place, and honorable mention. Each grade level has winners in first place through honorable mention. Students compete only against other students in their grade level. First, second, third, fourth, and fifth place winners are awarded prizes. These prizes are gift cards to Barnes and Noble. Winners are announced in February each year. Winners also have their essay and paragraph mounted and laminated.