Valtenesi Youth Literary Prize Concludes with Reading Festival in San Felice
A few days ago, the 13th edition of the Premio Valtenesi narrativa per ragazzi concluded with the “Reading Festival” (hosted in the communal gymnasium of San Felice del Benaco), organized by the Valtenesi library system.
Event description and location
Some days ago, the 13th edition of the Premio Valtenesi narrativa per ragazzi ended with the “Reading Festival” (held at the communal gymnasium of San Felice del Benaco), organized by the Valtenesi library system.
Goals and participants of the event
The undisputed protagonists of the event, designed to encourage familiarity with books and the written word, were the local middle school students who took part in reading texts proposed by publishing houses, expressing their level of enjoyment, which was used to determine the final ranking.
Sections and participation methods
The Section A offered 13 titles provided by major Italian publishing houses and new entrants, including I Colori del Mondo, based in Naples. The jury consisted of approximately 400 middle school students from Manerba, San Felice, Padenghe, and Calvagese.
The Section B involved creating works based on the read texts following various paths: letter to the author (preferred route), interview with the book’s protagonist, or a different ending. A jury appointed by the Valtenesi library system (about 200 local middle school students) judged the submissions and selected 9.
Award ceremony
During the award ceremony, authors, librarians, and administrators were present. For Section A, the jury (400 Lake District middle school students) placed “Trappola nella neve” by Francesco Recani in first position; an exciting and original detective story featuring 13-year-old Giulio, nicknamed Maigret, as the protagonist.
In second place was “Il quaderno di Flavia” by Maurizio Giannini, published by I Colori del Mondo, illustrating the popularity of the diary format among young readers. Third place went to “Davi” by Barbara Garlaschelli (Elle editions), a story of a teenager fleeing an nonexistent family through two perspectives: Davi’s sparse words recounting himself, and the impressions of the people he encounters.
The awards for Section B went to Luca Baldo, Giulia Filippini, Ilaria Mosconi, Giada Da Ros, Licia Maione, Nicolò Baccolo, Chiara Mantovani, Alessia Viganò, and Andrea Lombardi.