Author Archive

Congrats to the 2019 HSS Award Winners!

To view photos from the event, please click here.

Emma Clark Library board members & staff, the family of the late Helen Stein Shack, local elected officials, representatives from the Three Village Central School District, and guests from the community gathered on Monday evening, April 8^th to honor the winners of the fifth annual Helen Stein Shack Picture Book Award:

First Prize (Grades 7 – 9 category): Gerald’s Share by Nicole Xiao

First Prize (Grades 10 – 12 category): You Saved the Earth: A Plastic Bottle’s Journey by Juliet Weschke

Second Prize (Grades 7 – 9 category): Lily and Liam’s Summer at the Library by Riley Meckley

Second Prize (Grades 10 – 12 category): Simon’s Day at the Beach by Nicole Freeley

Library Director Ted Gutmann, along with the family of Helen Stein Shack, Legislator Kara Hahn, and Councilwoman Valerie Cartright presented all of the winners’ books – bound and added to the Library’s Local Focus Collection – along with $400 checks to first prize winners Nicole Xiao (8th grader at P.J. Gelinas Junior High School) and Juliet Weschke (10th grader at Ward Melville High School) and $100 checks for second prize winners Riley Meckley (9th grader at P.J. Gelinas Junior High School) and Nicole Freeley (11th grader at Ward Melville High School).

The speakers discussed how the contest and ceremony began 5 years ago as a tribute to the late Helen Stein Shack, especially fitting due to her love for learning and her particular fondness for Emma Clark Library. “We would come visit my grandma for a week, and she would take us straight here,” explained Mrs. Shack’s granddaughter Emma Kelly, who flew in from California for the event.

Councilwoman Cartright mentioned to the family that it is “such an amazing way to honor your mom and your grandma’s legacy, her commitment to education, recognizing that literacy is power.”

Legislator Kara Hahn spoke of the special lessons in each book. “When it’s a children’s book, the message does not only get through to the child. The message also gets through to the parent that’s reading it,” stated Legislator Hahn.

Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn and Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Valerie Cartright spoke at the event, and the winners also received certificates from Senator John J. Flanagan, Assemblyman Steven Englebright, Legislator Kara Hahn, Town Supervisor Edward Romaine, and Councilwoman Valerie Cartright.  Library Board President Orlando Maione, Vice President Deborah Blair, Treasurer Christopher Fletcher, Secretary Carol Leister, and Trustees David Douglas and Suzanne Shane were there to congratulate the winners.  Three Village Central School District President of the Board of Education William Connors, Superintendent Cheryl Pedisich, Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services Kevin Scanlon, Gelinas Junior High School Principal Corinne Keane, Ward Melville High School English Department Chair Vincent Cereola, Gelinas Junior High School English Department Chair Michelle Hanczor, and Gelinas Junior High School Librarian Nicole Connelly were all in attendance.

Guests enjoyed special treats donated by The Bite Size Bake Shop, a local Three Village-owned business.  Ward Melville High School teen volunteer Ashley Mullen photographed the event.

The Helen Stein Shack Book Contest called for teens in grades 7 through 12 who live in the Three Village Central School District to create a children’s picture book.  Each entry could be the work of a single author/illustrator or a collaborative effort between an author and an illustrator.  The contest was divided into two grade categories, grades 7 through 9 and grades 10 through 12, with one First Prize Winner and one Second Prize Winner selected from each group.

Councilwoman Cartright remarked to the winners, “I’m delighted today to encourage you to continue using your creativity to share with others, to uplift others, because that’s what you’re doing by creating these books.”

The Library is grateful to the children of the late Mrs. Shack, who have established a substantial endowment with the Library to cover the cost of the awards as a tribute to their mother and her commitment to passing along the importance and joy of reading for generations to come.

Mrs. Shack’s son, Ed Taylor, spoke about the hard work and dedication that the winners and all of the participants have shown, and then imagined a glimpse into their futures. “These kids are going to grow up, and hopefully, they’ll have families of their own…and one night their kids are going to be lying in bed and ask for a good night story…and they’ll take a book off the shelf, and they’ll read it to their kids…and then they’ll tell them who the author was. That they wrote that book.”

Image: First Place Winners of the Helen Stein Shack Picture Book Award with their books

Past Winners

2018

First Prize (Grades 7 – 9 category):  Racing Star by Rebecca Blumenthal
First Prize (Grades 10 – 12 category):  Wally’s Wild Ride Nicole Freeley
Second Prize (Grades 7 – 9 category):  I Can Help! by Eliana Sasson
Second Prize (Grades 10 – 12 category):  Freddy the Fish and His First Election Day by Samuel Kim

2017

First Prize (Grades 7 – 9 category):  We Can Still Be Friends! by Eliana Sasson
First Prize (Grades 10 – 12 category):  Claire and Her Bear by Katie Zhao
Second Prize (Grades 7 – 9 category):  Sammy the Sock Monkey by Nicole Freeley
Second Prize (Grades 10 – 12 category):  Color Your World by Cassidy Oliver

2016

Grand Prize (Grades 7 – 9 category):  Good Night, Judy by Katie Zhao
Grand Prize (Grades 10 – 12 category):  Sal the Sock by Michelle Pacala
Honorable Mention (Grades 7 – 9 category):  Rainbow by Nicole Freeley
Honorable Mention (Grades 10 – 12 category):  Honu by Samantha White

2015

Grand Prize (Grades 7 – 9 category):  Lenny the Lion by Leah Cussen
Grand Prize (Grades 10 – 12 category):  Lilabet by Wendy Wahlert
Honorable Mention (Grades 7 – 9 category):  Red Books for Rainy Days by Anny Weisenberg
Honorable Mention (Grades 7 – 9 category):  Freddy the Fish and the First Day of School by Daniel Kim
Honorable Mention (Grades 10 – 12 category):  Heal Our Mother Earth by Kiera Alventosa
Honorable Mention (Grades 10 – 12 category):  Pengy Goes on an Adventure by Sarah Jiang and Karen Jiang

The public may view past winning entries at emmaclark.org/picturebookaward/ or the 2015 winners at emmaclark.org/picturebookaward2015.