Ostracized By Family In China, Teen Excels In Writing Contest

NOVI, MI — Novi High student Michelle Wang is one of three state finalists in the Library of Congress’s annual Letters About Literature reading-writing contest. The sophomore is the first Novi Community School District student to reach the state finals of the nation-wide competition.

Wang wanted to write about her late grandmother, who was set in her old ways of thinking about gender. The grandmother, who lived in China, had rejected Wang for not being born male. Wang found solace in a poem by Jami McCormick, ‘What About Me.’

“I knew what I was writing about but I didn’t have a book that I could relate to,” said Wang. “I searched online for poems that maybe could relate to my story and that was when the poem popped up.”

Letters About Literature is a reading and writing contest for students in grades 4-12. Students are asked to read a book, poem or speech and write to the author about how the book affected them personally. Letters are judged on state and national levels.

McCormick’s poem talks about parental rejection and feelings of uncertainty. It was written in 2006.

“What about me?” Wang asked, rhetorically. “That was the story that I was trying to convey because I was kind of left alone when my grandma didn’t really care about me, but cared more for my brother. So it was like, what about me?”

Wang, who would like to become a neurologist, said she was never much into writing before this school year. “Actually, I didn’t like writing,” she said, “but this year Miss (Melissa) Kreger has allowed me to expand and I’ve started to actually enjoy it, and find it therapeutic at times.”

Wang will receive a letter of recognition from the State Librarian and a $20 Schuler Books & Music gift card. Novi High students Nitin Kinra and Brian Son, who were semifinalists. They will receive letters of recognition from the State Librarian.

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Photo courtesy of Novi public schools.