Wedged between her parents, each hand attached to one of theirs, Hannah McCormick approached the Oak Bluffs School. She wore a favorite light pink dress and colorful sneakers that lit up pink when she pressed into the toes. Her mother, Kate, slung a Little Mermaid backpack over one shoulder.

Two Oak Bluffs students were honored at the state house in Boston as part of a national reading and writing program for young people.

Lily Davey and Bella Chimes, eighth-grade students at the Oak Bluffs School, both submitted work to Letters About Literature, a program that asks young people in grades four through 12 to write to an author (living or dead) about how his or her book has had a profound impact on them. Lily wrote a letter to Tahereh Mafi, the author of Shatter Me, and Bella wrote a letter to Donna Cooner, the author of Skinny.