Six Monmouth County students were among the finalists in the “Letters About Literature” essay contest at a special reception last week sponsored by the New Jersey Center for the Book.

Each year, the New Jersey Center for the Book and 50 other state centers join with the Library of Congress in sponsoring the essay competition for students in grades four through 12.

A total of 86 students from across New Jersey — six of them from Monmouth County — were named as essay finalists from more than 4,200 entries received statewide.

For the contest, students write essays addressed to authors, either past or present, about a book that was especially influential in their lives. Students compete in three categories: Level I, for grades 4-6; Level II for grades 7 and 8; and Level III for grades 9-12.

The six Monmouth County essays winners are:

For Level II: Eliana Swartz of Little Silver and Michael Gao of Morganville.

For Level III: Amanda Lutick and Ben Morros, both of Wall Township High School; Chenowa Wendel of Raritan High School, Hazlet; and Allison Ruchman of Rumson Fair-Haven Regional High School. Lutick won an overall second place in her age category.

New Jersey First Lady Mary Pat Christie presented certificates to each student finalist attending the May 12 reception at the governor’s mansion. Monmouth County Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry, who spoke at the reception, presented each Monmouth County winner with a certificate recognizing their achievement, signed by the Board of Chosen Freeholders.

Almost 70,000 adolescent and young adult readers nationwide in grades four through 12 participated in this year’s “Letters About Literature” contest, which encourages young people to read, be inspired, and write back to the author who has somehow changed their view of the world or themselves.

The three top New Jersey essay winners all chose to write to authors whose books spotlight the issue of intolerance.

First-place essay winners are considered for national awards. Last year, the essay written by a Northvale High School student was named best essay in the nation.

Renee Swartz, chair of the N.J. Center for the Book, noted that New Jersey students have consistently placed in the top 14 essays nationally for the past several years.

Swartz was honored at the reception with the New Jersey Literary Lion award, which recognizes an individual for his or her exceptional dedication to literacy, reading and the print culture in the state of New Jersey.

Swartz, of Rumson, is a longtime library advocate and a presidential appointee to the National Institute of Museum and Library Services in Washington, D.C., and chairs both the State Library Advisory Council and the Monmouth County Library Commission.

The New Jersey Center for the Book is located at Rutgers University’s School of Communication and Information.

The center’s mission is “to celebrate books, reading, libraries and the diverse literary heritage of New Jersey” along with fostering programs that celebrate the print culture in our society.

Formed in January 2002, the center promotes literacy projects, recognizes New Jersey authors, and designates literary landmarks in the state.