Emporia ? A story about a free-spirited third-grader and a story about a Jewish girl living in a ghetto during World War II won William Allen White Children’s Book Awards.

Emporia State University announced the winners in a news release Friday. The university has given the award for more than 50 years.

About 50,000 Kansas schoolchildren participated in the selection process.

“Clementine” by Sara Pennypacker won in the third- through fifth-grade category. The story chronicles the misadventures of an 8-year-old girl and her friendship with her neighbor, Margaret.

“Yellow Star” by Jennifer Roy won in the sixth- through eighth-grade category. It’s about a 4-year-old girl named Syvia who struggles to survive with her family in Poland’s Lodz ghetto during the Nazi occupation.