Way to Go: James Phillips, Malverne

A Malverne High School student's video about the magic of reading has won a top honor in New York.

Freshman James Phillips, 14, recently took first place among more than 20 video submissions statewide in the 2014 Teen Video Challenge of the Collaborative Summer Library Program, a consortium of libraries that work together to develop summer reading programs.

Phillips' video, titled "Reading Makes Your Imagination Smile," depicted himself and two friends -- freshman Bryan Castro and home-schooled student Ryan Hoveling -- being transformed into characters from the books they were reading at The Malverne Public Library.

"The main point was to show ordinary readers drawn into a book and how they take a piece of the story with them," Phillips said. "I chose books that I knew about and had read."

In the video, Phillips became a character from Lois Lowry's "The Giver," while Castro and Hoveling became characters from Pittacus Lore's "I Am Number Four" and S.E. Hinton's "The Outsiders," respectively. Phillips won $275 and his school library received $125.

In his spare time, Phillips enjoys making and posting action videos on his YouTube channel, "Classicaldaydreamer." He also is in his school's Media Club.