Yes, Marcela, there is a wonderful Illinois, if you search

Written in pencil on lined paper, this letter from an 11-year-old girl makes me smile.

"The reason I am writing to you is that my class is doing state reports," Marcela prints neatly. "I have chosen your wonderful state, Illinois."

I truly do want to write one of those beautiful newspaper responses along the lines of "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," but "Yes, Marcela, Illinois is wonderful" seems somewhere between disingenuous and libelous.

Her letter, written to the editor, ends up on my desk the same week this newspaper prints stories about former Illinois Rep. Keith Farnham of Elgin being sentenced to eight years in prison for downloading child pornography; Illinois congressman Aaron Schock resigning in disgrace after his numerous financial extravagances made him a national laughingstock; and former Illinois congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. getting out of prison just in time for his wife to serve her time behind bars.

Today, Marcela's request shares space with the obituary for one of our former governors who didn't go to prison until after ending his service to Illinois. Googling "Illinois governors" can make folks wonder about Illinois, but it is far from wonderful.

As a fifth-grader at Napa Valley Language Academy, a Spanish-English immersion charter school nestled in the famous wine-producing valley of Northern California, Marcela jumped into her project on Illinois with understandably limited knowledge of our state.

"My uncle lives out there, and I think it's pretty interesting to learn about Navy Pier," she says during our telephone chat.

"These kids get so excited," teacher Eduardo Moreno says of his annual state project. "They get to choose what they want. It's first-come first-serve, and Illinois was her first choice."

The point of the project is to learn more than Marcela has gleaned from her Uncle Enrique.

"I just know that there are towers because my uncle has sent me photographs," says the girl, who adds that she hopes to visit Illinois someday.

Marcela doesn't need to know about Illinois' long history of crooked or perverted politicians. If she wanted to know about our state's financial woes, she could get very similar details by looking at her own state.

"Nobody here is allowed to do California," Moreno says. And no two kids can pick the same state.

"The states that go first are New York, because of the Statue of Liberty, and Hawaii," says Moreno, who has been assigning this project for the past four years. "I'm pretty sure I've had all 50 states chosen. Well, actually, I don't think anybody's ever picked Nebraska."

Midwest states sometimes need a hook to get a kid to bite.

"Last year, out of nowhere, we had Oklahoma because one of the boys was an Oklahoma City Thunder fan," says Moreno, who notes that Chicago's NBA franchise also entices kids to pick Illinois. "I have a lot of Bulls' fans, and I'm one of them."

When he was 6 years old, Moreno received a Tim Hardaway Golden State jersey, which didn't fly with his older brother, who favored an even-better guard on an even-better team.

"The next day he showed up with a Michael Jordan jersey, and I've been a fan ever since," says Moreno, who adds that he still boasts "a lot of Jordans" in his sneakers collection.

Perhaps Chicago's own Derrick Rose can crack the lineup in Marcela's report, which includes famous people from Illinois. Walt Disney, Ronald Reagan and Robin Williams all spent time in Illinois before they moved to California. I hope Marcela finds a way to include Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, Frank Lloyd Wright and Carl Sandburg. And maybe even our state insect, the monarch butterfly; our state amphibian, the eastern tiger salamander; and our soon-to-be anointed state vegetable, sweet corn, which adds to our wonderment because corn is not a vegetable.

"What I need from you or your readers are pamphlets, postcards, souvenirs, or anything else that would be useful," Marcela says, asking people to send them in the next week or so in care of Mr. Moreno, Napa Valley Language Academy, 2700 Kilburn Ave., Napa, CA 94558.

"I will be writing about your state's agriculture, history, economy, famous people, events, historical figures and national parks. I will also be doing an oral report, float and Microsoft PowerPoint presentation."

Illinois boasts wonderful architecture and athletes, wonderful poets and writers, wonderful actors and musicians, wonderful theater and restaurants and simple wonders such as lightning bugs and rich farmland. Yes, Marcela, a wonderful Illinois exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist. In other words, a wonderful Illinois is a lot like Santa Claus.