How One Letter Changed Two Lives

Our granddaughter turns 13 tomorrow and for her birthday, I wanted to give her a meaningful book. I was thinking along the lines of celebrities writing to their younger selves, wondering if one of those might be appropriate for a young teen. I reached out to Renee's Reading Club on Facebook to ask for suggestions. What came back were older books, books that I read in my teens. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Little Women. That kind of thing. Maybe if I had had a favorite book as a teen, but nope. That really wasn't what I was looking for. 

One title stood out. I Will Always Write Back: How One  Letter Changed Two Lives. It  stood out for a few reasons. I absolutely love letter writing and one of the author's was named Caitlin, spelled exactly the same way our granddaughter spells her name. Next, I read the description. It was about 7th grade Caitlin (our Caitlin is in 7th grade) participating in a pen pal project in school. I loved participating in pen pal projects in school. And... apparently I've had it on my "to be read" list for almost 5 years!

Before I decided about whether or not I was going to send her I Will Always Write Back by Caitlin Alifirenka, Martin Ganda and Liz Welch, I needed to read it. To make sure the material was appropriate, to make sure it was a good book, and so I'd be able to say "Yes, I've read it" when asked. 

What a wonderful book. When Caitlin's teacher proposes a pen pal project with foreign young people, Caitlin doesn't want a pen pal from Europe. She's been to Europe, has a cousin in Germany, thinks she understands the differences in the lives of German kids and kids like her in Pennsylvania. She decides to select somewhere exotic, like Zimbabwe. 

Martin is thrilled that he's only one of ten students in his class of 50 to receive a pen pal letter. He's tops in his class and that's why he got the first letter that was distributed in his class. Out of all the students in the project, Caitlin and Martin were the only two to still be writing a year later. Something between the two of them clicked.

At first, Caitlin assumes that Martin's life is similar enough to hers. Martin couldn't really imagine Caitlin's life in Pennsylvania, but he really tried to keep from Caitlin just how dismal his life was. Once Caitlin got an inkling of what his life might be like, she read old letters trying to see what clues he might have given her before.

Both Caitlin and Martin tell their stories. Other than Martin being an incredibly diligent student, their stories were somewhat typical. Until their friendship blossomed. Then their stories, individual and together, became remarkable.

I hope that our Caitlin enjoys reading this book as much as I did.