Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award
2013 · Grades 3-5 · Nominee
About This Book
It isn't that Abby Carson can't do her schoolwork, it's just that she doesn't like doing it. And that means she's pretty much failing sixth grade. When a warning letter is sent home, Abby realizes that all her slacking off could cause her to be held back—for real! Unless she wants to repeat the sixth grade, she'll have to meet some specific conditions, including taking on an extra-credit project: find a pen pal in a foreign country. Simple enough (even for a girl who hates homework).
Abby's first letter arrives at a small school in Afghanistan, and Sadeed Bayat is chosen to be her pen pal. . . . Well, kind of. He is the best writer, but he is also a boy, and in his village it is not appropriate for a boy to correspond with a girl. So his younger sister dictates and signs the letter. Until Sadeed decides what his sister is telling Abby isn't what he'd like Abby to know.
As letters flow back and forth between Illinois and Afghanistan, Abby and Sadeed discover that their letters are crossing more than an ocean. They are crossing a huge cultural divide and a minefield of different lifestyles and traditions. Their growing friendship is also becoming a growing problem for both communities, and some people are not happy. Suddenly things are not so simple.
Abby's first letter arrives at a small school in Afghanistan, and Sadeed Bayat is chosen to be her pen pal. . . . Well, kind of. He is the best writer, but he is also a boy, and in his village it is not appropriate for a boy to correspond with a girl. So his younger sister dictates and signs the letter. Until Sadeed decides what his sister is telling Abby isn't what he'd like Abby to know.
As letters flow back and forth between Illinois and Afghanistan, Abby and Sadeed discover that their letters are crossing more than an ocean. They are crossing a huge cultural divide and a minefield of different lifestyles and traditions. Their growing friendship is also becoming a growing problem for both communities, and some people are not happy. Suddenly things are not so simple.
Awards
Georgia Children's Book Award
2012 · Children's Book (Grades 4 - 8) · Nominee
Golden Sower Award
2012 · Intermediate · Nominee
Grand Canyon Reader Award
2012 · Intermediate · Nominee
Louisiana Young Readers' Choice Award
2012 · Grades 3-5 · Nominee
Nutmeg Book Award
2012 · Intermediate · Nominee
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award
2012 · Grades 4-8 · Nominee
Sequoyah Book Award
2012 · Children's · Nominee
Sunshine State Young Reader's Award
2012 · Grades 3-5 · Nominee
West Virginia Children's Book Award
2012 · Children's · Nominee
William Allen White Childens Book Award
2012 · Grades 3-5 · Nominee
Beehive Award
2011 · Fiction · Nominee
Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award
2011 · Grades 4-6 · Nominee
Iowa Children's Choice (ICCA) Award
2011 · Children's · Nominee
Land of Enchantment Book Award
2011 · Children's · Nominee
South Carolina Childrens, Junior and Young Adult Book Award
2011 · Children's · Nominee
Volunteer State Book Award
2011 · Grades 4-6 · Nominee
Black-Eyed Susan Award
2010 · Grades 4-6 · Nominee
Christopher Award
2010 · Books for Young People · Winner
Delaware Diamonds Award
2010 · Middle School · Nominee
Middle East Book Award
2009 · Youth Literature · Honorable Mention
Parents Choice Award (Fall) (2008-Up)
2009 · Fiction · Recommended
