I Will Always Write Back by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda

I Will Always Write Back is a much needed story in today's political climate. The book relates how an American middle school student was assigned a pen pal from Zimbabwe as a class assignment. The American, Caitlin, came from an upper middleclass family. The Zimbabwe student's family struggled to subsist and nearly lost their home many times while the two students corresponded.

At first Martin tried to keep the story of his family's poverty and trials from his American pen pal. It wasn't until he risked losing her because he couldn't afford the postage to send letters that he let her know a bit of his family's situation. She responded with a charity that would put most Americans to shame.

As a teen, Caitlin worked after school and on weekends, saving money to send to Martin's family. Because of the exchange rate, even twenty U.S. dollars would support a family living in poverty in Zimbabwe. She managed to find the money to keep Martin and his siblings in school. Martin eventually passed all the exams necessary to get into a U.S. college. Caitlin solicited her family's help to bring Martin over to America to complete his education. Today both are successful adults contributing to society.

This book would be a great inspirational story to share with a 5th---8th grade class. Pen pal exchanges are so easy to kick off these days through Twitter or Facebook groups. But whether or not a classroom is going to be pen pals or not, this is a book that deserves to be shared.