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. Ages 9-12.
艾比不是不會做回家作業，她只是不想做，但這表示她的六年級成績將會非常難看。直到一張通知單寄回家裡，艾比才了解自己真的可能會重讀六年級。除非她願意被留級，否則她必須完成一個特別的作業：交一個國外的筆友。這還不算太難啦，對一個真的很討厭寫作業的學生來說。
艾比的第一封信被送到了阿富汗的一個小學校，雅米拉成了她名義上的筆友，因為實際上和艾比通信的是她的哥哥薩迪德。
在美國與阿富汗間來往的信件中，艾比和薩迪德發現了這種互動方式可以穿越空間的屏障，他們認識了彼此的文化隔閡以及生活傳統的差異。不過，這段隨著信件日漸增長的友誼，還是引起某些人的反感。跨界的友情果然並非這麼單純啊！
By Andrew Clements, Illustrated by Mark Elliott, Paperback, Traditional Chinese characters, 230 pages, 8.25"x5.95"
