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!
★本書中譯版《我的阿富汗筆友:安德魯.克萊門斯9》由遠流出版。
It isn’t that Abby Carson can’t do her schoolwork. She just doesn’t like doing it. And consequently, Abby will have to repeat sixth grade--unless she meets some specific conditions, including taking on an extra credit project: find a pen pal in a distant country. But when Abby’s first letter arrives at a small school in Afghanistan, complications arise. The elders agree that any letters going back to America must be written well, but the only qualified English-speaking student is a boy. And in this village, it’s not proper for a boy to correspond with a girl. So, Sadeed’s sister will dictate and sign the letters for him. But what about the villagers who believe that girls should not be anywhere near a school? And what about those who believe that any contact with Americans is...unhealthy? As letters flow back and forth--between the prairies of Illinois and the mountains of central Asia, across cultural and religious divides, through the minefields of different lifestyles and traditions--a small group of children begin to speak and listen to each other. And in just a few short weeks, they make important discoveries about their communities, about their world, and most of all, about themselves.