Extra Credit

Extra Credit
by Andrew Clements
Atheneum, 2009. 183 pgs.
Reading Level: ages 9-12
Hardcover: $16.99

Annotation: Forced into an extra credit project to keep from failing sixth grade, Abby begins a pen pal relationship with a boy in far off Afghanistan.

Summary: Abby doesn't dislike everything about school, gym class is fun at least. But her dislike of school translates into her dislike of homework and when Abby gets the news that her lackadasical attitude is going to keep her in the sixth grade for an additional year, she panics. Begging her teachers for one more chance she is offered an extra credit project that turns into a pen pal relationship with a student in Afghanistan.

Sadeed is by far the best student in his village, but when his teacher tells him about the important opportunity he will have--that of writing to a young American girl--he feels that writing to a girl is beneath him. But the village elders have voted and his sister, Emira, will be the American girl's pen pal while Sadeed will help her due to his command of the English language. However, not everyone is happy with the correspondence between their respective countries and both Sadeed and Abby will have to navigate the cultural clashes that transpire.

Evaluation: Told from the perspective of both Sadeed and Abby, Clement does an admirable job of presenting both sides of a story. He introduces some of the problems inherent in each countries' relationship with the other and creates a plot wherein those differences are minimized. Sadeed and Abby come to realize they are not very different from each other, even though they live very far apart in supposedly very different cultures. They two children recognize that they can learn from each other (would that our countries would learn this). Abby learns to appreciate her Iowa corn fields, which Sadeed says are "like a smile from God's face", and that mountains are sometimes seen as obstacles rather than playthings. Sadeed realizes that not all girls are blockheads and that climbing mountains can be as fun as Abby says it is. Clement's book simplies the complexity of Afghan/American relations, while introducing children to the basics. In the end, the children must end their new found friendship due to prejudice, ignorance and potential danger. Thus, Clement's mesage is clear, if the world would listen to it's children, we'd all live in a simpler, more peaceful society.

Significance: Afghanistan and the United States have a violent relationship and various factions would like to see the end of one or the other. This book is a simple introduction to the differences that exist between the two countries and it allows children to receive a small taste of the larger conflict. We also see a protagonist who struggles with school, but with hard work achieves the goals she and her school have set for her.

Personal Choice: Reading Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea wetted my appetite for more books about Afghanistan.

Awards: Christopher Award Winner, 2010