Extra Credit

Extra Credit
By: Andrew Clements

Imagine you've just been told you are failing school. Your parents are angry with you, you might not move to the next grade with your friends you have known forever, and your teachers are constantly assigning more and more homework. Just when you think things at school can't get any worse, you are told that in order to pass you will have to pass every test/homework assignment given to you from this point on. You also have to complete a huge extra credit project that is going to take lots of careful planning and time.

Luckily for Abby Carson, (who happens to be the failing student) her extra credit project turns out to be one of the best things to ever happen to her. Sadeed Bayat becomes her pen pal. At first, things were very rocky and unstable. Abby and Sadeed manage to overcome several obstacles that are thrown their way while being pen pals. The courage, determination, and positive attitude these two individuals demonstrate make this a great read for children.

Children will want to read this book without ever putting it down. Not only it is a quick read, but the cultural information contained within the book is very interesting. One can't help but falling in love with the story of Abby and Sadeed's friendship. It's inspirational and very easy to relate to.

I think this would also be a very good book to do a pen pal project with your own group of students. They could each find a pen pal in another country and do exactly what Abby Carson does. There are so many different paths you could take project wise for this awesome book!