Caitlin Alifirenka is in her seventh-grade English class when her teacher, Mrs. Miller, announces that everyone will be writing to a pen pal from another country. While other students choose pen pals in Europe, Caitlin is the only one to choose Zimbabwe, as it is a country wholly unfamiliar to her. When she arrives home from school, her mother informs her that Zimbabwe used to be called Rhodesia. The name of the country changed due to colonialism, which Caitlin’s mother describes as “when powerful countries take over other countries and call them their territories” (9). Caitlin’s mother compares what happened to Zimbabwe to the United States, which used to be colonies of Great Britain.

Caitlin has a hard time understanding the connection between the United States and Zimbabwe in terms of colonialism, so she conducts some research on the internet. She learns that there are two main ethnic groups in Zimbabwe, the Shona and the Ndebele. While Shona is the national language, most of the country speaks English due to Zimbabwe’s colonization by the United Kingdom. With this information in mind, Caitlin begins her letter to her pen pal in Zimbabwe. She describes herself, her family, and what she likes to do for fun.