I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives

• Genre: Nonfiction; middle grade memoir
• Originally Published: 2015
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 790L; grades 6-10
• Structure/Length: 66 chapters; approx. 416 pages; approx. 8 hours, 51 minutes on audio
• Central Concern: Caitlin, an average American girl, writes to an unknown student somewhere in the world as part of a pen pal assignment. Martin, a Zimbabwean student at the top of his class, receives it, kickstarting a six-year relationship that changes both of their lives.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Extreme poverty; food insecurity; human suffering    

Liz Welch, Author

• Bio: Ms. Magazine published her first feature in July 1999, starting a two-decade long journalism career; has published work in Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and The New York Times
• Other Works: The Kids Are All Right (2010); The Eagle Huntress: The True Story of the Girl Who Soared Beyond Expectations (2021)
• Awards: ASME Award; National Press Club Award; Planned Parenthood MAGGIE; National Women's Political Caucus Merit Award; first book The Kids Are All Right won an ALA ALEX award (2010)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The Possibilities of Cross-Cultural Connection
• Overcoming Privilege
• Disparities in Access to Education

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Gain an understanding of the social and cultural contexts around the concept of “privilege” and ruminate on the benefits of cross-cultural friendship, both of which directly relate to the protagonists’ motivations.