Extra Credit

Sadeed’s teacher, Mr. Jafari, is concerned about this news, and wonders if the strange man was a Taliban fighter. He tells Sadeed to inform the village elder, Akbar Khan, and soon everyone in the village knows what happened. When the village elders meet with the teacher, they insist that the letter writing should stop, since it is provoking suspicion and unrest. Mr. Jafari believes that they should send one more letter to Abby to explain the situation, and Mr. Khan agrees. While Mr. Jafari is saddened to stop the pen pal exchange, he feels hopeful that he will continue to improve his students’ lives in other ways.

Sadeed and Amira tape the pieces of Abby’s letter back together. Amira is eager to hear the rest of the letter, and Sadeed translates it into Dari for her. Abby concludes her letter by stating that she doesn’t have a boyfriend, but she is friends with some boys. She answers Sadeed’s comments about English books by mentioning that she, too, has read “Frog and Toad Are Friends” and compares herself to Toad because she also loves big creative projects. Abby suggests that she and Amira should compare their spring weather and wishes Amira the best. While she does not mention him, Abby’s letter contains many references to Sadeed’s previous message to her.

After finishing the letter, Sadeed feels a growing friendship with Abby, and is amazed at how they are sharing so much of their lives, even though she is a girl. Amira and Sadeed take Abby’s soil out of the bag and spread it on a piece of paper. They feel privileged to be the second and third people to ever touch it, and try to imagine fields of the same dark, rich soil. Sadeed feels more connected to Abby by imagining her in the woods and fields of Illinois. He carefully packs the soil and letter back into his vest pocket, reflecting on his friendship with Abby.

Meanwhile, it is Tuesday morning in Illinois and Abby notices that the flag of Afghanistan has been taken off of her project display. Annoyed, Abby asks her teacher, Mrs. Beckland, why the flag is missing. Mrs. Beckland reveals that a student and parents from her class complained about the flag and said it made them uncomfortable because of the Islamic prayer and mosque depicted on the flag. Abby is confused and annoyed that someone would complain about it, since it was part of her report. He teacher simply tells her to find a new picture to add. Abby feels offended on Sadeed and Amira’s behalf, and wishes that she could include the Afghan flag on her display.

Abby receives Amira’s reply, which explains that because some people in their village do not like America, she cannot continue writing to Abby. Abby realizes that this is really Amira writing to her, since she recognizes her penmanship. Abby hopes that Sadeed will send his own letter, and that maybe they can continue writing to each other somehow. Abby feels shocked and confused that people in Amira and Sadeed’s community do not want them to continue their pen pal exchange.

When she posts Amira’s letter on the project display, Mrs. Beckland apologizes to Abby for how her pen pal exchange ended, but notes that Abby received and wrote enough letters to complete her project and earn extra credit. After several days Abby stopped thinking so much about hearing from Sadeed. She was busy working on her schoolwork and doing her climbing. However, as the end of the school year approached, Abby would sometimes look over at Sadeed’s drawings and wonder how he and his family were doing.

Weeks later, Mrs. Beckland reminds Abby that she still needs to present a report on her pen pal project to the class. Abby agrees, but does not want to think about it again, since she had moved on from her disappointment with the project. Abby’s presentation includes basic facts on Afghanistan’s history, geography and culture. She explains that she chose to write about Afghanistan because it is mountainous, and she was curious about living near mountains. She learned that it is very challenging living near mountains in Afghanistan, because there are floods, avalanches, and hiding places for criminals. Abby shares that she was reminded that people everywhere are “pretty much the same,” but that Amira’s situation in Afghanistan was too “complicated” and “dangerous” for her to continue being a pen pal (166). Abby considers telling the class about Sadeed’s secret letters, but decides against it, wanting to keep that part of the experience for herself. When Abby is done, she goes to the bulletin board and recycles her project papers.

On Abby’s last day of school, she enjoys the “Field Day” activities, and is happy to know that she has successfully finished elementary school and will move on to junior high next year. Abby is surprised to receive another letter from Kabul, and assumes it is a note from the Afghan teacher. She opens the letter and reads a brief note from a teacher at the Ministry of Education explaining that one of Mr. Jafari’s students wanted to write to her again. She reads on and realizes that the next letter is from Sadeed.

Sadeed explains how he was threatened by a strange man about the letters, and reveals that there is more fighting in the mountains where he lives. He shares that his uncle, who likes to mountain climb, gave him a rope and taught him how to use it to climb rock faces. He now sees mountains differently. He shares that he likes and admires Abby and considers her a friend, and fondly remembers their letter exchanges. Abby goes to the school gym and starts to climb the wall herself, thinking about how Sadeed climbed his own mountains. Abby was sad that Sadeed’s letter felt like such a final goodbye, and that their lives would not intersect again. On the school bus home, Abby looks out the window and thinks about Sadeed’s perspective on the flat Illinois farmland, and now agrees that it is beautiful.