Extra Credit

Extra Credit is a 2009 young adult novel by American author Andrew Clements. This book follows two sixth-grade students from different countries and cultures whose lives intersect through a pen pal exchange. Abby Carson, an athletic girl from Illinois, needs to complete an extra credit project to ensure she passes the sixth grade. She begins to exchange letters with Sadeed Bayat, an academic overachiever from Bahar-Lan, Afghanistan. As the two share personal memories, pictures, and poems, they forge a unique bond across the divisions of geography, culture, and gender, before circumstances halt their contact. The book won the Christopher Award for Books for Young People in 2010.

This guide refers to the 2012 Kindle edition. Citations are to page numbers in this edition.

Plot Summary

Sadeed Bayat, a sixth-grade boy from Afghanistan, overhears his teacher and the village elders decide that he should help his little sister, Amira, reply to a pen pal letter from an American girl. Sadeed is disappointed that, rather than being rewarded for his academic achievements, he is being saddled with another responsibility.

Abby Carson is a sixth grader from Linsdale, Illinois, who loves climbing and outdoor activities, but hates academics.