Pen Pals Books

The male character in this book is too real! The love he is searching for is at his fingertips. I could not put this book down. As a male reader I could certainly identify with the main character Moses. Thanks for giving him such strong morals. I thoroughly enjoy reading your books in particular because the male characters are men we can look up to from Cousins, to Thems Eves Daughters and now Letters. You have a loyal fan!

This book took me by surprise. I was capitivated from the very beginning. I like the way you write about social issues very tasteful. The ghost scene threw me for a curve, but I quickly recovered. I could not put this book down. The dialogue flows so well. Glad I ordered it you have a loyal fan. Will order the next book. I'm sure they are just as rich.

Letters is one of the best books I've read this year. As a matter of fact, my husband and I read it together and it was a wonderful experience. We can't wait to read the other two books! This book is the bomb!

This book is wonderful! I was extremely intrigued from beginning to end! This book kept me capitivated. There are no dull spots any where. Excellent piece of work!

This book was absolutely wonderful! I met the author in Greensboro, North Carolina at her book signing and she is absolutely beautiful inside and out! Once I spoke with her I could identify with the passion I felt jumping off the pages of her books. Letters is full of excitement. It's a wonderful read. There are no dull spots in this book. Anyone would love it. I appreciated meeting Ms. Dick in person so much I bought Cousins and Thems Eves Daughters. I don't know which one I love the best. Anybody can get into these books.

This is the kind of book you read on a plane and wish you'd had at thirteen. It's funny and sad and cool. It's about being a teenager with whacked out parents that really love you. It's about being over-protected and that's the name of parenting in the 21st century. Most of the joys/traumas of being a kid that I experienced just aren't available to my kids: Camping without adults, disappearing for hours, riding one's bike into forever, breaking limbs, exploring abandoned buildings. We live in a safe protected world. Calman, our main man, gets to go on a summer trip to meet his pen pal who turns out to be a girl. They get to live life outside his safe world and he gets to grow up, and it isn't all fun, but it's all good in the end. It's a life of gritty surprises. Amy Stolls is a good writer and you feel you're in safe hands with this book. You know your teen will read it and roll their eyes at you, and that's good too. It's a book either gender would enjoy equally, a rarity for YA. Give it to your kid. He or she will thank you for it. Kate Gale

An only child, Calman has been seeing a therapist since he was seven, and is now about to travel from his Boston home to Washington to meet his pen pal. His encounters with an unusual cast of very different characters and potential friends will bring him more awareness of his own life and personality than therapy could ever afford him.

Amy Stolls has a strong voice, and in her first novel she manages to muscle her way into her readers' heads. Calman Pulowitz is a teenage Jewish boy with a weak physique and a host of psychosomatic difficulties. His family invests in therapy, he has an addiction to Pepto Bismol, and an attachment to objects. After his pen pal Rizzy invites him to stay out in the rural wops of Walla Walla, Washington, he reluctantly takes part in a series of adventures with his new companion.

Palms to the Ground is not a conventional youth novel - Stolls doesn't leave you with cliff hangers at the end of each chapter, and her characters are rife with idiosyncrasies. But stick with her, because her tone is reminiscent of the regional twang of Carson McCullers, chronicling the trials of the Dickson family with irony, humor, and just a touch of empathy. In fact, the adventures are really just an excuse around which to build episodes of exaggerated chaos, as mothers and children spar, fathers duck their heads, and local characters drop in to drink the house dry.

Stolls is, so the cliché goes, one to watch in the future. She has a keen eye, a deft touch, and a ticklish pen. A little more action may have moved the plot along a little, but when it comes to the nasty confrontation everyone has to face with adolescence she is spot on.

The characters and descriptions took this 64-year-old reader on a ride through 50 years of time. Ms. Stolls brought me from delight to anger to sympathy and around again. She's a fine wordsmith with a "roll-it-up-a-notch" sense of humor.
Lenore Paddock, Montville, NJ

Palms To The Ground is the sort of gem of a novel that will appeal to readers of all ages. I'm 34 and I loved it so much that I've bought copies for the young people in my life and also for my best friend.

Amy Stolls writes with clarity, empathy, and humor. Palms to The Ground makes me wish that she was writing when I was a kid!

My child loved this book. Unlike the other Arthur chapter books, the books from the "Good Sports" series have not been shown on "Arthur" on tv.

I read Arthur And The Pen-Pal Playoff. I think this book is great. I think little boys and girls will want to read this wonderful book. This book is great for nine year olds to read.
Little kids will want to read this book over and over again, it's an adventure. This is a way to keep young ones away from the TV. I do recommend this book.

When Arthur talks up his basketball skills in a letter to a pen-pal that he was assigned to write for class, he feels that he's in over his head. His pen-pal writes back that he's a great basketball player as well and then he learns that his pen-pal is the lunch-lady's grandson. Next thing he knows, Mrs. McGrady (the lunch-lady) arranges them to play a one-on-one basketball game. The thing that's great about this story is that it's a situation that many readers can identify with. Eventually, Arthur's forced to face his situation head-on, but he's not the only one...

This is the last book of the "Arthur Good Sports" series. Whether any more books will be published in this series is not yet known, but the six-year 2001 set make a great addition to the "Arthur" series.

Excellent - My 2-1/2 yr old can't get enough!
If in-laws don't get it for him for Christmas, we will.

Nice illustrations, too.

(my 6-yr old got bored with it quickly...)

When an emergency call comes to Mickey Moonbeam from the asteroids he jumps into his rocket and blasts off to help - until he discovers that a stranded traveler isn't what he expected. Can he help another when size matters? A fun space story encourages kids in grades 2-3 to learn about problem-solving and unusual solutions.

Mickey Moonbeam is excited to meet his pen pal Quiggle for the first time. When a distress call indicates that Quiggle may not make the meeting, Mickey hops into his spaceship to rescue his friend. What ensues surprises them both.

Mickey Moonbeam is chock full of fun, especially for the six-year-old boy who dreams of rocket boots. The language sparks the imagination with word combinations like "super-zippy-hyper-fast," but doesn't overdo enough to annoy the parents reading aloud. The illustrations are lively, bright and imaginative. And though I'm sure in my adult brain that technologically the story's solution would never work, it makes perfect sense to the intended audience who ask for Mickey Moonbeam again and again.

This story has a nice read aloud quality with no clunky sentences and plenty of room for dramatic reading. Kids are also happy just to page through the book to see the illustrations and make up their own version of the story. For my three to six-year-old crowd and their read-aloud mama, we give it eight thumbs up.

Armchair Interviews says: Mike's other recent picture books include THE BIG WHITE BOOK, I'VE GOT NITS!, LITTLE ROBOT RABBIT, and BOUNCING BABIES.

I expected a romance and got an inspiring war. Wow!
During Marie's first visit to Munich, I felt everything was a mistake. How could she get so sucked in?! I hated Günter. I hated an imaginary character - not even Wilkie Collins can do that!

Hegberg has created a masterpiece than even a tough chick like me will become enveloped in. A novel to give the true meaning of living through challenges, for those experiences to become our best moments.


Season BubbleGirl

Author of 'A Doggy Diary' and the coming autobiography, 'Life In a Bubble.'

Carol Hegberg's new novel, "Pen Pals," introduces us to first love amidst the pressures of qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics team. This novella-length story is filled with the poignancy of young love while taking the reader on a journey from sacrifice to forgiveness. Its length does not shortchange the reader by revealing a tight, well-written story.

Marie Masterson, the eighteen year old main character, shares her story with us of her longtime pen pal, Gunter Hoffman, a German adolescent of similar age who has corresponded with Marie for seven years. At long last Marie travels to Germany as part of her budding career in gymnastics and for a chance to finally meet her friend, Gunter. The resulting relationship that develops between these two friends sends Marie rocketing into adulthood with all the life decisions that are associated with that journey. The choices she must make and how she deals with those pressures are just one of Hegberg's skills in weaving a tale of morality and values.

"Pen Pals" is filled with moral dilemma and a testing of values as we follow the human condition. This book would make an excellent basis for family discussion and the development of young adults. It harkens back to a more innocent time in our society when the decisions were no less difficult than today, but the element of choosing the right path was always clear. What Marie loses in her life is more than compensated for by the wisdom she gains.

Much like an accomplished gymnast, Carol Hegberg, a seasoned editor and now a novelist, performs exceptionally with the writing of "Pen Pals." Her beginning is artistic and flawless. She then launches into her story with clean, sharp moves that never wobble, building on the strengths of her characters. Then she closes with an equally satisfying dismount, leaving the reader fulfilled by paying off the story's earlier promise. This first effort is clearly worthy of the gold medal.

This is a delightful love story, partly set in Munich, Germany, and partly in the US. The protagonist Marie is a 18-year-old gymnast on her way to the Olympic trials but for an unorthodox reason (which is learned later in the book) her coach allows her to travel to Munich to visit her pen pal. She wins an Olympic berth but must forfeit because she is pregnant by her German pen pal, Günter Hoffmann. After the Olympics, she writes Günter about her pregnancy but he never contacts her until, by letter, he tells her he is married. Seven years later he and his wife visit America and stop by to see Marie. During their visit Günter meets his son accidentally and is excited he has a son. He and his wife could not have children. Marie doesn't believe him and thinks he only wants to take him away from her. After his visit, Marie finds her letter, which tells of her pregnancy, in their basement where it had slipped between the walls. To help heal the situation and not thinking of herself any longer, Marie flies with her son to Munich to give him to Günter. This is an amazing first novel, one in which you can read about real-life Germany and parts of the Olympic and gymnastics preparations, and still feel the trauma over lost love. Love can conquer all even though the man and woman cannot live as husband and wife. I recommend this highly.

Adrian is a writer of extraordinary talent. She's clever and enormously entertaining, she also understands young adults and speaks their language. Parents: No filthy language.
The SS offers a lesson in caring, sharing one's feelings and friendship. It is also about love and finding one's place in the world. The humor is astounding.
If you are an adult and haven't read Fogelin's books, you are missing a feast. Her books are not just for young adults, they are for anyone who likes to smile, laugh out loud and have a "happy" cry. I recommend The Sorta Sisters and everything Adrian writes. As a special bonus Adrian did all of the illustrations in The SS. What words can't describe, her illustrations can.
Five Star. Ronald G. Miller, Amelia Island, Fl.

Adrian Fogelin's The Sorta Sisters should be a real eye-opener for kid's whose lives are fairly stable and uncomplicated. In Anna Casey they'll meet a girl who's grown up in the foster system, and who can't quite dare to believe that her adoption will ever really be final. Her "sorta sister" Mica is the home-schooled daughter of an alcoholic living on a boat, trying to be the responsible one in the household. The two girls become penpals and learn that they share much more than a love of science. Many youthful readers, unfortunately, will be able to see that they, too, share some of the concerns of Anna and Mica. This story is just one more example of Adrian Fogelin's fine sensitivity to kids, the difficulties many face, and the heroic way they meet the challenges life throws in their paths. What a fine book, with delightful illustrations!

Just 10 minutes ago I finished reading The Sorta Sisters by Adrian Fogelin and it now sits in front of me alongside my copies of her other 6 books. Yes, I know these are fiction books, but my heart feels like it's just spent time with old friends from the neighborhood. Shoot, I wish I could send a letter off to Anna or Mica right now. If they were real people instead of excellently developed fictional characters, I would ask them to be happy and to please check back in with me again before too long. Gosh, I'm going to miss the heck out of them and the other neighborhood kids. For those of you who loved sweet foster child Anna from Anna Casey's Place in the World and for those of you who got a kick out of spunky Mica from My Brother's Hero, be assured that Adrian Fogelin is going to take you along for another un-put-downable read. Anna and Mica's letters to each other remind me of the days when I used to send "snail mail" to friends and the thrill I'd get when I saw one of their letters sitting in my mailbox. However, I don't think my friends and I shared such interesting life experiences in our letters. Be sure to admire the book's lovely drawings; each is hand drawn by the author herself.

This journal has been a wonderful, additional way to communicate with my daughter. The thoughts and insights my daughter has written to me and I to her will be treasured reading for years to come. Truly a wonderful keepsake... I highly recommend this journal.

Ah, I love this book - one of those simple, yet so great ideas! My 8-year old daughter and I share this journal, and we both are so excited when the journal appears on our bedside table - that means the other has written something just for us! This journal has helped my 8-year old express her feelings comfortably to me, not to mention documenting a journey for the both of us. A great gift idea for virtually any relationship!

Dance becomes a language and language becomes a dance in Kat Corbett's exciting sequel to First-String Future. Tori tests her own wings, first as she helps heal a family's pain by becoming their lost daughter, Heather, in a brilliant dance she helps choreograph, and later by flying to Russia to visit her pen-pal, a dance student at the school of the world-famous Maryinsky Theatre Ballet. Here, the streets of St. Petersburg come alive as Tori falls in love with her new "family." Granny tells a heart-wrenching story of how she was separated from her family as a child in World War II, and Tori takes to heart the Russian adage that bread stands for all the things you need and salt for all the things to make life happy. Tori's love of animals shines alongside her love of dance, and by standing up for her convictions, she inspires others to do the same. Then, on a day of miracles, she transforms herself from a "frog princess" into a "swan princess."

What a beautiful and touching story!! This book helped me understand and appreciate how different school, ballet training, and life in general is for a teenager in Russia compared to what it is like for me here in the United States.

This book is just Okay. Its about Karen who gets a pen pal and her name is Maxie and the write to each other.I got this book when i was 7 and i am not 7 now. I think if u like pen pal books, you should read it. I think this book should be change and Karen gets a new peanpal.

I loved this book as a kid and it was exciting how each kid in ms colman's class had a pen pal from new york city. Karen and her pen pal maxie would send each other stickers, erasers, shells and so on as presents, but each of them also bragged and exagerrated about their lifestyles and their families, and then comes a time when they are coming to visit stoneybrook and will maxine find out the truth about karen? Read to find out! It's also interesting looking back at this book and how times have changed since now there is internet and email but pen pals were a phenomenon before that.

A great gift for a new grandma!
I have to keep reordering this book because I keep giving mine away - and I want one to share with my own grandchild!

As my own granddaughter lives hundred of miles away, I continually search for books that we can share long distance. I thought this book would be one I would send for her parents to read to her. Instead, I am sending her one copy and buying myself a copy to keep for her visits here. Beginning with the grandmother rocking the newborn baby to exchanging pictures and homemade cards, this book reinforces the efforts my granddaughter's parents and I are making to create and maintain a strong bond between my young granddaughter and I. I especially like that the emphasis is on establishing traditions (i.e. the yearly planting of seeds), doing activities together (i.e. picking apples), and sending homemade art to each other (cards and drawings).