I Will Always Write Back

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.
• Study paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of The Possibilities of Cross-Cultural Connection, Overcoming Privilege, and Disparities in Access to Education.
• Write a series of three creative letters, emulating the correspondence of Caitlin and Martin, to learn more about themselves and the world around them.
• Analyze and evaluate the authors’ purpose and techniques to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding how the book’s alternating perspectives affect the narrative, how cultural misunderstandings lead to personal growth, and other topics.