Memoir Book Recommendation: I Will Always Write Back

My first memoir book recommendation on this blog is entitled “I Will Always Write Back” by Caitlin Alifirenka & Martin Ganda with Liz Welch.

Oh my, it was such a wonderful read!

I found the book at a local Little Free Library this past week.

I picked it out (along with two other books) and left another book I had just read behind. I have a second book set aside to drop by there today when I go to return this book for someone else to enjoy. 🙂

About the Book

The blurb on the back cover says:

“The true story of an all-American girl and a boy from Zimbabwe and the letter that changed both of their lives forever.

“It started as an assignment. Everyone in Caitlin’s class wrote to an unknown student in a distant place. Martin was lucky to even receive a pen-pal letter. There were only ten letters, and fifty kids in his class. But he was the top student, so he got the first one.

“That letter was the beginning of a correspondence that spanne six years and changed two lives.

“In this compelling memoir…Caitlin and Martin recount how they became best friends–and better people–through their long-distance exchange.”

The Book’s Style

Each chapter goes back and forth between each person’s perspective, telling about the goings-on in their respective worlds.

The chapters read like diary entries, spanning six years, from the time they began their correspondence in September 1997 to the time they met in person in August 2003.

And there is a collection of colored photographs of each of the kids/young adults near the end of the book. I found it to be very sweet to learn the stories behind each of the photos and the people (& pets) within them.

Overall, I found the book to be very intriguing, informative and highly relatable. (I consumed the book in under three days, and I laughed and cried, gasped, laughed and cried some more.)

I highly recommend it.

Reading this book truly was an enjoyable & memorable experience for me.

It even inspired me to go ahead and order a couple copies — one for my private library and one to deposit in another little free library close to my home in central Virginia.

I also think this book would make a great “book club” choice (for ages 12 and up). There’s a discussion guide containing twenty questions at the end of the book. I can see there definitely being a lot to talk about stemming from this book.

I whole-heartedly recommend it!

My Personal Rating: ***** (5 out of 5 stars)

“I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives” by Caitlin Alifirenka & Martin Ganda with Liz Welch.
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If you’ve already read this book (it was published in 2015), please let me know what you thought about it. I’d love to hear from you. 🙂

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