Extra Credit by Andrew Clements; Unabridged MP3 Audio Book; Narrator Gabra Zackman

Book Club Pick
IRA/CBC Children's Choices
Kentucky Bluegrass Award Master List
South Carolina Book Award Nominee

It isn't that Abby Carson can't do her schoolwork, it's just that she doesn't like doing it. And that means she's pretty much failing sixth grade. When a warning letter is sent home, Abby realizes that all her slacking off could cause her to be held back—for real! Unless she wants to repeat the sixth grade, she'll have to meet some specific conditions, including taking on an extra-credit project: find a pen pal in a foreign country. Simple enough (even for a girl who hates homework).

Abby's first letter arrives at a small school in Afghanistan, and Sadeed Bayat is chosen to be her pen pal….Well, kind of. He is the best writer, but he is also a boy, and in his village it is not appropriate for a boy to correspond with a girl. So his younger sister dictates and signs the letter. Until Sadeed decides what his sister is telling Abby isn't what he'd like Abby to know.

As letters flow back and forth between Illinois and Afghanistan, Abby and Sadeed discover that their letters are crossing more than an ocean. They are crossing a huge cultural divide and a minefield of different lifestyles and traditions. Their growing friendship is also becoming a growing problem for both communities, and some people are not happy. Suddenly things are not so simple.

Andrew Clements is the author of the enormously popular Frindle. Over ten million of his books have sold to date and he has been nominated for a multitude of state awards and has won two Christopher Awards and an Edgar Award. His popular works include Extra Credit, Lost and Found, No Talking, Room One, Lunch Money and more.  He is also the author of the Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School series. Mr. Clements taught in the public schools near Chicago for seven years before moving East to begin a career in publishing and writing. He lives with his wife in central Massachusetts and has four grown children.  His website is andrewclements.com.