Extra Credit

“After first-period gym class, Abby felt like the rest of the school day was zero fun—like a winter with no snow. Or a summer without sunshine. And these days, she was under a ton of extra pressure. Because the truth was, Abby had never been a very good student. And during the first half of sixth grade, her academic problems had gone from bad to worse.”

In this passage the author reveals that Abby struggles with her schoolwork and has serious “academic problems.” This quotation connects Abby’s disinterest in school subjects with her lack of discipline at school, and characterizes her as more of an athlete and outdoorswoman. This passage sets up the premise of the book: her decision to complete an extra credit project. It also allows for the comparison of the two protagonists’ personal educational investment and attainment levels, despite very different opportunities.

“But as she put her head on her pillow that Tuesday night, the fears began to whisper inside her head: You think just because you did all your homework one night, they’re going to let you go on to seventh grade? Ha! You are so stupid!”

Anxious thoughts haunt Abby as she tries to figure out a solution to her failing grades. This passage indicates that Abby is motivated to pass the sixth grade and suggests that her apathy is caused by a sense of failure: She feels “stupid” because of her low grades. This quotation characterizes Abby as a sensitive person and builds the reader’s sympathy for her and her predicament.

“Mrs. Beckland said, ‘And finally, since your language arts and social studies grades are worse than your math and science grades, you would also have to do a special assignment for me, a project. For extra credit. Are you willing to do that?’”

This conversation introduces Abby’s language arts teacher Mrs. Beckland, and shows why Abby agreed to an extra-credit pen pal project. This exchange helps to characterize Mrs. Beckland as a kind teacher who helps Abby find a solution to her failing grades. These conversations also treat Abby with respect and demonstrate the willingness of the American school system to give her additional support. These factors will become points for comparison as the hierarchical nature of Sadeed’s community becomes clear.

“Abby said, ‘Well, it’s not like the Himalayas, but it’s nowhere near as flat as Beijing or Java.’ ‘Right,’ her teacher said, ‘and all those bumps and ridges north of Kabul? Those are the Hindu Kush mountains, very steep and rugged.’ Abby said, ‘Then I want to find a pen pal around that part of Afghanistan.’”

This key scene sets the plot in motion as Abby agrees to the project and finds a region that interests her. Abby’s love of mountainous places and her choice of Afghanistan show that she is interested in learning about a place that is very different from her hometown, the flat farmlands of Illinois. The juxtaposition of mountainous and flat topography is the first of the book’s many cultural contrasts and is emblematic of Abby’s interest in difference.

“Sadeed was able to tolerate the younger students in his morning class with him, but just barely. Really, he thought. Mahmood should make me his assistant for the rest of this year.”

This quotation captures Sadeed’s confidence as the most senior and accomplished student in his class. The eldest child in his family, Sadeed is accustomed to taking on responsibility and sees himself as a leader and role model figure for those around him. Sadeed’s confidence and passion for academics sharply contrasts with Abby’s character, who does not feel very capable at school and tends to avoid school responsibilities. This contrast intrigues the reader by raising the question of how these two very different kids will connect over their letters. The passage also implicitly introduces the reader to Sadeed’s limited educational setting: He is taught alongside much younger students and much of his time is spent on their learning needs rather than his own.

“This spider girl was the cause of his problem, the creator of all this extra work. Which seemed so pointless. And which also seemed false, to pretend that Amira would be answering the letter on her own. However, Sadeed made a promise to his teacher, and a man must keep his word.”

Sadeed has a negative first impression of Abby from her initial letter, considering her a “spider girl” because of her climbing photo. This passage shows that Sadeed disliked using Amira’s identity to write to Abby, and resented the extra work he had to do for the project. However, it also emphasizes Sadeed’s serious nature and attitude toward obligation, as he completes the letters despite these feelings. By framing Sadeed’s commitment as a “man’s” promise, Clements introduces the context of gender-based honor and status, as well as the idea that at 12, Sadeed is a “man” in his community.

“I would want to do a good job too, of course, he thought. But I’d never start crying about it. Which made him think about how different he was from his sister, and from girls in general. That thought bounced around his mind for several minutes. Girls were a great mystery.”

Sadeed is intrigued and mystified by Abby, Amira, and other girls in his life, and considers them very different from himself. By corresponding with Abby, Sadeed forms a kind of friendship with a girl outside his family for the first time. By calling girls a “mystery” Sadeed’s thoughts show that he has not had many female friends. This passage is an example of Clements uses the pen pal experience to highlight gender segregation in Afghanistan, showing that Sadeed is paradoxically more able to become close to Abby than to girls in his own community, who is his physically segregated from and encouraged to view as other.

“Abby smiled as she tucked her phone back into her pocket. She had just won the argument, sort of. And she had bought herself half an hour of free time in the woods. However, eight minutes later she was standing in the kitchen. Because her woods weren’t going anywhere, and she’d been out there hundreds of times. But never in her life had she gotten a letter from someone who lived in the mountains on the other side of the world.”

This quotation reveals how Abby’s pen pal project piqued her interest and helped her feel motivated about schoolwork for the first time. Abby’s curiosity about Sadeed and Amira bolster Clements’s theme on The Value of Open-mindedness Toward Difference, as Abby’s mindset helps her enjoy her project and make a new positive connection.

“Rereading the letter, then looking more carefully at each picture, Abby felt ashamed of the letter she had sent to Afghanistan. As near as she could recall, she had spent about ten minutes on it. The letter she’d gotten back was so much…more. This girl named Amira had obviously spent a lot of time writing it, not to mention the work her brother had done on the drawings.”

In this passage Abby reflects on her own contribution to her pen pal exchange, and realizes that she should reciprocate the careful writing and drawing that Amira and Sadeed gave to her. This quotation adds to the theme of Friendship and Personal Growth, as Abby’s pen pal exchange helps her realize that she needs to develop more discipline about her work. Abby’s response also helps Clements to hint at the different levels of opportunity between the pen pals, expressed in their different initial attitudes toward the project.

“He stopped listening, didn’t watch. But most of all he tried not to become angry or let his feelings show on his face. Because it was very clear that Mahmood had chosen to send his letter to America, not Amira’s. So Amira had done almost nothing to create the fantastic letter the American girl had gotten, and now she was up in front of the whole class, acting like she was the great writer.”

This passage gives the reader a window into Sadeed’s state of mind as he listens to Amira read her letter from Abby to the class. Sadeed’s pride in his writing, and his jealousy of his sister, show that his academic abilities are very important to him, and he longs to be recognized for his work. This scene also explains why Sadeed felt so desperate to write his own secret letter to Abby.

“The second photograph showed the richest, greenest cornfield Sadeed had ever seen. A man stood at the edge of the field, and the stalks towered above his head, each plant heavy with the tasseled ears of corn. Behind him the land seemed to stretch on forever, with row after row of green and gold plants. And above the pictures she had written, ‘This is my dad in front of our cornfield last August. Can you believe how flat it is here?? Very boring.’”

This passage describes Abby’s letter and photo to Sadeed and Amira, adding to the theme of Reciprocally Sharing One’s Inner Life by showing how Abby shared pictures and information about her life to bond with Sadeed and Amira. This quotation emphasizes how Abby sees her hometown as “boring,” a conclusion which Sadeed disagrees with, which challenges Abby to reconsider her perspective on her hometown.

“And at that very moment, gazing at her picture, Abby Carson became a real person to him—someone who was intelligent, someone who loved being outdoors, someone who noticed the beauty of nature and the shapes of words.”

This passage adds to the author’s theme on Friendship and Personal Growth. While Sadeed had been self-centered about his experience of the pen pal exchange, the letter from Abby humanized her and made Sadeed realize that she was not merely “a girl,” but a “real person” with her own skills and personality. This shift in mindset was an important part of Sadeed’s personal growth, and a change in gender-based attitudes as a result of exposure.

“But with so many kids suddenly tuned in, she felt embarrassed. Because when she had been writing the letter to Amira, she’d gotten all caught up in it, and she had written things she probably wouldn’t have—not if she’d remembered she was going to have to put it up on the wall at school for everyone to read.”

Abby is concerned about her reputation amongst her peers when she realizes that she has divulged personal details in her letters to Amira and Sadeed that she will have to put in her pen pal presentation. Ultimately, Abby decides to make an impersonal draft to show the class while continuing to share personal information with her new friends. This shows that Abby is a problem solver and that she has the confidence to protect her right to privacy in her new friendship. This passage also develops the theme of Friendship and Personal Growth as it shows that Abby’s friendship has extended past a compulsory project into a personal opportunity and pleasure.

“And when I see a green field like the one in the picture you sent, I do not think it is flat and boring there. One field like that would possibly feed all the people and animals in my village for a whole winter. That field is beautiful, like a smile of God.”

Sadeed shares his own perspective on Abby’s farmland in Linsdale, emphasizing its beauty and abundance. This quotation highlights Sadeed’s vastly different upbringing from Abby’s and introduces ideas which will influence Abby as the story progresses. It is also a learning moment for the reader, making explicit the huge economic differences between the children’s two communities.

“As Abby finished reading Sadeed’s letter, her heart was racing. And she wasn’t sure why. Perhaps just because the letter was such a surprise. But also because it was a secret.”

When Abby discovers Sadeed’s secret letter, she feels a stronger connection to him and appreciates that he has taken a risk to share the truth and help her understand his real situation in Bahar-Lan. This passage shows Abby’s increasing emotional investment in her pen pal and her desire to have a genuine, personal exchange with him.

“Because from the first words of the letter, he felt as if Abby was speaking almost completely to him, answering his letter, point by point. But not so anyone else would know. She was plenty smart, this girl.”

Abby reciprocates Sadeed’s heartfelt and intimate letter by sending him a detailed and engaging message. This passage shows that, despite her struggles in class, Abby is an excellent letter-writer. It also supports the author’s theme of Reciprocally Sharing One’s Inner Life by showing how sharing information, photos, gifts, and drawings helped Sadeed and Abby change their relationship from formal pen pals to friends.

“As he turned the envelope over, his eyes flashed and his fingers dug into Sadeed’s arm like a steel trap. He cursed, then made a sound, as if he were spitting. ‘The flag of America? You have business with the people who pollute our land and murder us?’”

Sadeed is attacked by an anti-American man who is angry that Sadeed is corresponding with an American girl, contextualizing the story within the hostile environment of the Afghan-American conflict. This passage introduces a tense, suspenseful tone to the novel as the reader wonders how Sadeed will escape, and what the consequences of his pen pal exchange could be. It also contrasts Sadeed’s gentle open-mindedness and love of learning with the Taliban’s violence and prejudice.

“Making eye contact with each man in the group except the teacher, Hassan said, ‘I think it would be wise if the letter writing stopped. Because it is such a public thing now. Everyone will know if it continues. Word will get around. And why dangle red meat in front of an angry bear?’”

The schoolteacher and village elders debate whether the pen pal exchange should continue after Sadeed is attacked. This passage highlights how the threat of militants’ violence constrains life and learning in Afghanistan, as the group agrees that the pen pal exchange must stop so they can avoid more harassment. By comparing the Taliban to an “angry bear” the village elder emphasizes the group’s dangerous violence.

“As Sadeed finished reading the letter out loud, he had the same feeling he’d gotten at school—that Abby had been talking only to him the whole time. It was such a new thing, to be sharing thoughts like this. With a girl.”

Sadeed’s deepening friendship with Abby is new for him, as he has few female friends apart from his sister. This experience helps Sadeed relate to girls more easily and realize that he and Abby have more in common than he had thought. This passage supports the author’s theme on Friendship and Personal Growth, as Sadeed’s conversations with Abby help him to mature and recognize girls as worthy companions.

“And as Amira got up and went to do her homework, he tucked the packet into his vest pocket. It was a tiny piece of America, a secret message, sent to him by a friend. And it wasn’t stupid. Not at all.”

Sadeed treasures Abby’s letter to him, and keeps it close to him. While his sister was dismissive of Abby’s gift of soil, Sadeed knew that it was her way of reciprocating his secret gift, and appreciates her gesture. This passage adds to the themes on reciprocity and friendship as it shows how the children’s reciprocal gifts help to solidify their shared understanding and friendship.

“Now she sort of felt like she ought to stand up for Amira. And Sadeed. Still, it was only a flag. And she didn’t want Mrs. Beckland to get into trouble. So Abby turned back and smiled. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘it’s no big deal. I guess I should just put up something else.’”

Abby is frustrated when a classmate complains about the Afghan flag on her poster. Her instinct to stand up for her new friends shows Abby’s fondness for them, as well as her ability to engage with other cultures and ideas that are different from her own.

“Abby read the letter once quickly, and then again. This one was from Amira herself—it wasn’t even Sadeed’s handwriting. She stood there at her kitchen counter, trying to understand: This girl’s teacher wanted them to stop writing letters? And her parents? And who were these people who didn’t like America?”

Abby is shocked to learn that Sadeed was threatened by an anti-American stranger. This incident contrasts Abby and Sadeed’s youthful kindness and open-mindedness with the prejudice of adults. This passage shows how Abby’s worldview is slowly maturing as she reflects on the threats that Sadeed and Amira live with in Afghanistan. The passage also shows how naïve Abby is and how little young Americans are often taught about the wider geopolitical impact of the US across the world. This moment is one of awakening for Abby, as she starts to understand that negative outside perspectives of her national and culture are widespread.

“I think of you now and again, always with respect. Because I admire you. I have read each letter from you many times. I know I will keep them. I have to share them with Amira, but they are more mine. I also keep the farmland you sent. And that I do not share. Because if one day I come to visit America, I will return it.”

Sadeed’s parting words to Abby reveal his respect and admiration for her, and his appreciation for their exchange. In this passage the author develops his theme on The Value of Open-mindedness Toward Difference, showing what a positive interaction the kids were able to have because of their kindness and curiosity. Sadeed’s wishes for the future encourage the reader to consider what more the children could have learned and experienced if they had been allowed to continue their relationship.