Brainstorm 167: Life-changing Letters

As we look ahead to Valentine's Day approaching next week, I thought it might be appropriate to share some stories of simple acts of neighborly love. I recently read two of these books that both shared stories of how letters exchanged and unsolicited kind gifts helped change lives. It made me think of the other two. All are inspiring stories of how a kind letter and a simple gift at just the right time can change lives. All are true stories and only the picture book is fictionalized a little. All are highly recommended if you're looking for an inspirational true (or based on truth) story about lovingkindness.

Picture Book

Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming, ill. by Stacey Dressen-McQueen
Right after WWII, a young girl named Katje in Olst, Holland receives a package through the Children's Aid Society from a young girl in Indiana named Rosie. When Rosie receives Katje's thank you letter and hears how much the chocolate, socks, and soap meant to Katje and how she shared it with others, Rosie decides to send more. And each time she sends something, Katje shares it with her family and neighbors. What starts with one box for one girl, soon becomes life-saving boxes for a whole town from another town across the Atlantic. The people of Olst are so thankful, but what can they send the kind people in Indiana in return?

Target Readers:

• Inspirational and Touching Story Fans: Such a heartwarming tale of how kindness can be contagious and the way even small gifts can mean so much to others in need. I love the way that Rosie read between the lines in Katje's thank you letters and figured out what else would help them most. Katje never asked for a thing. 
• Historical Fiction Fans/Post-WWII Buffs: Make sure you read the author's note about how this story is based on true events. And it would make a good read for those studying or interested in post-WWII history.

Middle Grade Biography

Candy Bomber: the Story of Berlin Airlift’s “Chocolate Pilot” by Michael O. Tunnell
Candy Bomber is a touching story of how one man's small act of kindness grew to bring hope, reconciliation, and joy to many young German children after World War II, and spurred many other allied troops and citizens to also reach out with love and kindness. Filled with original pictures and letters from Lt. Gail Halvorsen's (aka the "Chocolate Pilot") personal collection.

Target Readers:

• Fans of Inspirational People & Stories of Kindness Restoring Peace: The story focuses on showing how the acts of kindness touched lives on both sides (givers and receivers). Perhaps most touching were the letters from the German children pouring out thanks and love for a man who a few years previously would have been their enemy. Halverson is a great role model, especially since he didn't just do one act of kindness, he has lived a lifestyle of caring for others. The book also shares how he went on to provide the same acts of kindness in many areas of conflict after WWII.
• WWII & Post-WWII Buffs: Beyond the story of Halvorsen, Mr Tunnell also includes a brief but very well-written and helpful historical summary of WWII and events after for the reader. 

Young Adult Autobiography

I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives by Caitlin Alifirenka & Martin Ganda with Liz Welch
In the fall of 1997 two tweens are connected as pen pals through school assignments. Caitlin was a typical American girl living in Pennsylvania who loved to go to the mall. Martin was a boy from Zimbabwe with a brilliant mind but whose family struggled to find the funds to keep him in school. For a few letters the two just conversed on a surface level, but when Caitlin finally realized the dire situation Martin and his family were in, both of their lives changed as Caitlin's eyes were opened to the hurting people of the world and Martin gained a friend willing to invest love and her babysitting money in his future. Eventually, Caitlin's entire family got involved in helping Martin and his family survive the tumultuous recession in Zimbabwe and figuring out how to help Martin come to the States for university.
Click on title to see content notes.

Target Readers:

• Inspirational & Touching True Story Fans/Those Who Want to Learn More about Life in Recent History Zimbabwe: This is an incredible story, made all the more powerful because it is true. What Caitlin did will not seem like much to teens who are well off, but it made a world of difference for Martin and his family (and even saved some of their lives). I sometimes rolled my eyes at Caitlin's tween and teen drama, but she does mature over the course of the book and ultimately the overall message makes it worth plowing through her teen experience. Hopefully tweens and teens reading this will be inspired to take action themselves, that having their eyes open to how others live in this world will inspire them to see what "little" things they can do will mean the world to someone else. I don't see how you could read this and put it down unmoved. 

Adult Autobiography

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
The first half of the edition I read of this book is the original 84, Charing Cross Road which consists of correspondence between Helene Hanff, a TV script writer in New York City, and a used book store’s staff in London. Over many years of ordering books from this company, she strikes up relationships with several of the staff members and their families through correspondence back and forth. Eventually, she turns the letters into a book which funds the trip to London they've all wanted her to take for ages. And her diaries of this trip to London make up the second half of the book, originally published as The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street.
Click on the title to see content notes.

Target Readers:

• Quick Read Fans/Lighthearted Read Fans: I devoured this in less than 24 hours. It is a quick read thanks to the epistolary and diary formats. And the topics covered are lighthearted and easy to read.
• Dry Wit Fans: It took me a little while to catch on to Helene's dry wit in her letters, but once I did I found them very entertaining. 
• Inspirational Story Fans/Friendship Story Fans: It was amazing how many friends Hanff made in this bookstore just through her letters about ordering books and through her Christmas and Easter gifts she sent them and vice versa. The letters start in the late 1940s, soon after WWII so the Londoners were still under rations and she quickly won their hearts with generous and unsolicited gifts of meat and eggs. It is eye-opening to hear how much her little gifts and letters meant to the Londoners of that time.
• London Travel Fans/Author Memoir Fans: Her adventures once she got to London and her experience of going from a solitary writer to celebrated writer are most entertaining. As a classic book lover, her tours of London are largely guided by history and literature so it is like a classic book lover's tour of London which was delightful.