On Dec. 1, Cooper Middle School students had an opportunity to meet the authors of the book “I Will Always Write Back,” the New York Times bestselling true story of an all-American girl and a boy from Zimbabwe and the letter that changed both of their lives forever. Authors Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda talked to Cooper students about their journey.

The letter was the beginning of a correspondence that spanned six years and changed two lives. The authors talked about their story in detail and how it all came together. They explained how one school project completely changed their lives. Martin and Caitlin spoke about how Martin’s life in Zimbabwe was completely different from Caitlin’s in America and how becoming pen pals showed them that. They also showed students a video of them finally meeting and how hard but exciting it was to finally get Martin here to America.

When asked what had inspired them to start telling children their story, Caitlin and Martin replied, “We wanted to let other kids know that they can make huge differences. Also that they are very fortunate to have technology at their fingertips so that they can make big positive changes and kind words all over the world.”