Marion Ripley

Laura does not enjoy only seeing mail for her mom daily, and decides she needs to start getting some. At school, her teacher asks who would be willing to pen-pal to a student in Australia and Laura knows this is the perfect opportunity. She starts to write a student named Malcolm. She tells him about herself, includes all the things she enjoys doing and asks for a picture, and when he replies he does the same. She is so excited to show everyone her new friend! She writes back and sends him a show more picture he did not ask for but instead of getting a quick response she has to wait. Many weeks pass and still not a word from Malcolm, until one day she received a letter! Unfortunately not from her friend, but his older sister. She explained how Malcolm was having surgery because he was blind and they were doing a procedure on his eyes. Laura did not know what to do or think. She was hurt because she wanted to know why he did not tell her himself. Instead of being resentful, Laura makes him a get well card in Braille. They they become "braille buddies" instead of pen pals. show less

Laura is a young girl who receives a pen pal in Australia from her teacher at school. The pen pal’s name is Malcolm, and the two pen pals begin writing letters to each other. Laura does not get a letter from Malcolm for three weeks and becomes disappointed. Then, Laura gets a letter from Malcom’s sister explaining that Malcolm has very poor vision – he is almost blind – and is in the hospital for an operation. At first Laura is upset that Malcolm did not tell her he could not see, show more but Laura’s father helps her to realize that it is not the most important thing about Malcom – it is just a part of who he is. Laura writes a get well soon card to Malcom in braille, so that he can read it himself Malcom, writes back and the two become “brailler pals” instead of pen pals.
I thought this book was great. I loved how Laura came to realize that Malcom’s blindness was just one part of him and that she could talk to Malcolm just like anyone else if she used braille. I also really appreciated how the book included the braille letter from Malcom. This gives the reader an opportunity to understand what braille feels like and how it is used. show less

"Private and Confidential" is about a little girl named Laura who wants to reach out and write letters to other children her age. Soon, her teacher, Mr. Joshi, tells the class that an Australian teacher wants to set up pen pals with them. Laura picks her pen pal, Malcolm, and they each write a nice letter to each other. Soon, Laura stops hearing from Malcolm for a few weeks and his sister mails a letter a letter to Laura saying he was in the hospital for his very poor sight. Laura then comes show more up with the idea to write a letter to him in braille and he writes one back in the same format. The story then ends on them showing the start to a great friendship. Overall, I enjoyed this book. I like how the author includes the braille-written letters between Malcolm and Laura so the reader can be properly introduced to braille. I also enjoyed how Laura was so accepting of Malcolm and tried to accommodate to his loss of sight by writing to him in braille. A great lesson was also taught in this book. Laura's dad taught Laura that even though Malcolm didn't talk about his loss of sight at first, what was more important was that they were getting to know each other's hobbies, families, etc, first. This book touches on the subject that a person's disability does not have to label or define them. I would definitely read this book to my students one day to introduce them to braille and to help them understand blindness. show less

“Private and Confidential,” was a very good book. The book was about a little girl named Laura who wants gets a pen pal that lives in Australia. Laura realizes that the young boy that she is writing to is blind. His sister explains how he sends the letters to her. Laura takes it upon herself to find a way to write a letter in braille for him. The story is great because it doesn’t focus just on the fact that Malcolm is blind. It shows how he doesn’t believe that is the only important show more thing about himself. I like how Laura goes the extra mile to make a letter for him to enjoy without the help of his sister. show less