Same Sun Here, written by Silas House and Neela Vaswani. Candlewick Press, Random House. 2011. $18.00 ages 12 and up

"I was taking the subway with Kiku when I read your letter for the first time. Piggly Wiggly is such a funny name. I laughed out loud and couldn’t stop. A few people on the subway looked at me and either smiled or frowned, depending on their mood. Mostly, though, everyone just kept doing their own thing. You could stand on your head in the middle of a New York subway and no one would ask what you were doing."

I had it in my head that I was really going to like this book. The premise was of great  interest: a boy and a girl, twelve years old, one lives in  Kentucky and one lives in New York City, their backgrounds very different, yet remarkably similar. The voices are so authentic, and full of interest and concern for the other. I had great difficulty putting it down. Then, my eyes closed and I had no choice but to wait for another day...the next one, to be exact.

It is a compelling read, and I found myself learning about culture, lifestyle, corporate malfeasance (I knew those words, thanks to Ian Falconer's Olivia) and ongoing events that influence the two young writers. Their voices are authentic, and full of concern for each other.

River lives in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his mother and his Mamaw. His father, a coal miner, is out of work at the mine and lives in Biloxi where he could find work to support his family. He is rarely home. River loves to play basketball, and to wander in the beauty of his natural surroundings. His Mamaw is his mentor and takes good care of him, as his mother suffers from debilitating headaches and anxiety. Mamaw has strong opinions about many things and works tirelessly to better the conditions in the Kentucky mountains they call home. At the moment she is speaking out about mountaintop removal, a coal mining practice that is destroying the environment and their town.
 
Meena has recently arrived from India where she has been living with her grandmother. Dadi has been her mentor in the years since her parents and older brother emigrated to the United States to make a better life for the family, and to save the money needed to bring Meena to their new home.
They live in a rent-controlled apartment in Chinatown, on the sly and always concerned about eviction. Meena misses the mountains where she lived with Dadi, and she dearly misses her beloved grandparent. Meena loves to draw and is an accomplished artist. Her father also works away from the family in a catering business; he is not often home.

 As their letters give voice to Meena and River, their dreams and concerns, they become great friends and learn to trust the other. They are living in tumultuous times. They are able to share the fears that  they feel, the joys of family, and their opinions about the issues that are on their minds.
 
This is a wonderful story of friendship, a look at two young people from such different backgrounds with so much in common. It's a tale that can teach each one of us about friendship and forgiveness, differences and similarities, and a love that binds them. The writing is brilliantly conceived, shared by two very skilled writers who bring us characters to love and admire. I sure hope that we meet them at some point in their future. I love writing 'real' letters, and I also hope that this will encourage some readers to take up the pen, and do the same.