A review by ninetalevixen
Dear Pen Pal by Heather Vogel Frederick

3.5

The more I reread this one, the more I have mixed feelings about the Asian-American representation — particularly since this is where we first meet Gigi, Megan Wong's grandmother from Hong Kong, which leads to Megan actually starting to have (some) meaningful engagement with her heritage. (In a nutshell, I think it's well-intentioned and not glaring problematic ... but it could be much better done.)

Identity issues aside, I've always seen <i>Dear Pen Pal</i> as kind of a pivot point in the series. The MDBC are growing up and more noticeably apart, and also they are getting really interested in what Cassidy calls "the boy/girl stuff."