If you're around my age, and grew up in the United States, you probably remember Scholastic Book orders at school. Your teacher would hand everyone a catalog that had different types of books that you could order. It was one of my favorite things about school, and I would often beg my mom to let me order at least one book. For many people, this is how they first discovered books like Harry Potter or Captain Underpants, for me this is how I discovered a book called P.S...Longer Letter Later, by Paula Danziger and Ann.M.Martin. The book is about twelve-year-old girls, Tara*Starr and Elizabeth, who are best friends. Tara moves to Ohio and the two send letters to one another in order to continue their friendship. Through their correspondence, we see them grow while their friendship is tested along the way. The book later gained a sequel called Snail, Mail No More, where they switch to email. This was one of my favorite books from my childhood and still influences my perspective on friendship today.
Tara is brash and outgoing and loves to put herself out there. Elizabeth is shy and thoughtful. While they are different in personality and lifestyles, they both share a passion for writing. Tara is more interested in writing humor and stories, Elizabeth writes poetry. They also both enjoy reading, as they mention what books they are on, when they write to each other. In the second book they mention how part of what caused them to become friends was their interest in writing and their love for Harriet the Spy.
This book was my first introduction to the realities of a long distance friendship. These two girls care about each other and even though they no longer live in the same state, and they try hard to maintain it. The letters they send show how difficult it can be when you can only talk to your best friend through letters; the first letter Elizabeth writes to Tara is about how angry she is at her. "You're still my best friend. I hate that you moved away, but I know it wasn't your fault" (2). Even though she is mad at Tara, she writes about her first day of school and asks for Tara to do the same. In response to Elizabeth's letter, Tara writes an equally angry yet informative letter to her. "Give me a break!!!! You Know That I Didn't Want to Move...That I was Kidnapped By the Charents (my childlike pArents..." (4). This goes back and forth a few times and allows us to see how the two friends interact. While it may be strange to have our main characters bicker for the first few letters, it gives a us a good sense of their personality and what their friendship is like. Not to mention, it's understandable for one someone (especially a twelve-year-old) to be upset that their best friend is no longer near them anymore. Eventually they are able to make peace with the fact that Tara's moved, but that doesn't mean the rest of the book is conflict free.
Elizabeth's life starts becoming more difficult when her father is let go from his high paying job and turns to drinking. She writes to Tara about her problems and Tara does all she can to try and ease her worries. Eventually tensions begin to rise when Elizabeth feels Tara is judging her parents too harshly without fully trying to understand the situation. "You know, sometimes you are very hard on people. You get these ideas about how things should be, what's what's wrong, what is, what isn't, and you won't let go of them," (133). Tara is offended by this, as she feels she is only stating how she feels and worrying about her friend. "I have only one set of eyes, MINE-- and sometimes I see things that YOU don't want to see... YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND!!!!!! Am I supposed to just see things that are really major, really important, and not say anything?????????" (137). When their fight reaches the tipping point, they stop writing to each other for almost a month. Of course, eventually they reconcile and forgive each other and Elizabeth is able to update Tara on her family's situation. It's like a breath of fresh air, when both girls are able to write to each other again.
One of the strengths of the books is that, Tara and Elizabeth's friendship feels authentic, they fight over real issues that affect their lives but they constantly show how much they mean to each other."I really wanted to answer you right away, because I am just so glad that our fight is over and we're friends again, even if we have to settle for being letter-friends" (168). Although it can cause them to butt heads, their not afraid to be honest with each other (especially not Tara). They also able to talk to each other about anything from the silly to the serious. Even though it's been years since I read these books, they resonate with me. They remind me of the friendships I've had in the past and the ones I have now.
The sequel continues where the story left off and switches to emails when Tara gets her own computer and email account. Their lives don't get any simpler, but they continue to stay in touch and keep each other updated on what's going on in their respective lives. It delves further into elements introduced in the first book, such as alcoholism, disillusionment and growing up.
These books show how friendship isn't always easy, especially when you can't see each other every day. They require hard work and commitment from both sides, and if it's meant to be then it can become even stronger than before. Even though we never got to see what the future held for Tara*Starr and Elizabeth, I'd like to think they would continue be best friends and became successful writers who frequently collaborate. Since the writers who wrote the books, Danziger and Martin are friends in real life, it's entirely possible.
