It's about a 6th grade student, Abby, from Illinois who is not a big fan of school. Abby finds out that she must get a "B" on everything for the rest of the year, as well as complete an extra credit project or she will have to repeat the 6th grade! For her extra credit project, she is to become pen pals with someone. She chooses to have a pen pal in Afghanistan because she loves the mountains.