Pen Pals

Adult pen pals are unique elements that spark students' excitement for In2Books. With the enthusiastic and caring support of our adult pen pals, we inspire students in grades 3-5 to achieve their personal best.

How Does It Work?

• Students select and read age-appropriate, high-quality books carefully selected by a team of children's literature experts.


• Students are matched with adult pen pals who read the same books as the students. Pen Pals can purchase copies of each book at a discount through ePals Book Shop, borrow books from local libraries or purchase books from their favorite book retailers.


• Students engage in an ongoing, dynamic online conversation about the important issues in the books.


• Teachers access online professional development and practical teacher-tested learning activities.


• Teachers provide genre instruction and teach reading, writing and thinking skills appropriate to the genre. The yearlong In2Books curricula are called the Informed Reader Series and include: Realistic Fiction, Social Science, Biography, Folktales, and Science.

The Pen Pal Experience

Being an In2Books pen pal is a great way to help young people. As literacy coaches, you partner with teachers and families in the development of students' reading, writing, and critical thinking skills - skills we know to be essential to personal and professional success.

Our students often tell us that their pen pals are their best friends, or the adults they wish to become. This is your opportunity to be a coach, a catalyst, and a role model to a child. By sharing your ideas and love of learning through an exchange of email letters, you open up new worlds to young minds.

Through it all, In2Books provides pen pals with the resources and training needed to be effective coaches, role models, and catalysts. The curricula affords a birds-eye view into the life of elementary school age children, helping many pen pals become better parents, family members and friends.

Who Are Our Pen Pals?

In2Books pen pals are a diverse group of caring adults. They may be parents of children in the school or volunteers from local community organizations, corporations, government agencies, universities, and professional organizations. They are adults of all ages, working or retired, having occupations ranging from lawyer to web designer to stay-at-home parent. Despite their diversity, pen pals have one thing in common — a commitment to helping school-age children reach their personal and academic potential. The adult pen pals serve as intellectual mentors and friends, giving their student pen pals insights into alternative points of view and what it's like to be successful adults.

In2Books adult pen pals do not go to the schools and are never given personal information about your child, including his or her last name, teacher's name, or school's name, unless the specific class or school decides to include the pen pals in "in class" activities.