Penpal began as a series of short and interconnected stories posted on an online horror forum. Before long, it was adapted into illustrations, audio recordings, and short films; and that was before it was revised and expanded into a novel!

How much do you remember about your childhood?

In Penpal, a man investigates the seemingly unrelated bizarre, tragic, and horrific occurrences of his childhood in an attempt to finally understand them. Beginning with only fragments of his earliest years, you'll follow the narrator as he discovers that these strange and horrible events are actually part of a single terrifying story that has shaped the entirety of his life and the lives of those around him.

If you've ever stayed in the woods just a little too long after dark, if you've ever had the feeling that someone or something was trying to hurt you, if you remember the first friend you ever made and how strong that bond was, then Penpal is a story that you won't soon forget, despite how you might try.

Best Friends Forever

There are lots of children on Hill Street, but no little girls Betsy's age. So when a new family moves into the house across the street, Betsy hopes they will have a little girl she can play with. Sure enough, they do—a little girl named Tacy. And from the moment they meet at Betsy's fifth birthday party, Betsy and Tacy become such good friends that everyone starts to think of them as one person—Betsy-Tacy.

Betsy and Tacy have lots of fun together. They make a playhouse from a piano box, have a sand store, and dress up and go calling. And one day, they come home to a wonderful surprise—a new friend named Tib.

Ever since their first publication in the 1940's, the Betsy-Tacy stories have been loved by each generation of young readers.

كُتب الكثير عن بطولات ومآثر الحروب، وعن مدى الحاجة إليها بوصفها وسيلةً لتحقيق أهداف قد تُعدُّ نبيلة. لكن بقي السؤال الدائم: هل يوجد تبرير للسلام ولسعادتنا وحتى للانسجام الأبدي، إذا ما ذُرفت دمعةٌ صغيرةٌ واحدة لطفلٍ بريءٍ في سبيل ذلك؟

في الحرب العالمية الثانية، قُتل وجُرح وهُجِّر أكثر من مئة مليون شخص في حرب هي الأكثر دموية –حتى الآن – في تاريخنا البشري. وقد كُتب الكثير عن مآسي ونتائج هذه المرحلة القاتمة من تاريخنا. ولكن كيف رآها آخر الشهود الأحياء؛ أطفال هذه الحرب؟

بعد أكثر من ثلاثين عاماً على نهاية تلك الحرب تُعيد سفيتلانا في كتابها آخر الشهود مَن بقي من أبطال تلك المرحلة إلى طفولتهم التي عايشت الحرب، لتروي على لسانهم آخر الكلمات... عن زمان يُختتم بهم...