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GEORGIA TO GEORGIA by Laurie Dolphin

GEORGIA TO GEORGIA

Making Friends in the U.S.S.R.

by Laurie Dolphin & photographed by E. Alan McGee

Pub Date: April 29th, 1991
ISBN: 0-688-09896-7
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins

Joe Schulten's mother organized a program of letter-writing by children in Atlanta to children in Tbilisi, in the Republic of Georgia, U.S.S.R. (``Project Peace Tree''). The entire Schulten family was invited to carry the letters to Tbilisi; Joe is the ostensible narrator of their trip. Welcomed into homes and visiting a school, markets, religious observances, cultural events, and even a video arcade, Joe gives an upbeat picture of this land at the eastern end of the Black Sea, well supported by the many crisp color photos. Still, there are too many puzzling omissions here. Once on the plane, Joe's family is never mentioned againdid they stay with him? Did other Atlanta children join them? Who were the others at the celebratory meals (wine bottles always seem to outnumber people)? What was the role of the ``guide''was he also a translator? Even the map (an unusual projection) lacks lines to indicate latitude and longitude, making relative size and direction hard to interpret. This innovative grass-roots initiative toward international understanding deserves a fuller, more careful report. (Nonfiction. 7-11)