09/30/2013
The Book page is working :)
Anna Krzemińska-Kaczyńska
10/29/2013
Dear Ania,
I downloaded the book. It is an excellent job done by you all. Thanks a lot on behalf of my student and my son. The book is really nice. I think the students of different countries have become very much happy to see the book.
Thank you once again.
Best wishes.
Md.
11/04/2013
Thank you Anna for keeping us tied with knots of friendship love and respect no matter the distance and time through these successful projects.... I am ready to continue anytime you say... Love.. peace....joy... for you and your family and students.
Guillermo Lopez Ossa
11/05/2013
Dear Anna,
We are so excited about the book! It is outstanding. In my classes we read Natalia Maruta's story, "Death, Welcome to Poland" and Merlin Kasesaly's "Frozen." My students loved both stories. By the time I got to the last class, I realized that we should read "Death, Welcome to Poland" with two students as the characters of Death and Marcin. The students could hear the humor and laughed out loud, especially at the end. I later showed them my pictures from Poland and now they want to take a trip there! The classes wrote responses to Natalie and Merlin, some of which I include here. (I grouped them so scroll down to read Merlin’s):
Dear Natialia Maruta,
Today, November 5, 2013, we read your story in our fourth period English class. I found your story to be very amusing and very well written. I really enjoyed the dialogue between the two characters. My favorite part was when the police officer asked death to bring him back to life so he could catch the thief. I enjoyed this part because the dialogue displayed the police officer using reverse psychology on Death by questioning him about his powers and abilities. The dialogue was very funny and clever. I also liked how Death was easily persuaded. His naive nature made him very funny and interesting. You are an amazing writer and I hope to one day read one of your published works in the future.
Sincerely,
Ri-kiyah
I really liked your use of dialogue to tell the story. It made me feel like I was taking part in a conversation as opposed to just reading it, and I really liked it. I also liked how you told us about some of the different things in Cracow by having them in your story, such as the Wawel dragon and the artifacts that the thief stole. It was a very good, well-written story.
Jacob
Many letters mentioned connecting to some of these same elements, but also had distinctive compliments for Natalia:
My favorite part was the end, where Marcin said, “Well Death, welcome to Poland.” I loved how you let your reader understand the title at the end. It was a very well written story, and I’m pretty sure you have a larger vocabulary than a lot of people brought up knowing English. It was impressively written and amusing.
Amy
Your storytelling skills are impeccable and your use of humor is worthy of praise. Marcin’s role when read right made the entire class full of laughter. When Death is seen as a comical character you know that you have done a great job. You yourself have to be very funny.
Mason
“Death, Welcome to Poland” has been one of my favorite short stories that I have read. I loved the final plot twist where death was tricked by his own pride. The dialogue was well executed. You did an amazing job; keep it up!
Kirk
Natalia, your story was a clever, ironic way of pointing out a flaw in your government. You making this statement is a humorous equivalent of an American story leading to an ending being a two-hour wait and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The usual humor also seemed to make death quite a bit more of a lighthearted topic. I also noticed that you used Marcin’s character to point out the wise archetype for a detective.
Carman
For Merlin Kasesalu:
Dear Merlin,
We really enjoyed your story, “Frozen.” It was a very good story and left the reader in suspense. In your story we think that you used symbolism in a great way that really captures the reader. What also makes this story very interesting is that we can picture ourselves in the shoes of the daughter. The way the story played out captures the reader more and more as the story goes on.
Jelena and Marissa
“Frozen” was a very powerful story. It showed many emotions that can describe a real life events in families. The ending was very sad but it shows that some things have to be for the best. The daughter was mad, and we would be too, but her mom did what was best for her. She personally was too young to understand her mother’s reasoning. This author brought the story to life through symbolism, metaphors and a strong use of imagery, and we hope that the audience can see its deeper meaning.
C’erra and Casey
The story “Frozen” was absolutely great at capturing the readers’ attention. We liked the good description used to describe the woman “melting.” It was really moving and sent chills through us all throught the story. When the fire man and the ice woman contacted each other it was chaos. When the woman was described as having no arm or hair it was symbolism that she was being abused by her husband.
Melissa and Luis-Enrique
Thanks to the fairytale elements used by the writer, you can vividly see how the “fire” man relates to being violent and dangerous and the “ice” woman isn’t cold, but fragile. The use of fire and ice to depict the situation of domestic abuse is what made the story powerful. This story isn’t something you can read in pieces, you have to read it all the way through to get the full enjoyment.
Nicole and Nicolas
When Merilin Kasesaly wrote “Frozen,” the story begins as a fairytale with a happy family that became tragic as it went on. The fairytale elements were a great addition by using the two elemental extremes of fire and ice to represent the father, fire, and the mother, ice. The story was consistently interesting which made the readers want to keep reading. The story seems real, even with fairytale elements. The details in the story amaze us, so much so that you felt the power from the father leave when the mother stopped him. The switch of fire and ice was interesting because ice is usually the negative one and fire is nice and warm, but in this story the roles were reversed.
Kevin and Eli
Dear Merlin,
Sometimes the stories that seem the most fantastical point us to profound truths. All of us were struck by the realistic motivations of your characters, the beauty of your language, and the reluctance to offer easy answers; these choices made us feel the depth of the daughter’s loss, loneliness, and inner conflict. Keep writing! This story is a jewel.
Allyson Daly
11/23/2013
My dear Mamta,
Thank you very much for the book and congratulations to you, Anna and Julia for having successfully brought out this very attractive and unique edition of a conglomeration of works. I love the name, the cover and am looking forward to going through the stories. My student the contributor from here will be thrilled. I shall have my other students read the stories as well.
Love and best wishes,
Rita
11/23/2013
Dear Anna,
Thank you for giving chance to participate in the project.The book is great and very motivating for students and teachers as well.I'm sure you've got lots of new ideas and I wish you to realize them all in life.
Best wishes,
Nino