Dear Sophie,
    Your memoir, "The Other Sofia," was fantastically written. It talked to me because it let me see another point of view. The only other "Ishai" I've met was a creepy man with a scar across his eye that worked nights at the car wash we go to, and I'm rarely compared to anyone because there isn't someone who immediately comes to mind when you say my name. The perspective it gave me, with its vivid details and understandable feelings was something that I wouldn't otherwise have been able to understand.
    We go to the same school, live in the same neighborhood, but don't talk much. Reading your piece made me look up and glance around at the other kids in my class. Nobody compares people to me, but I'm my own harshest critic. I compare myself to everyone else, and think of the things I am not, the things that are unattainable, the things that I wish to be. There's the kid who won the Scholastic Gold Key, when I won nothing. There's the kid who won president of the National Junior Honors society, when I won measly secretary. There's the kid on a travel basketball team, better than I ever will be. There's the kid who has all the girls flocking him, all the popular kids befriending him.
    But another thing your piece did was show that you are a dynamic person. You look to change how you see things. To clean your glasses, push a lock of your pink-blond hair out of your eye, and take another glance around. I'm not the most popular, and I'm not the best at anything. I'm not the one with the popular girls circling him, and I'm not friends with the well known kids. But, I have friends that will always stay loyal to me, no matter which person I become. My parents love me no matter how many awards I win or not, how high an officer I am in the Honors Society, or what kind of grades I get. I have teachers who care about me, and will hold me to high standards so I can be the best I can be.
    And you Sophie, are the epitome of elegance. You walk around the halls and hold your head high. You are not afraid to be who you truly are in how you look, how you dress, how you write. You are admirable and strong, a fighter and someone I look up to. You are understated, not overrated. You hold yourself to a standard that motivates those around you to do their best.
    When middle school ends, we probably won't talk. We're going to different schools, and we'll become our own people. But you will live in my memory, not as Sophia, someone too high to come close to, but as Sophie. Down to earth, fantastic author, driven, amazing Sophie. I will remember how you helped me clear my vision, and push my hair out of my eyes. Thank you for changing how I see things, now and forever.
                                        -Ishai