No phone, no social media and no pictures. They told each other their fears, hopes, thoughts and would even argue about everything from pizza to music. They poured their hearts out to one another. For the last seven years they created a beautiful friendship with an unbreakable bond through their letters. And even after school ended, they continued to write to one another. It all started when their teachers mixed up thinking Ryen was a boy and Misha was a girl. Ryen, a girl, and Misha, a boy, ended up becoming pen-pals in the 5th grade. Learning about their past was so adorable. You’re my favorite place.Īnd then I drop the pen and tear the paper out of my notebook. I put the pen to the paper and scrawl what my goddamn heart can only whisper. Especially since Ryen and Misha’s story is brutally honest and showed the multiple sides of hurting people and even ourselves. Between the emotions the characters made me feel, to the story-line that kept begging for me to read one more page, I loved everything about this book. I was addicted just from the first page, and this book was impossible to put down. Punk 57 was beautifully deep, insanely seductive and emotionally raw. Review: I don’t know what I did, but it had to be something, because when you find that everyone hates you, it’s not them. Or right under my nose, and I wouldn’t even know it. I should’ve gotten his phone number or picture or something. Did he die? Get arrested? Knowing Misha, neither would be a stretch. Name’s Ryen, loves Gallo’s pizza, and worships her iPhone. Until I run across a photo of a girl online. No social media, no phone numbers, no pictures. She’s the only one who keeps me on track, talks me down, and accepts everything I am.

Sometimes there’s one a week or three in a day, but I need them. Her letters are always on black paper with silver writing. Whether or not Eminem is the greatest rapper ever…Īnd that was the start. And in no time at all, we were arguing about everything. It didn’t take long for us to figure out the mistake.

My teacher, believing Ryen was a boy like me, agreed. Thinking I was a girl, with a name like Misha, the other teacher paired me up with her student, Ryen. In fifth grade, my teacher set us up with pen pals from a different school.

I can’t help but smile at the lyrics in her letter.

Misha from punk 57