Dear Pen Pal

A majority of posts for the next few months will be about the published book, Dear Pen Pal. It was published in 1999 as a trade paperback. It was later made into an e-book in 2012. The book has several reviews on Amazon and it's been positive.
I'd like to share the beginning with you now. You can purchase the book at Amazon.com. Your thoughts are always welcome.

September 20, 1979

Dear Pen Pal,

I never met you. My teacher told me to write. My teacher says these letters are going to Canton, Ohio. I don’t know how our teachers made this deal to make us pen pals, but here’s my letter. 

Do you like baseball? Do you like the Jaycees? They are a minor league team here. I like them more than the major league teams. When I play baseball when I grow up, I want to play for the Jaycees. I play right field in little league. 

My Dad said you have other baseball teams where you are. Do you play baseball? A lot of guys here play soccer. It’s fun but everyone kicks me in the shins and knees. I hurt my knee playing last week. I bled so much you can still see it on my pants. 

Do you watch the same TV shows as me? Do you listen to music?

I live in Staten Island New York. It’s by the Atlantic Ocean. I live in a house with my father and my mother. I’m nine years old. I have a lot of friends from baseball and school.  

I guess we have to write each other all school year so we could write about baseball. We get graded if we write all year so we have to have something to write about. 

Your pen pal,

Joe