Amazon Category:  Mainstream Publisher: PublishAmerica ISBN-10:  1413732739 Type: Fiction Pages: 156 Copyright: April 12, 2004 ISBN-13: 9781413732733 Pen Pals is a charming inspirational story that encourages people to make choices to forgive those who have wounded them. When Marie Masterson, #2 on U.S. women's gymnastics team, meets her pen pal, Gunter HOffmann, in Munich for the first time, she has no idea how drastically their love will reshape her gymnastics career. After she wins the #1 berth at the Olympic trials, Marie must forfeit. Then she learns Gunter is married. Seven years later Marie is forced to tell her reason for forfeiture when Gunter and his wife visit. 1 The sky was still washed pink from sunrise as Marie Masterson glanced out the airplane window. When she stretched across the young sleeping boy, she saw Munich waiting to meet her the second time. The medieval buildings with their copious chimneys like hats atop their red-tiled roofs saluted her while the snow-covered Alps kept guard over the city in the distance. She immediately picked out Frauenkirche with its twin spires, standing proud at the city's center. How many times she had dreamed of returning to Munich! She eased back against her seat, trying not to awaken Marc. She thought she would have lots of quiet time to think over things before they reached Munich. But Marc had been overly excited about their airplane trip and nothing settled him down. He had fallen asleep only an hour ago. As she watched the sleeping child, her memories of Munich swept back like gentle waves. The first time she met Günter by the giant cuckoo clock. His touch in the Aubergine and his arms wrapped around her at the ticket machine. The smell of his cologne, the pretzels and beer, and the pine of the forests. His words of love. The rain against the old barn. His flesh against hers. But Munich had a distaste. Its sweetness had soured. Even with all its beauty, Marie felt the ache return to her heart that she also coupled with the city. The pain of the tearful nights had replaced the joy of her earlier days. At the sound of the pilot's voice, she stopped stroking her heart with the past and fastened her and Marc's seat belts. She wondered if anything would awaken him or if she would have to carry him off the airplane. After they landed, Marie cleaved to her seat while the other passengers gathered their things to leave. A young couple, eyes to themselves, walked past her. As they did, Marie noticed the gold bands on their hands. She stiffened as sadness began to drown her heart. They were the hardest of this new world for her to love. Yet she tried. She blinked away any tears, and in her heart, she wished them well. A little girl hurried down the aisle, twisting, giggling and accidentally hitting Marie with her toy. The mother reprimanded the little girl in a patient voice and apologized with a smile as she followed with her husband and a bundle of a baby. At the sight of it, Marie's heart grieved as though she had lost a treasure. A middle-aged woman scuttled past, leaving the scent of lilac and hope in the air. Marie raised her hand to awaken Marc. As she did, she saw a rainbow outside and felt the love of God wrap around her. In her mind she hummed an Easter song. In the cross of Christ I glory, Towering over the wrecks of time, All the light of sacred story Gathers round the head sublime. The words stirred memories about her wrecks of time that began nine Easters ago. Love had encouraged her to return to Munich. Love had turned her story sacred instead of sour. Why not let him sleep? Marie thought. There were still many passengers to leave. Instead of touching Marc, she laid her hand in her lap. And she remembered.

DeKalb Author’s New Novel Worthy of the Gold
Carol Hegberg’s new novel, Pen Pals, introduces us to first love amidst the pressures of qualifying for the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team. This novella-length story is filled with the poignancy of young love while taking the reader on a journey from sacrifice to forgiveness. Its length does not shortchange the reader by revealing a tight, well-written story.
Marie Masterson, the eighteen-year-old main character, shares her story with us of her longtime pen pal, Gunter Hoffman, a German adolescent a few years older, who has corresponded with Marie for seven years. At long last Marie travels to Germany as part of her budding career in gymnastics and for a chance to finally meet her friend, Gunter. The resulting relationship that develops between these two friends sends Marie rocketing into adulthood with all the life decisions that are associated with that journey. The choices she must make and how she deals with those pressures are just one of Hegberg’s skills in weaving a tale of morality and values.
Pen Pals is filled with moral dilemma and a testing of values as we follow the human condition. This book would make an excellent basis for family discussion and the development of young adults. It harkens back to a more innocent time in our society when the decisions were no less difficult than today, but the element of choosing the right path was always clear. What Marie loses in her life is more than compensated for by the wisdom she gains.
Much like an accomplished gymnast, Carol Hegberg, a seasoned editor and now a novelist, performs exceptionally with the writing of Pen Pals. Her beginning is artistic and flawless. She then launches into her story with clean, sharp moves that never wobble, building on the strengths of her characters. Then she closes with an equally satisfying dismount, leaving the reader fulfilled by paying off the story’s earlier promise. This first effort is clearly worthy of the gold medal.