u/GermaniumTransistors

My memory of this is very vague (this was second grade or earlier) so forgive me if some of these details are wrong. I think the book was about a girl who had a pen pal somewhere in Asia, although I'm almost positive it was China. It follows their friendship and learning about each other's families and cultures, and the Chinese girl always signs her letters with a Chinese symbol, which the protagonist doesn't know the meaning of. At the end of the book, it's revealed that the symbol means "friend".

If I'm remembering correctly, the art style was not cartoonish, but fairly realistic and rather pretty.

I've been looking for this book for quite a few years now, so thanks in advance for any help.