Love From Your Friend, Hannah [Hardcover]

Mindy Warshaw Skolsky (Author)

Book Description

Here is a year of letters, at times hilarious, at others, touching or suspenseful. The principal correspondent is Hannah Diamond of quiet Grand View, New York, who writes one day to Edward Winchley, a farm boy of Wichita, Kansas. "when I picked that piece of paper out of the pen pal box on my teacher's desk, I really wanted a girl, but my teacher, Miss Hopkins, says you have to take what you get. I got you." Edward's answer is a surprise. So are the responses from Hannah's other pen pals: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the First Lady, and FDR's secretary. Then there are Hannah's grandmother and her madly knitting Aunt Becky, and an itinerant painter who stops by the family's Grand View Restaurant (home of the four-extra-bites square hamburger) to work for a meal. The years are 1937-38, the time of the New Deal. No one reading this book will forget it--or Hannah.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Skolsky vividly shows readers what life was like during the Depression for one spunky heroine with a terrific sense of humor. Beginning with a letter dated September 27, 1937, and ending with July 3, 1938, Hannah Diamond reveals?through notes to friends, relatives and even the president and First Lady of the United States?a clear picture of Grand View, N.Y., where she and her parents live in the back of their roadside diner. Hannah colorfully describes some of the restaurant's most memorable visitors, from a down-and-out artist ("My father said because of hard times those men can't find a job and you shouldn't call them bums because it could happen to anybody") to the famous Madame Chiang Kai-shek (only her nose is visible to Hannah through the window of a limo, which she sketches in one clever drawing). She also vents her frustrations with best friend Aggie who's moved away ("Dear Aggie, I wrote you six letters already. I did not forget you. You forgot me"), a bully on the school bus and Aunt Becky, who persists in knitting itchy, bumpy sweaters for Hannah and her dog Skippy to wear. Hannah's fresh, lively letters (and the responses she receives, ranging in length from two lines to several pages), evoke the hardships and dreams of Americans weathering hard times, while conveying the childhood concerns and passions of a perceptive, endearing preadolescent. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6?Hannah is lonely after her best friend moves away from their Grand View, NY, neighborhood. Between September 1937 and July 1938, the girl writes volumes of letters to her new pen pal, Edward; her grandparents; Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt; and White House secretary Margaret "Missy" Lehand. Her correspondence to and from these individuals is the content of this introspective, leisurely book. The technique reveals Hannah's character nicely. Particularly effective is the description of her ultimate comedown?she misspells "restaurateur" in class and reports to Edward that she had to write the word 10 times. Edward's educational progress through Hannah's long-distance "tips" strains credibility, but her love-hate relationship with cloying Aunt Becky adds a note of humor. Historical texture is effectively woven into the book, with the difficulty of adults finding and keeping work a recurrent theme. Though the author explains in a closing note that the letters are fictional, Hannah's improbable correspondence with the Roosevelts adds dimension to historical characters and her voice is consistently clear and childlike. This title will be of interest to classes studying the Depression and will be welcomed by those who have followed Hannah in her earlier exploits.?Carolyn Noah, Central Mass. Regional Library System, Worcester, MA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN (March 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789424924
• ISBN-13: 978-0789424921
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #940,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable reading with one exception., May 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Love From Your Friend, Hannah (Hardcover)

I enjoyed reading this book. I like the way the author allowed the reader to learn about Hannah through letters she writes and receives. The only thing that bothered me about the book was the use of S.O.B. close to the end of the story. I am a teacher and was reading this book because it is on the Bluebonnet Reading List for Texas. Unfortunately I know that we (the people at my school) will hear it from parents because of the use of this abbreviation. The book is wonderfully written, but I don't really understand the need for this type of language. While most kids know what S.O.B. stands for, I personally don't want to have to explain it to my own children or my students.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love From Your Friend Hannah, April 18, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Love from Your Friend, Hannah (Paperback)

I rated this book a five star book. Love from your friend, Hannah is written by Mindy W. Skolsky. This book is filled with letters to people that this girl named Hannah. Hannah writes to everyone such as her best friend Aggie, her pen pal Edward from Wichita Kansas, her Aunt Becky who knits very lumpy, her grandma, President Roosevelt, and many more. Hannah Diamond lives in the back of the grand View restaurant, that her parents own. Hannah is very good in school, especially in spelling. She never misspells a word until she spells the word restaurateur. Hannah writes to President Roosevelt and he writes back and sends her a stamp from his stamp collection. Hannah writes to her best friend, Aggie many many times and she never answers back. She goes up to her secret place on a mountain ad writes most of her letters and the other letters are written in her room on her roll-top desk. Much more happens in this book so I do recommend it!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Awesome Letters, November 30, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Love from Your Friend, Hannah (Paperback)

Love From Your Friend Hannah is a great bood for kids who like realistic fiction. Hannah is nine years old and her best friend, Aggie, moves away. Hannah wants to be Aggie's pen pal but ends up with a boy named Edward. Hannah does not like Edward at first. After a while she ends up talking and giving each other school tips. She also write to the President which was Franklin Roosevelt. When Hannah writes to President Roosevelt because she does not have Aggie to play with, Roosevelt writes back saying Mrs. Roosevelt likes to read. Hannah writes to Mrs. Roosevelt and says she likes reading too. Hannah and the Roosevelts become good friends. I truthfully loved this book!