Love from Your Friend, Hannah

Hannah

by Mindy Warshaw Skolsky, Laura Hamilton

Hannah's best friend, Aggie, moves away and doesn't answer a single one of her letters. Determined to find a new pen pal, Hannah picks an address from a box on her teacher's desk. It's a boy, but his first letter is so dopey, Hannah isn't even going to answer it. Instead, she writes to President Roosevelt. Before long, Hannah has a whole lot of pen pals--and finally discovers the perfect friend, in the most unlikely place.

In this absorbing epistolary novel, Mindy Warshaw Skolsky takes readers back to the late 1930s, and into the life of an irrepressible and unforgettable heroine.

A Parenting Magazine Book of the Year
A finalist for the Texas Bluebonnet Award
A Smithsonian Magazine Notable Book for Children
01-02 Young Hoosier Book Award Masterlist (Gr 4-6)
00-01 William Allen White Children's Book Award Masterlist

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Friendship, Historical, Realistic Fiction

246 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just as delightful as I remembered; I'm usually not a fan of epistolary novels, but Hannah's voice is so charming - and so is her grandmother's! And FDR's secretary!* - and the storytelling is so clear without ever taking on the self-conscious tone that epistolary novels can have.

Hannah's entire life is pretty charming, too. Her story is set toward the end of the Great Depression, but her family earns enough through their restaurant, and she lives in a small-town bubble with occasional breaks for helping the less fortunate. It really does seem that this is one of the last few possible settings for this sort of insularity - in four years, the US will enter WWII, and after that the entire world will have changed - and it's interesting that the big (and only) opportunity Hannah has to broaden her world is through her pen pal from Kansas. And that Kansas was once considered half a world away. That isolated feeling cements the setting, and it's really well done.

*I didn't catch this when I read this book a good decade ago (or more), but I'm pretty sure that FDR's letters are actually written by his secretary, lovely as the personal touch would be were it otherwise - since Missy takes care to point out that you should know your boss's voice well enough to write letters for him/her.

[Charleigh (Jesus' Version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really good and I loved that she didn't like Edward and then they became friends, but what happened to Aggie Branagan?

[Allison Sells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love from Your Friend, Hannah by Mindy Warshaw Skolsky is an excellent historical fiction novel that tells the riveting tale of a young girl named Hannah struggling to live both physically and socially during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. Hannah and her parents manage and live in the back of the Grand View Restaurant in Grand View, New York. Besides trying to make ends meet during the Depression, Hannah is also distraught when her best friend Aggie moves away. Hannah wrote her letter after letter, but never once received a response. Determined to find a dependable pen pal, Hannah begins writing to a boy named Edward from Kansas, who lives a very different lifestyle than she does. She also managed to find herself several other pen pals she enjoyed writing to, including President Roosevelt and his wife! Hannah is able to find both peace and friendship during even the roughest times in this story.

The theme of this book is that even when life seems hard, there is always still some good in the world. It teaches readers to focus on the “violets” of life, and not just the negative aspects, an image Mrs. Roosevelt uses in a letter to help cheer up Hannah. It is possible for positive things to occur in life even when the circumstances are not ideal. This is expressed when Hannah is able to make new friends with several different pen pals, find joy in the little things like the art on stamps, and never take for granted what she has been blessed with.

Since Hannah has many pen pals she writes to, the book is completely composed of her letters to and from pen pals. Events in Hannah’s life are all expressed through letters that Hannah sends or receives. It is very easy to understand each character’s personality, voice, and status by assessing their writing style, penmanship, and stationary. I really enjoyed the format of this book because it was very easy to read and follow along.

Mindy Warshaw Skolsky did a fabulous job of integrating history, humor, wit, education, and adventure all into one great plot! I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as it teaches a great moral along with some historical information about the Great Depression. I especially loved the way that she included historical information, but did not make it the sole purpose of the book. This way, students can still really enjoy the text, but make their own inferences about life during the Great Depression. I would highly recommend this book, especially for grades third through fifth. While there are a few mild comments, it is a great piece of literature for higher elementary students to infer and gain knowledge from.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 STARS

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hope I can find the earlier Hannah books, but in the meantime, I so enjoyed this one. It starts a little clunky with the exposition and the Depression-era tropes, but gets better and better after those are out of the way. The little farm-boy was my favorite. I was so sorry when it ended, and also I hoped there was going to be some resolution about why Aggie never wrote back--I thought maybe she couldn't afford the stamps. It says in the back that Skolsky was working on another book; I wonder if that one was going to go into it.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a re-read of a childhood favorite - and I loved it as much as I did when I was a kid!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am filled with woe that I did not read this book as a child. The child within me was full of wonder and excitement at the president and Eleanor's correspondences with Hannah. I would have wanted to shake Edward for writing Hannah such lousy initial letters, but would be so proud of his progress. I would have wanted (and still do) to travel up to Hannah's mountain side with a good book. This was a great "lesson" book for kids without being too preachy. Oh and mind the violets!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was amazing! It takes place in the past and is about a buch of letters to and from Hannah. I learned to not to judge a person by their outside or not to judge to quickly.
I recamid this book to anyone for a love for reading letters.

[CLM · Rating 2 out of 5]

Concept was cute but not a book to cherish.

[Vidyalakshmi Nair · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't remember how old I was when I first read this book but I do remember 'Love from your friend, Hannah' being one of the books that made me a devout reader. It is one of my all time favorite re-reads and I recommend it to every kid that goes to school who has a thing for the written word. I struggled for many years before I could get a copy of this book to add to my #bookcollection.
📖
'Love from your friend, Hannah' by Mindy Warshaw Skolsky is truly a Masterpiece. The book is centered around our little heroine, Hannah who loves writing letters to people. She talks about her everyday life in the then New York in the midst of the #Roosevelt Era. She doesn't understand The Depression completely but recognizes the consequences in the form of her best friend Aggie's relocation. So she writes numerous letters to Aggie who never writes back. Undaunted, she then starts writing to her grandparents (who run an absolutely adorable candy store in Bronx - she includes little doodles in her letters), a pen pal in Kansas and finally, none other than, the President and First Lady, Mrs. Roosevelt. Hannah's letters are cheerful, adorable and an absolute win but very grounded; FDR's letters, albeit invented by the author, echo his tone and give a glimpse into the President's private life while responding to Hannah's curiosity. This book will #teleport (#HarryPotter Reference = WIN!) you straight into a time when things were simpler, relationships weren't complicated and handwritten letters were treasures!

[Kate Kukura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the way the author set up this book. The whole story was told from a bunch of letters. This made Hannah, the main character, feel like she was more of your friend than just a character in the book. I felt like you got to know Hannah on a personal level and felt more connected to her than I have in any other book. I like how the author also used Hannah’s character to show ambition. I think ambition is something that not many people have, but it’s a good quality to have. In the book, Hannah wants a pen pal; however, she is struggling to find one she likes. Instead of giving up writing or settling with a pen pal, she doesn’t love she writes to President Roosevelt. Writing just a casual letter to the President of the United States I would say is very ambitious. In all honesty, Hannah’s character made me want to become more ambitious and take chances even if I am scared. I liked that I could make some parallels and relate to Hannah’s character in some ways. When Hannah’s friend moved it was hard for them to stay connected. Growing up in a place where the oil industry is big, I had a few friends move in and out and it was hard to stay connected with them especially at such a young age. Skype playdates for an 8-year-old aren’t ideal. The author gave Hannah all these real-life characteristics that made her so relatable and friendly. Hannah’s character is what made this book so enjoyable and my favorite book I have ever read.

[Nisa]

I have looked for this book for such a long time! My husband never stops talking about this book and I just had to read it. Am I glad that I did! This is one of those books making you feel all happy, excited and warm inside like when you get to eat your favorite dessert.

Hannah's best friend is Aggie and she moves away. Before she does, Aggie makes Hannah promise that she will always write to her. And guess what? Aggie never even replies to any of Hannah's letters. But Hannah isn't one to give up! She finds new pals to write to and a wide range of pals at that. A book full of love, friendship, choices both good & bad and all that- but most of all amazing letters!

Hannah is admirable with her honesty, efforts and slip-ups. I like how she talks about things as she sees them but also is willing to change that for the better. I can't get enough of Edward's letters. He should know that he's not doing everything wrong and people do like/love him. I know I do. The grandparents have my heart. Hannah did luck out with having all the good people in her town and knowing the rest of the good people from other places. The river and the mountain will be in one of my good dreams.

This is a book where I love all the characters with the exception of a few :p This book is one of my violets (readers of this book will know)! It's one I can come back to! Take love, Mindy Warshaw Skolsky.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I pulled this yellowing paperback off the library shelves to decide if it should be weeded, and after just a few pages, it hooked me (again) as it did when it first came out in 1998.

Surprisingly, it feels authentic to the 1937 setting, while also having the main character, a 10- or 11-year-old in all-white upstate New York, speak about gender bias, bullying, & love for people from all races/ethnicities & economic classes with a circumspectness that still fits into today's standards of respect & inclusion. To me this demonstrates vividly that good people had no excuse to be racist or sexist or hostile to people in poverty "back then" - just like they don't now.

I like epistolary novels, and this gives an excellent example of being a Pen Pal. I think it's great that Hannah has several pen pals and the various stories unfold slowly & begin to influence one another. Young readers will wish they knew what happened to Hannah's friend Aggie - as I did - but it was interesting to leave it hanging!

I shouldn't keep a yellowing paperback on our shelves, but this is out of print & unavailable in any other libraries in our extended consortium - so it stays.

[Mie Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was freakin adorable! I loved reading about America in this time period through a childs eyes. And I loved the relationship Hannah and her Grandmother had. I loved all the little charming stories and details, how real the people in the book felt, what a funny and remarkable girl Hannah was ,and I loved the setting of living in the back of a small restaurant. The book just kept growing and growing on me, and I kept being surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I actually laughed out loud several times, and it was alltogether heartwarming and again: adorable! Wish I'd had it in my hands at age ten, it would have been one of my favourites 😊

[Miss Insomniac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Does anyone connect with Hannah Diamond, Route 9W, Grand View, NY? We had this book in our syllabus in 2006, and this book has a major role on my letter-writing skill and connecting with the people close to my heart. I was not aware the story has prequels and sequels, and just found out, 18 years after I read it, that there's so much more to her life. I have been looking for this book for months now, and got my hand on it from a seller in Ebay. I still remember so much!

This brought back memories so fresh and sweet; I would like to know if anybody else is on the same page as me. The book is so good, it's impossible to be forgotten and overlooked with years passing.

[Oddpotato · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nostalgic read so there is some bias to my review. I read this back in elementary school and only remembered the premise of the book. So glad I revisited it, it’s such a cute innocent look into a young 10-year-old girl’s mind. It was not only nostalgic that I was rereading this book but also nostalgic in that I remember thinking and feeling similar things as Hannah at her age. If you’re looking for an intense story this is not the one, this is really just multiple people sending each other letters and noticing the friendships develop while also seeing growth in the protagonist. A very happy hopeful cute book.

[Petra T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hannah's best friend, Aggie, moves away and doesn't answer any of her letters as she promised. For one of Hannah's school projects, she has to randomly pick someone to be her new pen-pal. It was a boy named Edward who lives Wichita, Kansas and she wasn't thrilled about his dopey letter. So, she decides to write to President Roosevelt, and gets a reply! Then, Hannah gets many more pen-pals and makes many new friends throughout the book.

I enjoyed this book very much, I would recommend this book for people aged 9 and up.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books.

It's written as a series of letters from Hannah to her pen-pal, and to the President and First Lady (with some others sprinkled in) and is just such a delightful story. The epistolary model really does wonders to give us insight not only into Hannah's life, but to the Great Depression era overall for Americans.

I read it as a young girl and it still holds up as one of my favorites.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of our Depression Era study. My 9yo likes novels in letters (epistolary). This book incidentally taught her to recognize and steer clear of double negatives. We followed Hannah's outline for a book report and turned it back on this book and my 9yo created a wonderful report.

[Braxton Schieler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love from Your Friend, Hannah is a sweet historical fiction story written in letter format. It is an excellent read for the late elementary reader, it is interesting, filled with valuable information about the 1930s and centered around a realistic and lovable character.

[Giselle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a kid and I loved it so much I got into letter writing, inspired by this book. I kept my copy though I'm older now, and I will continue to hold onto it as a momento of my hobby which I still enjoy today!

[Caitlin Conlon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought of this book yesterday, one I’d enjoyed a lot as a child, and decided to try & find it (given I couldn’t remember the title or author). Clearly, I was successful! & clearly I enjoyed it if I remember it fondly all this time later.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sweet little uplifting book. I really enjoyed reading the letters between Hannah’s many pen pals. ❤️

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A blast from the past. Seriously one of my favorite books as a kid and the first book I ever remember rereading.

[Calliope · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revisiting a childhood favorite was cozy and nostalgic. This book is so sweet and holds up decades later.

[Eva Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book because it’s not a narrator talking, it’s all about her writing letters. My favorite characters are Hannah and Edward. Who knows? Maybe you’ll like them too!

[Kaia Medrano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so cutesy

[Avnee Saiya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hannah Diamond is the heroine of Mindy Warshaw Skolsky's Love From Your Friend, Hannah, a historical novel set in Grand View, New York in the 1930s. What should you know about Hannah? Well, she's a young girl who is missing her best friend, Aggie, who moved away. She's part of her classroom's pen pal program, but, she has DRAWN THE NAME OF A BOY! And since the teacher saw her draw his name, she can't put that piece of paper back to draw another name--no matter how much she wants to. Since her first letter to him is a total disaster, she decides to focus her energy on writing letters to other people. Surely she'll be able to find someone who wants to be friends...

So who does Hannah decide to write? Well, her grandma, her aunt Becky, her best friend Aggie, and the President of the United States--Franklin D. Roosevelt, for starters...

The novel is composed of her letters to other people, and the letters she receives from other people.

I loved this one. I just LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. I loved Hannah so very, very much!!! And I ended up just LOVING Edward!!!!

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this at a books sale, and rereading it. I could use a bit of happy right now. Original review below. Followed by 2nd comments...

This is one of the most entertaining and enjoyable youth books I've read in a long time. I love Hannah --just your average girl growing up during the Depression--corresponding with everyone from a boy on a Kansas farm to Franklin Roosevelt. After so many contemporary youth books filled with broken homes, abuse, homelessness, abandonment, alcoholism/drug use...it's nice to follow Hannah's life with it's small (and sometimes humorous) ups and downs. I learned while reading this book that there are two (smaller) previous books. Oops. I'm definitely going to read those too.s-

This has to be one of my favorite youth books. I wonder if kids today would get it though--because Hannah writes--no texts!--no internet!--no social media! Maybe it resounds with me because I grew up in the 60's & 70's--and we didn't have any of that either--and I too had penpals. I now want to reread the other two books again.