Hadassah: The Girl Who Became Queen Esther

by Tommy Tenney

Young Hadassah has survived a terrible loss, and now as a lovely teenager, her beauty catches the eye of Persian soldiers looking for candidates to become Queen of Persia. Captured and taken to the palace, Hadassah once again must call on the God of her Jewish heritage to protect her. If she is chosen to be the new queen, what will this mean for her and her fellow Jews living in exile among the Persians? Will she be able to protect her people from those who hate the Jews? Pre-teen and early teen readers will be captivated by this suspenseful retelling of the story of the young girl who became Queen Esther.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Christian, Young Adult, Biblical Fiction, Childrens

168 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2005

About the author

Tommy Tenney is the author of multi-million selling The God Chasers series. He has written more than thirty books, with eight best-selling titles to date. Tommy has books in over forty languages, traveled into more than seventy-two countries and television broadcast into one hundred twenty nations. Tommy spent ten years pastoring and has spent over twenty years in itinerant ministry. His two passions are leading others to seek the presence of God and encouraging unity in the body of Christ. He is the founder of GodChasers.network, a mission's ministry organized to assist pastors globally, and distribute Tommy's teachings through various media. Three generations of ministry in his family heritage, and three daughters, have given Tommy a unique perspective on ministry. The Tenneys reside in Louisiana with their three daughters, their son-in-law, four grandchildren and two Yorkies.

Reviews

[Esther LeeAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good. Told a great backstory of Esther's story

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this short story of Esther. I only gave it 4 stars because the interaction between Esther & the king (after she became Queen) doesn't seem to fit with what I've read about how royalty lived during that time. Especially given that the bible talks about Esther going into the throne room to present the plot against her people. Spoiler alert: I also do not believe that a Jewish girl would have disguised herself as a boy just to get a chance to go out in town.

[ClaraBelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

My second favorite book about Esther! This is the revised version of his earlier novel, One Night With the King, and is written for ages 8-12 but I enjoyed it!

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Reading enjoyment: totally engrossing all the way through

[Stacy Renee (LazyDayLit) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read Around the World setting: Persia (Iran)

[Gerda Stroud · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

[Leonie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zo mooi hoe Esther zich voorbereidt op de koning. Zo moeten wij ons ook leven voor dé Koning! Echt een van mijn echte favorieten!!

[Kristen Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

So sweet. I can’t wait for my daughter to be old enough for me to share this little story with her.

[Dr.Diana Brevan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh I loved the story of Esther

[Julie Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book to girls. I also think you should read the Bible before you read this book. It is fun and interesting all at once. I am 10 years old.

[Julie Keller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like a good historical fiction, but there was a LOT of poetic license taken. We’ll read the book of Esther tomorrow as a refresher of what’s actually biblical! The actual writing was just okay.

[Awjtf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked Asia for my continent for August's book club. I did enjoy the book but since I knew how the story ends I looked forward to the end.

[Melissa Ganka-Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was terribly disappointed in this book. As a Christian school librarian and a lover of historical fiction, I am always looking for well written biblical middle-grade historical fiction. I can forgive the corny dialogue and even some liberties taken by the author to fill in the historical blanks, but it's not OK to fill in those blanks with inaccurate information. The biggest problem I had was the suggestion that characters who persecuted Jews during this time period toted the swastika symbol. A minimal amount of research reveals that, while the swastika symbol dates this far back, it had a very different meaning. Several ancient civilizations used some version of this symbol to mean well-being or prosperity. It wasn't till the early 20th century that racist groups adopted the symbol. I think it is irresponsible to plant the seed that the swastika is part of Esther's story. A person/kid could read this and repeat it as if it was true.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this with my daughter, and we enjoyed it. I'd read it a few years ago with another daughter and remembered being disappointed. I think that perspective helped me appreciate the positives of the book more this time. The first half is well done, but once Hadassah becomes queen, the story moves too quickly and the interactions between her and the queen seem a bit romanticized. Still, I'm glad I read it again and would recommend it.

[Halee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent! I was pulled in and couldn't stop reading. From what I could tell, it matched up with the Bible story pretty good. I recommend this to girls and maybe boys from ages 9 to 12. And you could read it if you're older than 12, but it might not be as challenging to you.

[Grace]

A very good book, goes into more detail that the movie, and is not as involved as the adult version.

[Tammyribbey ribbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Renee and I read together. We loved it. It is unfortunate that no more were written. Good book!

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of those books that you want to read forever. I loved it!!

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short, quick read. My mom bought it because it was a retelling of the story of Queen Esther.