Thursday, September 13, 2012

Hannah Is a Palindrome (MG)

Hannah Is a Palindrome. Mindy Warshaw Skolsky. 1980. HarperCollins. 128 pages.

On a beautiful warm day in Indian summer, Hannah's father told Hannah and her mother he had something he wanted to show them.
"It's a surprise," he said.
"Hooray!" said Hannah. She loved her father's surprises.
Hannah's mother looked worried. She didn't love Hannah's father's surprises as much as Hannah did.


While I didn't enjoy Hannah is a Palindrome as much as Love From Your Friend, Hannah--one of the sequels to this book--I did enjoy it. In this Hannah adventure, the family moves to Grand View and buys a restaurant/gas station. The family settles into their home-restaurant and opens their business. Hannah is involved in everything--as you might expect. And Hannah's mother begins to garden--something she has wanted to do most of her life but never been able to do since they've never had any land. Hannah's father is continuing to invent things, in this novel, for example, he invents a trap door in the bathroom leading to the cellar, and he invents something that makes nine (square) hamburgers all at once. A small amount of time is spent on Hannah's school life and homework, and, there is a delightful Halloween episode in this one. One of the school chapters is about Hannah being classroom monitor when the teacher steps out of the room. Some time is spent in the restaurant as well--showing Hannah waiting on customers.

Overall, this is an enjoyable historical novel for children set in the early 1930s.

Read Hannah is a Palindrome
  • If you enjoy historical fiction and want to meet a great narrator--Hannah is great!
  • If you are looking for realistic (but at the same time positive) books set during the Great Depression
  • If you like family-friendly books about loving, caring families 
© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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