Love From Your Friend Hannah

Love From Your Friend Hannah
By:  Mindy Warshaw Skolsky
Copyright 1998
HarperCollins Publishers
Historical Fiction Genre

                                                       Love From Your Friend Hannah

     Love From Your Friend Hannah is such a fun and fast read. The story is told through a collection of letters that 9 year old Hannah writes and receives. Hannah begins writing letters to her best friend, Angie, who has moved away, but Angie never writes back. Her teacher suggests that Hannah chooses a pen pal from drawing on her desk. Hannah picks a boy, Edward, but he is not as interested in being a pen pal as Hannah is. In her efforts to use writing letters as a hobby, Hannah writes to her grandma, aunt, President Roosevelt, Mrs. Roosevelt, and the president's secretary (Missy LeHand). The best part of the book is when the Roosevelts write back to Hannah. I think readers of all ages would feel so excited for Hannah to receive letters from them. Through the course of the book, Hannah and the Roosevelts build a solid friendship that includes discussions of FDR's radio shows and exchange of his stamp collection.
     While this is a fictional book, it tells the story of what life was like in 1937. This was the time of The Great Depression. Hannah did not have a television to watch, so she would listen to the radio. She especially liked the radio talks by President Roosevelt. Hannah talks about some of the shows in the book. I think this would be a great read for students to have fun while learning what life was like during this time.