Children's historical fiction, ages 9-12. When Hannah Atwater's father goes marching off with the Minute Men in the spring of 1775, his last words to her are, "Remember, little daughter, when I come home, you're going to read the Bible to me."
As if poor Hannah doesn't have enough to worry about, including war, the danger of smallpox, and storing enough food and firewood to last the Atwater family through the harsh New England winters, there's also school. She just can't manage to learn to read under the severe gaze of Master Hawkes, who whips naughty pupils at the least provocation.
But worst of all are the rumors that soon arise about the terrifying Hessians, soldiers hired by the king of England to fight the American patriot army. The Hessians, the older children tell her, are eight feet tall, have two sets of teeth, eat boys and girls for dinner, and are coming to find her. And when a procession of Hessian prisoners passes through their own village, Hannah's greatest fear seems to be coming true--or does it?
"Little Hannah in this story will appeal to modern nine and ten-year-olds as much as a little girl of today, although she was young when the Minute Men were called to fight the Redcoats and George Washington was struggling to hold his own against the British. . . . Well told, pleasantly illustrated and easy to read, this gives a genuine picture of life in the hard years, 1775-1777, a fine approach to history." --The New York Herald-Tribune (1958)
About the Author: Lillie V. Albrecht (1894-1985), a descendant of seventeenth-century English Puritans, Nantucket Quakers, and Dutch settlers on Long Island, did graduate work in history and English at Syracuse University Library School and taught in a private school in New York State until her marriage. She began working as assistant children's librarian at the Westfield Athenaeum in Westfield, Massachusetts, in 1927, and was the first curator of its Edwin Smith Historical Museum, serving from 1928 to 1952. The museum's Colonial Kitchen is now named after her. The Albrechts lived for many years in Westfield, where Mrs. Albrecht became interested in the town's three centuries of history. It was to teach history that she first started writing short stories for children set among the real people and places of western Massachusetts and created the story of fictional antique doll Deborah. The stories she wrote about Deborah's adventures in Westfield's history eventually became the full-length children's book _Deborah Remembers_. Publishers at first turned down a book about a doll's memoirs, but encouraged Mrs. Albrecht to write more historical children's stories. She then wrote _Hannah's Hessian_, which appeared in 1958 and was an immediate success; soon her publisher was eager to publish _Deborah Remembers_, which has since become the best-known of her books. _Deborah_ was followed by three more stories set in Westfield and western Massachusetts in the colonial and Revolutionary eras, _The Grist Mill Secret_, _The Spinning Wheel Secret_, and _Susanna's Candlestick_. Mrs. Albrecht's granddaughter, historical author Susanne Alleyn, is delighted to bring Lillie V. Albrecht's books, with additional annotations and background, to a new generation of young readers. Susanne Alleyn (editor & notes) is the author of _A Far Better Rest_, a retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel _A Tale of Two Cities_; the Aristide Ravel historical mystery series, set in Paris during the French Revolution; _The Executioner's Heir_, biographical fiction about the man who executed Louis XVI; and also the nonfiction _A Tale of Two Cities: A Reader's Companion_ and _Medieval Underpants and Other Blunders: A Writer's (and Editor's) Guide to Keeping Historical Fiction Free of Common Anachronisms, Errors, and Myths_. Visit her or contact her at www.susannealleyn.com .
