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Summary and Reviews of Finding Hattie by Sally Warner

Finding Hattie by Sally Warner

Finding Hattie

by Sally Warner
  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • First Published:
  • Apr 1, 2001, 288 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

Based on the journal kept by Sally Warner's great-grandmother, Finding Hattie is a warm and moving story about a lonely, intelligent girl who loses her way and finds it again.

First Hattie's father and mother die, and then she loses her adored little brother. So she is shipped off to an exclusive boarding school with her cousin, Sophie. Sophie has wealth, beauty, friends, and most of all, confidence--things Hattie has never had. Hattie is terrified. What if the other girls don't accept her? What if fickle Sophie turns on her?

Then like a whirlwind, Fannie Macintosh shows up at Miss Bulkey's Seminary for Young Ladies. She's from the Wild West and does everything wrong--she wears the wrong clothes, says the wrong things, and laughs at he wrong jokes. But there's something about Fannie that Hattie likes--something genuine and fresh. Maybe even something admirable.

Based on the journal kept by Sally Warner's great-grandmother, Finding Hattie is a warm and moving story about a lonely, intelligent girl who loses her way and finds it again.

Chapter One
New Clothes

"There will be no more mourning clothes for Harriet allowed in this household," Aunt Margaret decreed, three months following Hattie's arrival. She patted her lips with a napkin after swallowing an icy spoonful of lemon sherbet. "I think they're terribly vulgar for the young," she added with a sniff.

So this was to be a decision based upon Aunt Margaret's notion of what was fashionable. Well, I don't care, Hattie thought dully. I don't need to wear black clothing to remember Great-Aunt Lydia and Joey. Hattie clenched the white damask napkin in her lap, though; it creased and almost crackled under its layer of starch.

"A black ribbon on her hat, surely?" Uncle Charley protested in a mild voice. He gave Hattie what appeared to be a sympathetic wink.

As if it matters to me what I wear, Hattie thought, biting her lips together. They tasted sweet, she noticed, surprised - probably from the one spoonful of sherbet she'd ...

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Reviews

Media Reviews

Publisher's Weekly
Starred review. [A] winning historical novel...this atmospheric tale portrays the timeless teenage struggle to find one's own way.

School Library Journal
A well-written, carefully researched novel...there is an authentic feel to this story which makes it emotionally satisfying.

Reader Reviews

Mandy
This is the greatest book I've ever read!!

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