Hannah's Helping Hands

The award-winning Jean Van Leeuwen's previous works of Americana (all Dial) include the popular Going West, Across the Wide Dark Sea, and Bound for Oregon, called "deeply moving" and "fresh and heartfelt" by Publishers Weekly.

From Van Leeuwen (Hannah of Fairfield, p. 73, etc.), a second heartwarming portrait of a colonial girl and her family struggling to meet the challenges of pioneer life during the Revolutionary War. Although Hannah misses her older brother, Ben, who is off fighting the British, there is no time to brood. First the lively ten-year-old joins in the spring-cleaning, then it's time to pluck the geese, shear the sheep, spin the wool into yarn, make dye, and finally color skein after skein until ``Hannah felt as if she were sitting in the middle of a rainbow.'' While Hannah works, she marvels at what she sees as the seat of her mother's competence, her hands. ``They were so small, yet they could do so many things. . . . They spun and wove and sewed. They scrubbed and dug in the garden. . . . Strong hands. Gentle hands. . . . Helping hands.'' In the course of this simply written but involving and evocative novel, Hannah learns that she also has helping hands, a way with animals, and a gift for healing. The story ends with a robust climax based on a true historic incidentthe razing of Fairfield, Connecticut, by British soldiers. It's a fiery, realistic finish, but it will be the day-to-day details and how-to of colonial life that will keep readers intrigued. (b&w illustrations, not seen, map) (Fiction. 7-10) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.