Anna (Hahn)

Eight-year-old Anna enjoys one exciting experience after another in this charming story set in Baltimore just before World War I. She gets a new winter coat that's even better than Rosa's, rollerskates down the steepest hill in the neighborhood, and rides the trolley all by herself. And she delights in the changes occurring in the world around her, as motorcars and electric lights appear for the first time on her street. Based on the childhood experiences of the author's mother, these heartwarming episodes touch on timeless themes of family, friends, and the wonders of growing up.

Anna is thrilled when she receives an invitation to leave hot, sticky Baltimore and visit her aunt and uncle on their farm, where she'll be able to go barefoot, swim in the pond, and drink fresh-squeezed lemonade. But when she arrives, she's greeted by an unpleasant surprise: her uncle's nephew, Theodore, who delights in teasing her mercilessly about her city ways. Anna refuses to let Theodore get the best of her, though, and in a series of suspenseful adventures and hilarious mishaps she proves that she isn't just a city slicker, after all. In this lively sequel to Anna All Year Round, award-winning author Mary Downing Hahn again draws on her own mother's childhood experiences just before World War I. The result is a gathering of humorous, heartwarming episodes filled with both the delights and difficulties that have always accompanied the journey of growing up.