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    Dear Hank Williams
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    Dear Hank Williams
    Unavailable
    Dear Hank Williams
    Ebook171 pages1 hour

    Dear Hank Williams

    By Kimberly Willis Holt

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    It's 1948 in Rippling Creek, Louisiana, and Tate P. Ellerbee's new teacher has just given her class an assignment—learning the art of letter-writing. Luckily, Tate has the perfect pen pal in mind: Hank Williams, a country music singer whose star has just begun to rise. Tate and her great-aunt and -uncle listen to him on the radio every Saturday night, and Tate just knows that she and Hank are kindred spirits.

    Told entirely through Tate's hopeful letters, this beautifully drawn novel from National Book Award–winning author Kimberly Willis Holt gradually unfolds a story of family love, overcoming tragedy, and an insightful girl learning to find her voice.

    This title has Common Core connections.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateApr 14, 2015
    ISBN9781627794435
    Unavailable
    Dear Hank Williams
    Author

    Kimberly Willis Holt

    Twenty three years ago Kimberly Willis Holt stopped talking about wanting to be a writer and started to pursue her dream. Because of her family's Louisiana roots she considers herself a southerner, but her father's military career took her to places beyond the South, including Paris and Guam. She's the author of more than fifteen books for a wide range of ages, many of which have won awards and honors. Her third novel, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She writes and gardens in Texas.

    Read more from Kimberly Willis Holt

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    Reviews for Dear Hank Williams

    4/5

    22 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I want to give this bloom ten stars. I sat on the edge of my bed reading when the bombshell hit and my tees began to flow. My heart felt broken, but Tate was strong. The book is written entirely in letters to Hank Williams from the point of view of a little girl. Tate us growing up in the Kate 40's, rural and Piet war America. Prejudices against Japan are still strong. I could relate my childhood to Tate's in many ways growing up in rural North Carolina in the 50's. What a great book!
    • 5/5
      I loved Tate P Ellerbee what a spunky character.

      I picked this book up from The Blue Willow Bookshop on a recommendation from the ladies.

      Tate is given a class assignment to write to a Pen Pal, most children choose to write to a child in another country but not Miss Ellerbee she chooses to write to her favorite singer from the Louisiana Hayride, Hank Williams. Although this is a one sided relationship she continues her story and working out many things by putting them down in letters to Mr Williams. She does get an occasional signed fan photo.

      There are several surprises you do not see coming and leave you thinking how did I miss that.
    • 3/5
      children's historical fiction written through letters to rising country star Hank Williams (post war anti-Japanese sentiment, the south in the 40s-50s, coming to terms with loss, among other topics). You know it's going to be a sad story, but it isn't the way you expect.
    • 4/5
      Once I started, I couldn't put this book down. This reminds me of why I enjoy the Young Adult genre, which I discovered here in the 75 challenge group.. I first learned of YA books through our lovely Anita (Fameulstee).The amazing strength manifested though the major character, Tate Elllerbee, carries her story in a wonderfully powerful way. Tate and her brother, Frog, live in rural Louisiana with their Aunt Patty Cake, and Uncle Jolly. Tate and her family listen to radio station KWKH every Saturday night, primarily to hear country star Hank Williams.Tate is drawn to the voice and music of Hank Williams.She and her brother are loved by their Aunt and Uncle, but are ostracized by the local town gossip. Believing her mother is away and studying her lines to be a movie star. She and her younger brother also believe their father is a famous photographer who needs to travel for his job. Letters and communications are non existent. Thus, in her loneliness, Tate creates a scenario of their life and their return when they are famous and rich.During the first day of school, her teacher sets the assignment of finding a pen pal, and discussing their communications from the pen pal is part of the grade. Tate finds her Pen Pal in her hero, Hank Williams. She writes to him almost daily, and it is through these communications we journey through the her life. She shares memories and thoughts with Hank Williams that she would not share with others.While she is steadfast in this one-way pen pal scenario, she longs for at least one letter from her radio hero. Just as she experiences abandonment and lack of communication from her mother and father, she now knows, Hank, might be capable of singing about love, but he does not know how to care about others who love him.I didn't expect the ending.This is a powerful book!
    • 5/5
      Dear, Hank Williams was a cute book. It is geared at the middle school aged reader but it can also be read by adult readers too.
    • 5/5
      I fell in love with Tate P. Ellerbee as I was reading the letters she wrote to Hank Williams. Her teacher had given the class an assignment to choose a pen pal. The teacher had arranged for her class to write to Japanese children but, in 1948 Louisiana, many of the children didn't want to write to children in a country that we had fought a war with. Tate picks Hank Williams because she heard him sing on the radio.Through Tate's letters, answered only with autographed photos, we learn what life is like for a dreamy 11-year-old in rural Louisiana. We learn about her Aunt Patty Cake who sells beauty products, her Uncle Jolly who works at a nursery and has bad luck in love, and we learn about Tate's pesky little brother Frog. Tate's letters also express how much she misses her mother and her father. And, as the letters go on, we learn why neither of them is a part of Tate's daily life.We see Tate's rivalry with schoolmate Verbia Calhoun and we see her determination to sing in the local talent show. We see her relationship with her new dog Lovie and we feel her heartbreak when Lovie doesn't come home. This story was filled with heart and hope and I sobbed as I read the last thirty pages. Readers who want a glimpse into life after the Second World War as told by a wonderful character won't want to miss this excellent story.