Mary Downing Hahn Books In Order

Publication Order of Gordy Smith Books

Publication Order of Anna Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Graphic Novels

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Anthologies

Mary Downing Hahn is one of the noteworthy authors of America who has written a few successful novels based on the young adult, historical fiction, Childrens’ books, and horror genres. Over the years in her writing career, Mary has worked very hard to achieve the status of one of the prominent authors of her time. She was born on December 09, 1937, in Washington D.C., United States and grew up in a small house situated at the end of the Guilford Road, College Park, Maryland. She says that when she was just a kid, her locality used to be loaded with lots of children of her age, with whom she used to spend long hours playing outdoor games. In the summers, she used to go into the woods situated nearby her house on day long expeditions. Usually, she would go with a group of few people as the area was considered a forbidden territory. She would also visit the creek in College Park and the farms near the Maryland University. When Mary joined elementary school, she was an excellent class artist and used to love reading and drawing very much.

At that time, she did not like writing very much. She believed that writing reports during that time required the skills of outlines, penmanship, and following the directions, which were enough to kill her interest in writing and made it look boring whenever she took up writing a report. Even though Mary did not have an interest in writing, she liked to come up with stories, which she used to depict through pictures instead of words. Most of her stories at that time were about orphans who experienced exciting adventures after running away. She herself was very much interested in running away and going on adventures, but was restricted from doing so by her mother. When Mary reached her junior high school, she began developing more complex stories. She wanted to depict how people felt, thought, and said. But, she required words to show what she intended and was not quite sure whether she was smart enough to use the correct words. Soon, she began writing children’s books and by the time she reached the age of 13, she was able to write her first novel. She began writing about a girl named Susan and described her as skinny and tall, just like herself. Mary described Susan as being able to do everything that she herself could not do because of her shy nature. However, Mary was not able to finish the novel, but it gave her the necessary boost and developed her interest towards writing.

During her high school days, Mary used to keep a diary which contained all the stories that came to her mind. When she entered college, she began writing short stories and poetry and hoped to get her written works published in the The New York Times. But, she lacked the courage to send anything over there. Eventually, she gained enough courage and went on to publish her first novel at the age of 41. Mary Downing Hahn says that she took this much time to get serious and confident about her writing. Soon, she came up with the novels featuring the main character Sara in the year 1979. Since then, Mary has been able to complete and publish at least one book each year. Whenever Mary makes up a plot in her mind, she quickly writes it down and then starts developing the characters and situations. Many a times, Mary spends long hours rethinking and revising the stories according what suited her best. Finally, after looking back at her writing career, Mary says that writing is nothing different than a journey of discovery, which is what makes it very exciting.

One of the successful novel series written by author Mary Downing Hahn is the ‘Anna’ series, which consists of a total of two novels published in the years 1999 and 2001. The first novel of the series was published under the title ‘Anna All Year Round’. It was released by the Harper Trophy publishing house in the year 1999. The plot of the novel deals with the happenings in the life of the main character named, who is described by the author as an 8 year old girl. Most of the story of the novel is taken from the fictionalized personal life experiences of author Mary Hahn and her mother. Mary has written the novel with extreme panache and warmth, and has rendered a fictional experience of her mother’s childhood during the years of the Baltimore era, just before the First World War. She has also described the problems faced by eight year old Anna with her math studies. Further, author Mary Hahn has given an account of Anna’s surprise trick on her birthday as well as her successful attempt to ride away in a vehicle. Each of the segments mentioned in the novel appears to be rich in every sense and give a period detail about the wonders and feelings of the childhood across the other ages of life.

The second novel of the Anna series written by author Mary Hahn was published by the Harper Trophy publishing house in the year 2001. It was titled ‘Anna on the Farm’ and once again featured the main character in the form of the young girl named Anna. In the opening sequence of the plot of the novel, author Mary said that the life on the farm is nothing as compared to Baltimore. When Anna finds out that she is going to spend a week on the farm along with her uncle and aunt, she becomes very much excited. Before going there, she promises to her mother that she will be behaving properly on the farm. But, it becomes difficult for her to do so when she discovers that a boy is also visiting the farm. The boy named Theodore does not appear like he can stand the people from the city. But, Anna seems to be determined to get back at him and test him in order to see what he is made of. She also intends to show him several things about what the city slickers really look like. Throughout the plot of the novel Anna and Theodore keep testing each other and eventually end up getting close to each other. Their experience on the farm takes them to great adventures that they cannot stop thinking of.