Mary Downing Hahn

Childhood

• She was born in College Park, Maryland December 9, 1937.
• She spent her early childhood in the care of her grandmother, who frightened her with superstitions. She often escaped outdoors.
• As a child, she was terrified of ghosts.
• She experienced loss when her favorite uncle died in WWII.

Beginnings

• She started by creating picture stories.
• At age thirteen, she decided that she wanted to be a writer and illustrator of children's books.
• She studied Studio Art and English at the University of Maryland .
• She was an art teacher, illustrator for PBS, and a librarian before she started writing.

Personal Life

• She has been married twice and divorced.
• She has two daughters from her first husband.

Genres of Literature

• Mary Downing Hahn has written ghost stories, historical fiction, realistic fiction, and picture books.

Inspiration

• Her stories are inspired by real events and people, such as her own scary grandmother.
• She also believes she has seen a ghost.
• Themes in her stories come from her life and include loss, identity, acceptance, and the blending of families.

Writing

• Children are usually the protagonist in her stories. She makes adult characters skeptics of the supernatural so the child will have to rely on their own courage when encountering ghosts.

Thoughts on her work

• She thinks children may find an escape from reality through her stories.
• She also believes that children are able to enjoy her stories because they know the hero will win.

Books

• The Sara Summer (1979), The Time of the Witch (1982), Daphne's Book (1983), The Jellyfish Season (1985), Wait Till Helen Comes (1986), Tallahassee Higgins (1987), Following the Mystery Man (1988), December Stillness(1988), The Doll in the Garden (1989)...

Books continued

• The Dead Man in Indian Creek (1990), The Spanish Kidnapping Disaster (1991), Stepping on the Cracks (1991) The Wind Blows Backward (1993), Time for Andrew (1994), Look for Me by Moonlight (1995), The Gentleman Outlaw and Me—Eli (1996), Following My Own Footsteps (1996), As Ever Gordy (1998), Anna All Year Round (1999)...

Books continued

• Promises to the Dead (2000), Anna on the Farm (2001), Hear the Wind Blow (2003), The Old Willis Place (2004), Janey and the Famous Author (2005), Witch Catcher (2006), Deep and Dark and Dangerous (2007), All the Lovely Bad Ones (2008), Closed for the Season (2009)...

Books continued

• The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall (2010), Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls (2012), Where I Belong (2014), Took (2015) One for Sorrow (2017), The Girl in the Locked Room(2018), and Guest (2019)...

References

• Leeper, A. (2008). Talking with Mary Downing Hahn. Book Links, 18(1), 45–46. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.research-db.letu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=... https://www.librarypoint.org/blogs/post/mary-downing-hahn/

References continued

• https://childrensbookguild.org/mary-downing-hahn https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/scholarly-magazines/hahn-mary-downing... https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/mary-downing-hahn/