December Stillness

Mary Downing Hahn

Mar 2009 · Recorded Books · Narrated by Julie Dretzin

About this audiobook

All 15-year-old Kelly McAllister wants to do after high school graduation is attend art school. Academic work isn't important to her. When she studies at the library with her friends, she sometimes talks so much the librarian kicks her out. After her teacher pressures her to start working on her current events paper, Kelly decides she has to take the assignment seriously. The only trouble is she can't think of a topic-until she discovers Mr. Weems, a homeless Vietnam vet who spends his days in the library. But writing about his plight isn't so easy. First she must get to know him. Mary Downing Hahn creates a stirring portrait of a teenager discovering that complex problems require more than simple solutions. Narrator Julie Dretzin fully captures all the joy and despair swirling through this thought-provoking young adult novel.

About the author

Mary Downing Hahn grew up in College Park, Maryland. After graduating college, she worked as an art teacher, a college instructor, and a children's librarian in Prince George's Public Library System. She published her first novel, The Sara Summer, at the age of 41. Since then, she has been a full-time writer and averages one book a year. Her ghost story Wait till Helen Comes was the winner of 12 state children's book awards and she received the Scott O'Dell award for her World War II novel Stepping on the Cracks. She currently lives with her husband in Columbia, Maryland.