Dear Hank Williams

In 1948, eleven-year-old Tate chooses country singer Hank Williams as a pen pal. It quickly becomes clear that Tate is using her letters as a therapeutic diary--and that she's an unreliable narrator. When Tate finally reveals her true circumstances (resolving underlying tension about her situation), she shows the gumption that defines her character. Deftly including historical context, Holt creates a character for the ages.

On the first day of school, September 1, 1948, eleven-year-old Tate P. Ellerbee learns that her class will be writing to pen pals, with her teacher explaining that “new worlds will unfold in front of you, and you’ll see your own world through fresh eyes.” Although the teacher plans for her class to correspond with Japanese students to promote postwar understanding, Tate, with ideas of her own and the resolve to carry them out, chooses country singer Hank Williams, a man she knows only through the radio. Williams never responds except for sending a couple of autographed pictures, and it quickly becomes clear that Tate is using her letters as a therapeutic diary. That she’s an unreliable narrator also becomes clear: she claims that she lives with her great-aunt Patty Cake in Rippling Creek, Louisiana, because her mother is starring in a Hollywood movie and her father, a world-famous photographer, is off photographing, well, the world. But when she finally reveals the truth of her circumstances (Mom’s in prison and Dad’s just gone), she also shows the gumption that ultimately defines her character. Holt creates an underlying tension, an unease about Tate’s situation, that finally comes into light as she reveals her deepest tragedy, allowing her to see her own world through, if not fresh then at least honest eyes. Deftly including historical context, Holt gives readers a character for the ages. betty carter