Karen Kingsbury Hannah's Hope

Hannah's Hope

Karen Kingsbury

Warner, Oct 2005, $13.99, 162 pp.

ISBN: 0446532363

While her parents reside in Sweden as her father is the ambassador there, fifteen year old Hannah Roberts lives with a cold grandmother in the DC area, while wondering why no one loves her. She looks forward to her parents coming home for the holidays, but that dream is shattered when she receives an email from them informing her that they are too busy to see her. A depressed Hannah sadly prays for a "Christmas Miracle".

Her mother realizes that Hannah is unhappy, so she decides to tell her daughter the truth about her biological father, Mike Connor. Hannah now knows her dreams of having fun when she was a child with a loving nurturing adult male were more than just a wish. She searches for her dad, but comes up empty until he hears her plea on TV. Mike tries to make contact before undergoing a dangerous mission in Iraq. When she learns her dad's mission turned deadly and dangerous, she focuses on the hope that her "Christmas Miracle" will come true.

The fourth Red Gloves tale is an intriguing inspirational, in which the young heroine cannot understand why she is neglected by her parents who are busy playing diplomat. Though she handles the shock that her mom's husband Jack is not her biological father rather easily, fans will feel Hannah's angst and needs, and have some of their own as they wonder; in spite of expecting the obvious that we know deep down will happen, whether a miracle will occur as the heroine hopes. That is the ability of Karen Kingsbury, as she keeps her fans enthralled with the idea of will or will not a miracle occur while lifting the spirits of her readers.

Harriet Klausner