WHEN YOU WRITE BACK
From debut author Hanna R. Neier comes When You Write Back, a brilliant, deeply moving novel about two tweens who share a magical connection across time and space - and whether it's possible to save someone in the past when you know their future.
Newton, Massachusetts, today. Ellie’s life is turning upside down. She isn’t ready to become a family of three with her soon-to-be stepmom, she's nervous to move to a new house in a new neighborhood, and she’s still reeling from losing her ex-best friend. The one thing Ellie feels she can control is winning the science fair—and she’s determined to succeed.
Le Marais, Paris, 1942. Daniel lives above his family's bakery, loves books, but hates school—the kids make fun of his stutter and his teacher always calls on him. Add to that an absent sister and the growing uncertainty of a world war taking shape around him, and Daniel's once predictable life is suddenly on shaky ground.
When Ellie and Daniel begin exchanging letters as part of a school project, they quickly find comfort in sharing their lives with each other. But as their friendship grows, Ellie realizes that her pen pal is not just living in a different country, but in a different time—and his life is in danger. Daniel, like Ellie, is Jewish, and Paris isn't safe for his family. As the clock ticks toward a deadly roundup she knows is coming, Ellie tries to solve the mystery of their time-traveling letters and warn her friend. But as time runs out and Ellie’s own world begins to unravel, she wonders whether it's even possible to save someone whose future lies in the past.
Exploring the power and magic of learning to trust another person and yourself, When You Write Back is a beautiful reminder that friendship can be found in the most unlikely of places.
BOOK NEWS!
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WHEN YOU WRITE BACK will be coming out
March 9, 2027 with Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan!
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SYDNEY TAYLOR MANUSCRIPT AWARD WINNER OF 2025!
WHEN YOU WRITE BACK is the 2025 winner of the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award!
From the Association of Jewish Libraries:
The Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award recognizes unpublished manuscripts of Jewish fiction targeting ages 8-13. The award was established by Sydney’s husband Ralph Taylor to encourage aspiring authors of Jewish children’s books.
This Year's Winner
When You Write Back by Hanna R. Neier
When You Write Back is a dual point-of-view novel written in letters between Ellie and her school-assigned pen pal, Daniel. When Ellie realizes their letters are traveling through time, and that Daniel is a Jewish kid living in 1942 Nazi-occupied Paris, she is determined to save him. But as time runs out, and Ellie’s own world unravels, she wonders whether it might be Daniel who is meant to save her. Exploring the power and magic of connecting with another person through words, Ellie and Daniel demonstrate that friendship can be found in the most unlikely of places.