Hannah Backwards

Hannah Backwards

Kim Rackham

Heidi Cooper Smith

Riveted Press, 2025

96pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

9781764007139

Hannah loves the familiar rhythm of her days—walking to school with her best friend Izzi, spending afternoons with Nana and Pop, and cosy weekends with her parents. She is one who prefers predictability, routines  and the regular rhythm of her life, but for those times when there is disruption that makes her anxious, she has a secret in her pocket.  Her Nana has given her a special worry stone to rub and trace its spiral to bring calm in those uncertain moments and although she doesn’t realise it, Hannah is really going to need it because big changes are coming. 

First, her beloved teacher Mr. Spicer leaves. Then, the unthinkable—Izzi is moving away. As Hannah struggles with the idea of goodbye, her worry stone is always in her hand, but it can’t stop the storm of emotions building inside her. A moment of anger threatens to shatter everything they’ve shared, and Hannah is left to find a way to make things right.

And can endings really be beginnings, like Mr Spicer says?

This is a verse novel for younger readers, many of whom will have faced similar upheavals as the certain becomes uncertain and threaten to turn their lives upside down.  Because its verse novel format is entirely in the first-person exposing all Hannah’s thoughts and emotions, it is easy for the young reader to become Hannah and relate to what is happening and understand that when you’re young and living in the here-and-now, it’s hard to see the bigger picture and the opportunities and silver linings that disruptions can open up. They will empathise with her anxiety, and feel her confusion about the future as they have experienced similar feelings, focusing on what they  are going to lose and miss rather than being able to look forwards to what could be.  It’s not that they, or Hannah, are pessimists – it’s just where they are at in their emotional development. 

This is an ideal book to read together with someone (or a class) for whom change is coming to reassure them that their feelings of grief and uncertainty are real and natural, but also helping them realise that there is life after loss and that just because a favourite friend or teacher or someone is not physically there, it is possible for the connections to continue, regardless of who makes the move – which is likely to be the theme of the sequel Izzi Upside Down coming 2026.

At a time when it seems some parents are intent on protecting their children from any sort of adversity so they don’t develop the natural resilience to setbacks that we expect, this is an opportunity to discuss the inevitable and how to deal with it, for while a worry stone can be a comfort, it can’t be a solution. Mr Spicer was right – endings can become beginnings.

For those who want to dig deeper, there is an insightful interview with the author here.